Siargao Island

I haven’t blogged in a while…and part of that is due to the fact that Dave and I were away on a remote tropical island in the Philippines with very limited internet access:) It was a much needed getaway and we had an AMAZING trip! We got to spend time with old friends and make new ones. We spent our days surfing, reading, eating amazing food, exploring the island(s) by motorbike and boat….and helping out on some local work projects! I’ll let the photos do the talking:)We stayed at Jing’s Place…this awesome little local homestay on the island (Dave and a few of his friends stay there each year they go back and have become great friends with the family) One of the many stray puppies wandering the streets Uriel & Andrea! Two absolutely adorable 4 year olds:) Even kids on a remote tropical island know how to play iPhone games;) Hammock feet…. One of the many gorgeous beaches:) Im SO glad I packed snorkel gear…and brought the Go Pro! Cant wait to post some videos:) Riding the road to Pilar where we helped with some local building projects… Some of the local kids came to hang out with us at the building site! The guys working on a church building The local ladies cooked up some amazing food for us! I loved this cute little girl! Look at her sweet little ‘wrong footed curtsey’ 😉 The kids tried to teach me some of their fav games….All you need to play is 2 sticks and a pothole! Schools out! Lets just say watching me try to play the games was a little more than funny…. LOVE this homemade scooter!:) This game was awesome! Kind of like ‘cats cradle’ for your whole body…I gave it a go as well…

And then there was the flipflop game! Lets just say the kids were WAY better at this game than we were:) Dave and I about to dive into some amazing natural rock pools A few of the crew… The rice fields  These are the boats the locals use to fish with…and take us from island to island:) General Luna (city beach!) The pier where the guys would meet the boat to go surfing each morning… Meghan and her refreshing coconut drink!:) General Luna! (the main town we were closest to) Jon and his beverage of choice:) Market Window… Loved this perfect little deserted island:) The boardwalk and karaoke bars… A typical day in General Luna… These boys were SO sweet and loved it when they saw my camera;) The boys riding tandem…;) Half way through our trip we had a few solid days of rain…when the sun finally peaked out, everyone had their clothes airing out all over the outside of their houses. A few boys in the streets of downtown Gas bar! (*note: this is NOT a refreshing red drink for sale) Chillin in the hammock! Me and dave! (and my sister Meghan;) Dave and I all zinked up! (Go Pro Selfie;) A few underwater adventures:) Photobomb! Water buffalos are a common work animal for the farmers in the Philippines. We would often see them working the rice fields or hanging out on the side of the road in the mud:) A few of us on a bike trip! (i didn’t make it into this photo;) Coconut Grove…If you look VERY closely,  you will see a girl walking a pig:)We took a boat trip to Suhoton CoveThe cove, accessible only during low tide is home to hundreds of stingless jellyfish…And then we visited some amazing underwater caves!On the way back home our boat hit a whale shark (10 meter long shark) and we lost our propeller and drive shaft;) We drifted to a deserted coral island and put our anchor down. We waited for 3 hours while filipino ‘divers’ (men who hold their breath for 5 min or longer) dove down the 200m deep chanel looking for the boats missing pieces. We made use of our time stranded and snorkelled in some of the most amazing waters ever!They waved down a fisherman for help and eventually we loaded 15 people and a bunch of surfboards on to a boat very similar to this one and began our journey home. It took us 4 hours and we experienced MASSIVE ocean swells, cold, wet, a really really loud motor (we stuffed TP in our ears;) and darkness. The sun went down and the boat had no lights…Thank goodness for the 10 year old standing up front with the flashlight!:)Our home beach on the island!EvangelMy gorgeous sister Meghan!Enjoying a good book under a palm tree…;)Last swim of the trip!Evangel and Karen decided to join us