Legazpi, Philippines

 

So we moved from Capul Island after fond farewell's with the friends we had met there, with promises of staying in touch. We really want Rhea to come to Edmonton. We are now in Legazpi, on the big Island for a few more days of "R, R and R"...rest, relaxation and rain! It seems!!

 

We are staying in the Bicol area that has an active volcanoe just a few miles from our hotel. It's last partial eruption was in May, 2013... but people feel it will never completely erupt again, so they continue to live here.

It's biggest eruption was in 1814 and it destroyed much of the Lagazpi area. This is a pictorial composite of the volcano's history and eruptions. So fascinating that people believe it is safe to live here, but they have great faith in God that he will protect them...

 

We are enjoying our stay here, it is a beautiful city. As we were relaxing and swimming yesterday at the pool, a worker came and asked if we would like a tour of the city. As it turns out his brother has a tricycle and could take us...wow, we were excited!

 

 

 

He first took us to the site of a 400 year old church that was destroyed by the volcano in 1814. Now all that is left is the rock bell tower, it is now a famous tourist site for the area.

The volcano is behind, covered by cloud. It is a beautiful area with a lot of lava rocks and the foundation rocks of the church still in place, but now uncovered by workers to preserve the area.

 

We then went to another old church built in 1779, this became the central place of worship after the volcano destroyed the older church. This one is on higher ground and was untouched by the volcano. Our driver and tricycle are in the foreground

 

 

This is inside the church, they have plants and candles as well images of Christ in their central alter area.

It was beautiful and seemed to be a very reverent place to worship, even though many tourists move through the chapel.

 

 

We next went to Lingnan Hill, another smaller inactive volcanic. We hiked up and took some great pictures of the city.

We then went to the coastal area and drove along the 'Embarcadero'. It is the area of the city that runs along the ocean and is a party area, known for it's many bars and it's nightlife. We were there in late afternoon, but we weren't planning to stay and party!

There was a long spit of land going out into the ocean made from lava rocks, it was interesting, the boulders were all from the volcanoe.

There were a lot of dive shops along the road, so we assume the scuba diving must be excellent here, too bad we didn't bring our certification cards!

This is Mike, our driver and guide for the day.

 

Lagazpi is a port city with a lot of shipping activity. It is a big city, over 2 million people from what our guide told us.

 

 

With such great weather, the warmth, humidity and rain they grow beautiful flowers...like these orchids. They sell them in the markets, I wish I could bring some home as souvenirs for the girls!

Doug bought a machete at the market and was cutting some mangos for us for lunch when the staff happened to see us cutting them up. They thought it was so funny to see Doug cutting up these little mangos with a machete, they were laughing, I just couldn't resist a picture. The staff here are so polite and so grateful for any tip or even a conversation in English, never mind a Canadian with a machete!!

So we will be flying to Manilla and leaving the Philippines tomorrow. We are sad to leave, there are so many fun things to see here, like these recent floats from 'Festival' . We found them abandoned in the municipal building's yard.

However, we are so looking forward to getting home and seeing our family and friends again...we have been gone 3 weeks and we are homesick!!

See you soon!

 

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Capul Island Adventures!

After our dental team left Capul Island Doug and I stayed an extra 5 days and moved out to the resort where the majority of our team had been staying.

We had been staying at the church in town, this little resort was about a 5 min motorcycle ride out of town.

 

 

 

 

 

We were in a little nipa hut on the beach, with only two beds and a little shelf in it. It was kinda like camping, but with a cement floor and a mattress on legs. The front and the left wall had bamboo windows that opened to the ocean. It kept us cool.

 

It wa a beautiful spot, with a lovely beach. The owners had a couple of dogs that became instant friends.

Our first day as 'tourists', we met a tour guide on the island, Rhea, and she was amazing...a female Dustin. She loves everything outdoors, hiking, caving, camping, running...and she does it all in big doses! This is Rhea and nephew, JM, in the cabana at their house.

We quickly became good friends and agreed to whatever she was up for!

 

 

The next day we were hiking up to Mt Siri, a beautiful hike, only about 1,200 meters high, but it gave us a great view of the island.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She took us into two caves on the island which were remarkable...the first was so large we spent an hour exploring inside and there was still more to see.

 

 

We hiked out and stopped at a fresh water spring to refresh and stock up on our water supply.

We were so dirty from exploring the caves...but it was so interesting and fun!! We saw thousands of bats and stepped in a lot of bat guano (poop).

 

 

 

On the trail out we met up with a friend of Rhea's who climbed a coconut tree and dropped a few coconuts for us, the milk was so refreshing and delicious!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were on the other side of the Island after our hiking and cave adventure, so Rhea rented a boat and had them take us around the island to a remote beach...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where we enjoyed the white sand beaches and did some swimming, visiting, and relaxing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And snorkelling...it was soooo amazing, the coral that we saw here, so much variety, brain coral, staghorn coral, fire coral, and all untouched by the world!

 

Not a lot of fish in the water, but it was crystal clear.

