Mambajao
The southwestern monsoon came in during the night, and the day dawned with a
howling wind and bucketing rain. There’s nothing quite like crawling into bed in
lousy weather. Eventually, the weather cleared, allowing meandering to the dive
shop to arrange a dive. Unfortunately, a tricycle ride into town revealed it was
lunchtime and the supermarket closed. At least the ATM woke from its slumber.
“Pole-pole”, as they say in Swahili.
The internet café was offline, and the only thing left to do was to have a pizza. The
pizza was surprisingly good but quite substantial, and half was saved until supper.
Once at Jasmin, the power was out and, thus, not much to do but to have a beer.
Things could be worse, as Jasmin was comfortable and a good spot to wait out the
weather.
Mambajao
In the morning, the weather was considerably better and it was time to dive. It felt
like diving in an aquarium with abundant fish in all shapes, sizes, and colours.
Coral was plentiful and of a wider variety than I’ve ever seen. Add a water
temperature of 29°C and I thought I was in heaven.
Enough time remained to discover the rest of the island. The island was
remarkable, offering active volcanos, waterfalls, hot springs, a ruined church, an
underwater cemetery, and even a spring that squirted soda water. The day ended
with a fun zip-line ride - I nearly went twice.