Samal Island (Day 1)

Thursday, 5 April 2012:

I woke up today with excitement in my heart. I’ve been looking forward to this trip for quite sometime now. We booked a resort for 4 days and 3 nights exclusively for my family , our staff, their families and a few friends.

This is our first time at Island Hills Beach Resort. So we didn’t know what to expect. We were told that there’s a 2 bedroom cottage that can accomodate 6 people per room. And that they have a dormitory for the rest of the guests. It’s supposed to house at least 25 people per day. I thought that at Php5,000.00 per day, the price is cheap.

So I baked biscuits for John’s “baon”. He doesn’t eat rice in the mornings, you see. So I have to prepare his bread for 4 days. 🙂

I told everyone to come early because the line at the ferry gets too long and we don’t want to get stuck at the port.

By 7:30a.m. , we were already on our way to the ferry boat port. I thought that was early. Boy, was I shocked when I saw the line. We were at least 3 kms away from the port. That’s how long the line was!

We finally boarded the ferry boat by 10am. From Babak port, we travelled to the resort for almost an hour on a rough road passing through the barangays of Tagbitan-ag, Tagluno and Aundanao.

My sister, Pearlie, exploring the beach..

Aundanao is such a sight to behold…. I thought that the tiring trip was well worth it. 🙂 True, the beach in this part of Samal doesn’t have white sand, but the water is crystal clear you can see nemo and other fishes swimming beside you. Beautiful right?

A few minutes after our arrival at the resort, the fisherman working for our friend arrived. He brought us fresh Lapu-lapu and other “isda sa bato” which he caught from their “bobo” (cage). Gee..this beach life is impressing me more and more… hehe Imagine frying and grilling these very fresh fishes! Yummy huh?

After a sumptous lunch of Afritada, fried fish and pancit canton, we decided to roam the island by boat. Yes, it’s not wavy around this time. The big waves starts around 4 in the afternoon. So it’s ok to use a small motor boat before that. 🙂

MY PHOTO COLLECTION:

Di masyado halata na feel na feel ko ang boating.. hehehe

I like this bali type structure. Check the hammock at the cabana and the curtains at the receiving area. It’s so beautiful!

We stopped at the farm of our friend for this… Fresh buko juice by Manong, the caretaker of our friend. hehehe…

We bid goodbye to Manong and his family after the buko drinking session.. hehe. Had to go back before the waves get too big. Err.. I don’t know how to swim remember? 🙂

Back at the resort, everyone was just relaxing. Either on the beach, at the cabana or just sitting at the open cottages facing Samal Gulf. 🙂

Before dinner , John and I went to the Cabana. And checked what the excitement was all about. It turned out that Val and Kim caught a fish. 🙂 While the others are busy fishing.

Pearlie and Ruben, with the boys – fishing.

Relaxing at the cabana. 🙂

All in all, it was a beautiful day that started with a hitch but ended wonderfully… Not just for me and John but for everybody we brought along with us in this 4day vacation. 🙂

Lea C. Walker
leawalker.blogspot.com
www.davaoproperties.com