We have spent the last week on Apo Island, a small island off the coast of Negros Oriental. It is known for its underwater coral gardens and turtle sanctuary, where 5 different varieties can be seen! There is electricity here but only from 6pm to 10pm.
We were dropped on the island by a dive boat ran by Harold's Mansion. It travelled from Dauin so saved us a short journey to catch the regular boat from Malatapay. We even got to meet Harold the owner who was much younger than we expected. First of all we boarded the wrong boat and quickly changed to the one next door. We expected just a lift across to the island but onboard were treated to breakfast too!
We were booked to stay at Mario's homestay but they had no record of the confirmation email they sent. However, they arranged for us to stay next door at Ling Ling, which was great!
What did we do? We ate local snacks, snorkeled, watched the sunset and relaxed in this small island community. The water is 27 degrees but if you get a little chilly, you just lie on the coral beach and bask for 10 minutes on the warm coral fragments..
We saw so many turtles, wonderful coloured corals, colourful fish of every variety and many different nudibranch.
We not only experienced mother nature at her best as the coral gardens are beautiful but the local people here made our time perfect. They are so friendly, smiley and welcoming. Darryl clumsily swam into a small stationary outrigger canoe whilst snorkelling. He saw it was there but the underwater scenery distracted him and he cut his head (a tiny scratch). Back at the beach a local spotted his injury and took him to his garden where he pulled a few leaves off the medicine tree and stuck them to Darryl's snorkeling wound. It healed really well!
Mario is referred to as the Father of the island. He is involved with most things that go on and is a legend amongst the islanders. The first time we met him was at the Elementary school's first ever reunion. The event was happening in the basketball court, so we went to take a look. We sat at the side watching smartly dressed people arrive and when we asked what was happening, we were kindly invited to sit with batch 1996. Each year was represented by the class from that year. It ranged from back in the 70's to the current year. There were guest speakers, Mario being one of them, and dancing by each class followed by a disco. This we joined in. We were pretty bad so the locals helped us with a few dance moves like the cha, cha, cha and the eagle! An incredible night where we witnessed Phillipine hospitality at its best.
Usually during the day tour boats arrived from the mainland. The people visit the marine sanctuary with a snorkel guide and then head back to the mainland in the afternoon. Many can't swim so are dragged around holding a rubber ring and wearing buoyancy aids. Before 9am and after 3pm the island is all ours. We shared it with the locals and a handful other tourists staying on Apo. Also staying are the Plongeurs du Monde. They are a French charity training 6 local teenagers for free to become divemasters in the hope they will be given a job at the dive school. We have spent sometime in the company of these people. What a lovely group! They have been coming here for a few years and helped us with some invaluable tips. We hope we can stay in touch especially as 2 of them come to Swanage at Christmas.
Every night the sunsets on Apo are incredible. The sky turns the deepest red and orange. Beautiful...plus there is always a group of locals at the beach playing music on their guitar and singing.
We found a local stall selling burgers. They were cheap, we ate a lot however, there was an interesting pricing concept which we understood but it appeared the locals didn't. We tried to explain and they said they understood but ... they really didn't!
Friday night was movie night. We enjoyed The Black Panther nestled amongst the locals. We took our own chocolate bars but popcorn was handed around during the movie which was projected onto a white sheet.
Saturday it had been arranged for us to visit the island's elementary school. We were shown around by the headteacher who explained how everything worked. It was an interesting experience. No electricity, blackboards ... but a lovely environment for the children. We spent the afternoon walking through a small village on the other side of the island and stumbled across a group of men. We watched as a lot of money changed hands as they gambled on the cock fight. We made a hasty exit as soon as we realised exactly what was going on.
As we walked back to our homestay we followed a crowd of local people carrying a cross from shrine to shrine around the island. They were singing and saying prayers as they went. It is now Holy Week, the biggest holiday in the Philippines.
Saturday was karaoke night. We and the Plongeurs du Monde group headed to find the spot. It was not hard as the island is so small and the locals play everything so loud. We think it is probably to drown out the barking dogs or crazy cockerels. One local girl did most of the singing. She sang a faultless Whitney Houston and hit every 'unhitable' high note. An awesome performance. She was truly amazing! Darryl had no chance of topping this but was helped by everyone in a rendition of Take Me Home Country Road. This time no police were called (as we are sure there are none on the island) but the karaoke room emptied pretty fast. It could have been the singing or the fact the electricity was about to go off at 10pm.
Sunday morning was Palm Sunday. Plongeurs du Monde had arranged palm crosses for us and we were going to be shown the island's church which sits on top of the island with magnificent views all around. We had our crosses blessed by the priest and took part in the service. It was mostly in Visayan but we understood some of the occasional English parts. The choir were sporting their smart new t-shirts that a sponsor had kindly donated to them.
Sunday was snack day. We had our usual fried chicken and sugar coated bananas but also bubble 'coffee', tempura, hot dogs, fried fish balls and a few other treats including coconut ice pops.
Later that day, we spotted the local fisherman walking through the village carrying a huge red snapper and giant trevally fish.
In a week we had explored every corner of the island and had enjoyed so many interesting experiences. We arranged a ride back to Dauin with the HM boat captain and boarded the tiny outrigger canoe to take us to the big boat. We said goodbye to Apo Island. Dauin here we come.
On the boat back we helped a couple from Cebu city celebrate their first anniversary!