 

 

 

 

As we took a boat back to our side of the island, it was starting to rain, but we had enjoyed a great day in good weather.

Our adventures for the day ended with a feast at Rhea's cousin's house. It was 'Festival' on the Island and each home prepares food for the entire community and they take turns eating at each others' homes...roast pig was on the menu! So good, they roast it on a spit all day!

 

 

It was fair weather our first and second day as tourists, but by the third day it was raining. It was Sunday, so we went to the Catholic Church Services in the 400 year old church, on a motorcycle, visited with a few locals and went home and enjoyed a quiet, wet evening in our little hut.

 

 

 

 

 

The rain came and came and the waters rose and so did the litter...they don't have proper disposal facilities on the Island so everything goes on the ground or in the river. So sad, the municipal government is trying hard to change this with the people, but until they get funding for a piece of land for a dump, they can't do much!

 

 

By the and fourth day we were in a typhoon! Not so much fun in a nipa hut! We were getting pretty wet, but we still explored the island, visiting with people. On one 'walk about', we found these kids playing bingo inside their home, too wet to be outside! They are such happy people!

 

 

We stopped by to get buns at the bakery. We waited for them to come out of the oven and got them still warm! We had a good time visiting with the kids working at the bakery. It seemed that everywhere we went we were quite a novelty, and the kids would just giggle and giggle. It was so good to see these kids working hard, many of them are earning money to go to college.

So much water was coming down, I loved this picture of the rooster with his own umbrella. Roosters are very important on the island because they have cock-fighting events every Saturday and Sunday...gambling on their birds! It's even on TV (not here), but in the Philippines. It's not a great sport to watch!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This little girl was just looking out watching us go by...she is beautiful!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had to borrow and buy umbrellas for the typhoon...Doug's holding my umbrella while I'm trying to buy some fruit from a little store.

 

 

 

 

 

After three days the rain was still coming and causing major water puddles. It was WET even for the locals!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And big challenges for us to go through on a motorcycle!! The only backhoe on the island is in a puddle all it's own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After being on the island and in a typhoon for 5 days, we decided to leave and get to the mainland. We packed up and took the 'ferry' out at 7:00 AM Tuesday morning, just hoping the winds weren't too strong to let ithe ferry go. We did manage to make it over to the mainland, where we are currently staying in The city of Legazpi.

We had a wonderful time on Capul Island, typhoon and all!

More on Legazpi blog tomorrow...

 

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KIA-Capul Island

On Tues, April 8, our next destination was Capul Island which we reached by "ferry"...a really cool traditional out rigger canoe. They took our entire group and all of our equipment safely across the ocean for an hour from the mainland.

On our arrival they took us and our equipment quickly off the boat. The Island is beautiful with crystal clear water!

 

 

 

 

 

They greeted us with costumes and a marching band...we felt so honoured, what a reception! They were truly so happy that we had come, they have never had a dental mission come to their little Island of just over 12,000.

 

 

 

 

They had blocked off the Main Street of town and covered the area with tarps.

We set up our work stations and equipment, again using every available desk, bench, table or chair. It's so fun setting up as a team, we were getting good at it now.

They were ready for us to start, and so were we!

 

They had a great group of nurses from their medical centre to help organize the patients...

and had them arranged to be sitting according to what they needed...fillings, cleanings or extractions! The chairs were even numbered, they were so organized, and the people were so cooperative!

 

 

These are filling patients and instruments.

Luckily, we had access to a generator so we had power for the equipment.

 

 

 

And here is Dad hard at work, he loves serving these people.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our team worked for two days here and saw over 400 patients...about 600 extractions, over 300 fillings and close to 60 cleanings. On Dad's last patient he took out 15 teeth! So much decay here and need for more work, we really need to come back here!

 

Our team of 24 had different accommodations on the Island, the unmarried stayed at a resort about a 15 min drive away,

...and the only way to travel was by motorcycle.

This is a view of a portion of the town from the roof of the municipal building right next to where we were working. Houses built right next to the ocean, and so close together.

 

They sell gas in litre bottles in different grades...so funny to see no gas stations only little stores like this selling gas.

 

 

 

Doug and I and two other married couples stayed in town and were accommodated in the 400 year old church. It was a truly amazing experience! Our room was so old, it had 25 foot ceilings and stone walls...and rats!! Quite a memorable experience, with roosters waking us at 5:00 AM. Never could we ever pay enough money to have such cool accommodations!

 

Everyday we were greeted by the cutest kids, so happy and so curious about us strange looking white people. They were very shy and rarely wanted their picture taken, but she was an exception and knew just how to smile for us

 

Our team had fun serving the people of Capul.

They were so grateful and generous to us, we had to be careful what we asked for because we got it, even at great sacrifice to them.

Being with them has taught us a lot about humility and gratitude, that is one of the greatest gifts, learning from and loving the people!! We will be back!! Our team headed back to the mainland after this dental mission, but Doug and I stayed several more days on Capul...but that's another blog...soon!

 

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