Cebu

Amanda and all her mangoes

Posted May 8, 2012  /   By Adam and Amanda  /  0 Comments

Cebu is the second biggest city in the Philippines after Manila, but we didn’t really have time to explore.  We had a great modern hotel for about $30 US, and we checked out the huge local mall, where we got Shakey’s pizza and an assortment of dried mango, one of Amanda’s favorites, so a huge …

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Bohol

Chocolate Hills

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The island of Bohol is notable for the famed Chocolate Hills landscape, and for the being the natural habitat of the Tarsiers–very tiny monkey-like mammals.  We stayed on a small neighboring island called Panglao on Alona beach.  We didn’t know ahead of time, but this is basically the Phuket of the Philippines.  Stunning white sand …

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Oslob

whale shark looking for something to eat

Posted May 7, 2012  /   By Adam and Amanda  /  0 Comments

We thought our quest to find whale sharks had ended in Donsol, but rumors of more abundant sharks on another island in Oslob had been spreading for several months. We discovered Oslob by chance – it’s just a small blip on Google maps and isn’t even in the guidebooks yet. Riding a jeepney (a repurposed …

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Coron

Amanda and Ken

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Coron island is off the northern coast of Palawan and it is known for its amazing shipwreck dives.  During WWII, a surprise attack led to the sinking of 22 Japanese ships in the area. We had planned our visit to Coron to enjoy this very unique dive site. Our first morning in Coron, I was …

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El Nido

ElNido-8

Posted April 20, 2012  /   By Adam and Amanda  /  2 Comments

We had heard some pretty spectacular things about El Nido from our friends Annie and Ronnie, and from other travelers and it definitely did not disappoint.  While on the roof of the Jeepney that brought us there, we met a Finnish guy named Dave, who had just finished spending 21 days there.  He hadn’t planned …

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Sabang and the Underground River

Sabang-6

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Sabang is the nearest town to the world famous Underground River.  It is a small little town along a strip of coastline, that seems like it was relatively untouched by tourism until a few years ago when the popularity of the Underground River exploded after it was named on the list of the Seven Natural …

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Puerto Princesa

PuertoPrincesa-7

Posted April 18, 2012  /   By Adam and Amanda  /  2 Comments

The island of Palawan is known as the last frontier in the Philippines.  As a whole, it is still relatively undiscovered and undeveloped.  Puerto Princesa served as our gateway to Palawan.  We booked a room in a beautiful (and super cheap) hotel called The Royal Oberoi and basically just ate mangoes and went swimming. The …

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Family Reunion in Silang

Family Reunion

Posted April 12, 2012  /   By Adam and Amanda  /  1 Comment

For our first visit to the Philippines, I was excited to see some family who had visited the states but also see relatives I had never met.  Tito Selit organized a mini-family reunion at the home of one of his sisters, Tita Vicky, in Silang, which is in the province of Cavite, about an hour …

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Legaspi

View of Mount Mayon from Tita Chie's back yard

Posted   /   By Adam and Amanda  /  1 Comment

Before we left for Donsol, we had arranged with Tita Chie for her to meet us at the mall in Legazpi.  The van driver dropped us off there and we went to meet Tita Chie and her grandson Yacqui.  We got a quick bite to eat at the mall, and then I went off to …

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Donsol

Butanding!

Posted   /   By Adam and Amanda  /  1 Comment

Donsol is known as the whale shark (butanding) capital of the Philippines (and maybe the world) and that is why we went down there.  We had read stories and heard from friends about the possibility of swimming with up to ten of these gentle giants.  Ever since I first saw a picture of one, I …

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