Magandang Umaga, Kabayan – Part 4

Day 5

On Tuesday we had another slow morning, with lots of reading and card playing and then headed back to Puka Beach.  This time I had my nice camera with me, and since I had finished my book, I wandered off to take some photos while the rest of the group stayed glued to the Hunger Games.

At one point one of the people working on the beach came and offered B a coconut.  B & P ended up getting each of us one.  There weren’t as sweet as I remembered them to be from Hawaii and since they had been sitting out in the sun all day, they were a bit on the warm side.  Not quite the refreshing drink we had hoped for, but at least everyone tried some.

 

After the day at the beach we headed back to Alta Vista for some pool time.  We had pizza delivered to our room for dinner and it was delicious!  We got a “Manhattan Meatlovers” with pepperoni, sausage, bacon, ham, etc.  Paul and I haven’t had a pizza that good in a long time since you can’t easily get any sort of pork product toppings on pizza.  We loved it!

Day 6

The next day we were set on taking a trip to Ariel’s Point which was the one thing B said he wanted to do while we were there.  I’ll admit that I was a little bit weary about the trip, not really sure that there would be much to do when we got there, but it ended up being a wonderful day.

 We took the hotel shuttle down to White Beach and walked up and down the beach a few times looking for the best “deal” for the day trip, but it ended up that there was really only one company that offered the all-inclusive package.  Once we got that lined up, we paused in the shade for a bit to rest which caused a few of the locals to drop by and offer their goods.  After some negotiating, we bought a few pairs of sunglasses.

Halfway around the world

Prime targets for some haggling

After that we decided to grab some breakfast before our boat took off.  I went to a stand for a mango smoothie—made to order, I watched him peel 2 super fresh mangoes and blend them up with some ice and honey water (not that it really needed the extra sweetness).  WOW.  It was sooo good!  I could have one of those every day for breakfast!

 We headed back towards the other end of the island to meet our group at the prescribed time, but it turns out that they had already sent the group before we got there (we passed them on the beach without knowing that was supposed to be our group).  We weren’t too concerned because we were still “early” compared to the time they told us to be there and they pointed to another boat out on the water that they said would take us.  So we waited…. and waited.  The first boat started to pull away and the Filipinos started talking in Tagalog.  We didn’t know what was going on and were afraid we would get left behind.  B finally convinced them to let us hop on the first boat and we were off!   We made some friends with a group that was sitting next to us and enjoyed the 30 – 45 minute ride to Ariel’s Point.

Once we reached Ariel’s point, we had to get off the boat walking down the plank/board onto a wooden raft of sorts which kind of floated and then up through a rocky cave/tunnel.  With the way you had to time your steps onto the “floating raft,” I kept feeling like I was in one of the  Super Mario brother games.  Luckily we never had to use any of our extra lives :)

Surreal

Once we made it onto the point, B wasted no time in going for a jump.  He started with the 8 meter board.

Next up was the big jump.  I think B took that one first too, but then Paul went for it.

A was up next, and after taking a few strolls out to the tip of the board and back in to safety, she went for it!

B couldn’t get enough of the jumps, so he went for the 15m again!

After that, I couldn’t keep using the excuse of being the “photographer” any longer, so it was my turn.  I definitely did the walk out and back a few times.  I really had to consciously keep myself from holding onto the hand railing when I jumped… it was just like my body wanted to do anything that would slow down the fall.  But I jumped.  I think that A described it best… you think it should be over, but you realize that you’re only half way down.  It’s just a long free fall.  And it hurts!  P and I were still feeling bruises 2 weeks after our trip!

 

After my jump, we spent some time “exploring” what else Ariel’s Point had to offer.

There were a lot of big spiders we had to watch out for

We did a little bit of snorkeling and saw a lot of pretty blue starfish and some other small fish, but not as many big, colorful fish as we had expected.  Also, our bodies started to sting a little bit… almost like a jelly fish sting, but not quite as bad.  Later one of our friends told us that they were from sea lice---ewww.  Not really sure what those are, but it definitely sounds pretty gross.  I think I would have preferred to not to know ;)

Next was lunch time and man was that food good!  We had a smorgasbord of fresh cooked Filipino specialties including rice, potatoes, sausages, bbq pork, pancit, some sort of cooked veggie side dish, bbq chick, and grilled tuna.

After lunch, Paul & B made a few more jumps off the big cliff and then took off for a swim to a nearby beach while A & I relaxed in the shade reading our books.

The sandy area on the left is where they swam/snorkeled to

But before it was time to head back, B got in a couple more jumps from the lower boards.  He must have been a glutton for pain…I only did the one jump and could hardly sit for the next 2 days!  It was a great day trip—a beautiful area, relaxed atmosphere, tasty food, and good company :)

Once we got back to White Beach, we decided to head to D*Talipapa which is the local fish market for dinner.  We hopped on a trike which took us about 300m to the market (we had no idea how close we were) and then entered into the fishy chaos :)

Hop on in!

Lobster?  Crab?

The classic bargaining tool

B & A got some lobster and Paul got some prawns.  I had intended to at least try some of the seafood or maybe get some chicken, but after wandering through that for about half an hour, I had lost my appetite.  Based on someone’s recommendation we chose a place to get our seafood finds cooked up for us.  I can’t speak to it personally, but the other 3 seemed quite happy with their meals :)

One of B's biggest annoyances on the trip was that when the waiter/waitress would bring you your bill, they would always just hover right over you until you paid... I think this photo captures the feeling well :)

After dinner we wandered through the neighboring market looking for some deals on souvenirs, but ended up coming away empty handed---except for some mangos :)  I was snatching up every chance I could to get a few fresh mangos to take back to our hotel for breakfast.