And have lots and lots of pictures to share! We did 1 day of island hopping, and 2 days of diving (saw turtles! rays! mantis shrimp! pipefish!).
El Nido? Definitely paradise! It was hard going over to Puerto Princesa after that, since El Nido was so incredible. I will have to go back again with Karl.
It’s super expensive to fly there, but it’s worth it. We took the smallest commercial plane I’ve ever been in…
Had my first tricycle/tuk-tuk ride…
Stayed in a beach front cottage at Golden Monkey Cottages…
And yes, they have monkeys too!
Saw amazing limestone rocks and clear blue water from our many boat rides…
Visited salt water lagoons we could snorkel in…
Explored little beaches…
Spent a lot of time in the water enjoying the ocean and appreciating the view…
Visited sandy white beaches that reminded me of Brazil…
Had the smallest lizard/gecko (I never know which is which – in Brazil we have different names for every type!) I’ve ever seen visit me in our room… Please ignore the wrinkly hands and unpainted nails…
Walked around El Nido town…
Saw cute pigs! (And tried not to think that they were being kept as future dinner.)
Enjoyed daily walks through here… (Though my friend wasn’t a fan of the 10 minute walk to town every day, I loved it. So relaxing!)
And enjoyed beautiful sunsets from the balcony of our room…
I still believe the Philippines are one of those “secret” places that Americans don’t know about. My friend visited me from the US and admitted that until I was posted here, this was never on her list of places to visit. Then she googled it, and knew she would HAVE to come.
After El Nido, we took a 6 hour van ride to Puerto Princesa – that was hell. Packed to the brim traveling on winding roads. I think it’s worth paying for the expensive ticket back to Manila.
Tomorrow: Pictures of our dives!
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