Donsol, Bicol, Philippines
The overnight bus to Donsol was freezing... the air conditioning on these buses is always turned up full and I'm relieved that I have my down jacket with me which means I end up getting a great sleep, all cozy underneath. There are certain clothes that I won't part with and my thermals plus my down jacket are here to stay.
I wanted to visit Donsol to try and see the whale sharks which are found in this area, these sharks are the largest fish in the world with some being recorded at 12-14 meters long. They are docile and slow moving filter feeding sharks that live primarily on plankton, but their name 'whale shark' is due to the sheer scale and size which is similar to whales instead of sharks so it should be interesting going out swimming with them!
I managed to find accommodation right next to the jetty where the boats leave from and register my interest in sharing a boat the next day, each boat takes six people and costs the same if it goes out with one or six people so once registered it leaves me the rest of the day to explore Donsol Village and town and for some relaxing by the lovely pool at the hostel. It's a really traditional and unique village with many local wooden/bamboo homes with thatched roofs which are lovely set in amongst the palm trees and paddy fields. I love all the washing hanging out on the lines, their potted gardens and kids running around, everyone here wants to know if they can help you and they have beautiful smiles as you pass. The local transport is fab, the jeeps and tricycles in particular are such fun and unique and I enjoyed my tricycle trip down to the hostel from the bus drop.
As it turns out there are another two people staying in the dorm who are also heading out to see the whale sharks tomorrow, plus another couple arrived in the evening which means we have five and agree to meet up in the morning which is great. We get our snorkeling equipment and sit in on the safety video before boarding and meeting all the crew from skipper to all the look out guys and he demonstrates how we will get into the water if we see a shark or as the locals call them 'butanding'.
Everyone has their eyes peeled, we're all excited about our day but after the first hour time seems to go very slowly... we cross back and forth the length of the bay several times but see nothing. This continues for some time and we all start to dose off sleeping with the wind and movement of the boat and leaving the crew to 'look out', after a few hours we were all disappointed but what can you do they're wild animals after all. The crew continued to scan the bay back and forth and at one point a shout goes up that we've spotted one... woohoo at last. We see the movement and fin and all jump down to get on our flippers, snorkel and masks ready for jumping in. But we wait and wait but it looks like it's dived and we lose our chance of swimming with it, today is not our day and we end up returning to the jetty after five hours of searching, it's disappointing.
There was heavy rain overnight and on asking about going out on the boat again we were advised not to, it seems the rain has flushed dirt out of the river which causes the sharks to dive deeper meaning the chances of seeing them are slim. A couple of days later however I joined more visitors in another boat but it was once again a fruitless day, this time however we saw dolphins and loads of tuna jumping out of the water but not the elusive whale shark. If it's any consolation none of the other boats manage any sightings either in the past couple of days, no one is having much luck, oh well.
It wasn't to be and you never know, I might get another chance of seeing them somewhere else on my travels!
Whale Sharks
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Donsol, Bicol, Philippines
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