Boracay, Philippines

Today is the last day of July and it's also one of those quiet reflective days for the both of us. It's our last full day in the Philippines - tomorrow is a travel day for us and by the evening we will be somewhere in the heart of Bangkok, haggling over the price of a taxi and a room for the night. The Philippines was one of the last places we planned on our route but I'm very glad we made the effort. The island of Boracay, about 40 minutes flight from Manila, is one of our favourite places for a number of reasons - cheap accommodation, English breakfasts, great diving and the rugby live on TV. Sara has also been working diligently on her tan and so far has managed to make some progress towards a light tan color on the back of her neck, right arm from the sleeve down and two halos on each thigh. The sunburn on the top of my head, courtesy of getting lost in the rice terraces two weeks ago, has all peeled away and I'm now the owner of a brand new scalp.

Relaxing on Boracay

The ten days we spent on the island was a time for us to recharge our batteries after seven weeks of intensive travel. Sara dived on the first day but decided against pursuing it any further. I dived on each of the following five days (sometimes twice a day) and also the last day. After gaining my Advanced Open Water Diver certificate I went out with my English instructor, Jerry, to dive a little deeper in search of reef sharks. Twice we tried the same area off the northern tip of the island but twice failed to see any sharks - although we did see Spanish Mackerel and Tuna, each over a metre long, which are less common than sharks in that area. The diving was wonderful and I can't wait to put in some more dives either in Thailand or Malaysia but I hope I can find an instructor as good as Jerry. Many times he had me in fits of laughter under the water while he imitated the Filipino Sex Bomb dancers from one of the tacky local game shows.

Jerry & I about to go on a dive - the one where I lost my wedding ring

There were two days where neither of us dived - we just sat on our hammock overlooking the ocean reading or doing laundry. Our bungalow was on the top floor of a small three-story building with commanding views over the south end of the beach and of the oncoming weather. It rained for at least 10 minutes every day. Some days it rained for an hour or more but that didn't matter. It was hot and the rain bought with it some relief from the heat, albeit brief. Most days we ate well. The rest of the time we ate too well - pineapple pancakes, mocha shakes, garlic rice and the breakfasts at Nigi Nigi Nu Noos let you order as many eggs as you wanted. A day can hardly start finer when you slowly lower five fried eggs into your stomach before strapping on a tank and heading underwater for an hour.

At Nigi Nigi Nu Noos

The beach at Boracay

And so today was a little flat for the both of us. We rose at 5am to shower and pack and retraced our steps, first to the boat dock at the south of the island, then to Caticlan on the bigger island of Panay, to Kalibo 90 minutes further south by bus and then back to Manila. We arrived back to clear skies and a cool sea breeze. An hour later it rained.