I Think That's A Shark!

It’s Tuesday, and I’m the city of Legapsi in the province of Bicol. Legaspi is a small city with a population of 100,000+. Legapsi is the jumping point to Donsol to see the whale sharks and it is also located at the foot of Mt. Mayon, considered one of the dangerous volcanos in the world. A national icon, Mt. Mayon is also the most photographed mountain in the Phillippines. An explosion on here killed 77 people only a few years ago. Nevertheless, I plan to climb Mt. Mayon tomorrow. The trip will take the whole day starting at 5:30 in the morning, and I’ll be back in Legaspi in the evening.

Sunday was spent with the relatives. They took me to the mountainous town called Lucban. The main attraction in Lucban is a 250 step climb up the side of a hill to admire the “Cami ng Jesus” or Hand of Jesus in English. Statues that reenact Stations of The Cross, thirteen events which reenact the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, line the path to the top. At the top, one is met by a huge statue of Jesus Christ. The experience is may be similar to seeing the world famous Sugarloaf Hill in Rio de Janerio. At the top of Sugarloaf is a large statue of Jesus Christ. After a quick picnic, we headed for the shopping mall in nearby Lucena. I spent the most of the day with Pam a new friend I met at Villa Escardero. She lives in Lucena, and gave me a personal tour of her town.

Sunday night was spent trying to sleep on a bus. The bus was full, so I sat in the jump seat most of the night. The jump seat is the foldable seat at the front of a large bus. At first, I thought the jump seat might be the most comfortable seat on the bus, but I was wrong! The jump seat is the worse seat ever. There are no armrests, and the seat is situated under a flight of stairs. With nothing to grab on, I flopped around endlessly throughout the night. When the bus got to the final bus stop, I was exhausted from a lack of sleep.

Later Monday morning, I arrived in Donsol to swim with the whale sharks. I coupled up with a small family from Legapsi to help share the cost of the boat, guide, and spotter. The whale sharks congregate in a small bay 500 metres from shore. Scuba diving in Donsol is strictly prohibited. We spent 3 hours on an outrigger boat, and swam with 4 large whale sharks. The interactions with the whale sharks lasted anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes. They are intimidating to look at especially when you are swimming beside them because they are absolutely massive. Whenever I got close, I could not help to think that this large fish could hit me with its massive tail or worse, eat me. Fortunately, whale sharks, the largest fish in the world, do not have any teeth! Most are spotted with white dots, and hover around the surface of the water to eat plankton. They don’t seem to be bothered by humans swimming around them. Donsol is also a good spot to see dolphins, but I didn’t see any on Monday.