Canyoneering and snorkeling <333 (Day 141 of the world trip)

23.01.2020

Here we found another reason why we only stay here for two nights :p The night was loud! :O :D

First, we heard karaoke or live music from the restaurants/bars. When that was over, the deep bass of disco music started. Then there was also barking dogs and from 3:00 am the roosters were very active :p :D :D :D

Despite the mosquito net, some mosquitoes managed to get close to us, so we kept scratching. So, the night was short^^

Even before the alarm clock, both Jonas and I were already awake ;-) We had oatmeal with milk for breakfast, packed the last things and then waited outside for our pickup :)

We were going canyoneering at the Kawasan Falls. Canyoneering is when you walk, climb, swim, jump, and slide along a river <33

During the three-hour tour, which ends at the Kawasan Falls, there are seven jumps, various slides, and climbing. Two of the seven jumps are mandatory for all participants. The other five are optional or there is a "land route" around them^^

It was probably not surprising to most readers that I was quite nervous :p I went to the bathroom three times at the hostel before we were picked up, then once again at the tour provider and finally before starting. I was scared :D :D

We were picked up in a tricycle, which is a typical Philippine means of transportation, and our driver Junjun was also our guide :) There were also two veterinary medicine students from the Netherlands in the vehicle and in our group, so it was almost like a "private tour"!

First, we drove for about half an hour to the office of our tour provider Icanyon. The road there was really cool because you could see hills, the sea, or villages on both sides :) Since it was only 7:00 am, there were traffic calming measures in front of the schools.

What I thought was really cool was that all the children at one elementary school were collecting garbage together. I don't know if they always do that, but it certainly doesn't hurt to teach responsibility ;-) Maybe we should introduce something like this in Germany too :p

Oh yeah. And there are lots of children here :O :D In front of a school in a small town, there were probably 200 children standing in rows for the "roll call". Jonas had looked it up and the average age in the Philippines is apparently 22.7 ;-)

Well. We finally arrived at the office of our provider and had to sign a consent form. They warned us that we could get injured or even die and the agency would not be liable for it and so on^^

For someone who is already quite nervous, it's great to read this paper :D :D But I had expected something like this so it was totally okay ;-)

After registration, we received our "equipment" - a life jacket, a helmet, and in my case, on request, rental shoes. Jonas had brought water shoes but I didn't have anything like that and didn't want to walk in my sandals :D

By the way, it was quite funny with the helmets. One of the two Dutch girls and I apparently have a head shape that Asian helmet manufacturers do not expect :D :D We tried on many different helmets until we finally found a fitting one^^ Mine was actually too big but at least it didn't squeeze :D

Once everything was prepared, we went to the starting point of the adventure. To get there, we each rode on a motorcycle for about 15 minutes and whoaaa. I'm not a big fan of motorcycle riding, but since I was sitting in the middle, it was completely fine and not scary at all. Although I closed my eyes because of the wind, but hey^^

Arriving at the starting point, we found a zip line facility. From the starting point, you can either walk for 30-45 minutes or use the zip line. After a final pit stop, we started walking.

We were on top of a hill with a beautiful view of the valley and the sea in the distance <33

We couldn't see a river or waterfall yet, but it was already quite nice^^

The path down to the water was quite slippery because it had rained a lot there yesterday morning - before Jonas and I arrived in Moalboal. But my rental shoes, Nike sports shoes (which one of our female friends would have liked, they were pink and gray), were perfect for it and so we all arrived at the actual starting point without any problems :)

There were a few other groups there as well. Almost all participants had either a GoPro/action cam or a waterproof case for their phones, so all the stops were used for proper photo shootings, with the guide acting as the photographer^^

Although Jonas and I are not that experienced in this, we went along with it and in retrospect, we are very very happy about it!! <33

After a short while, Junjun took over the action cam and then took great photos and especially videos in the next few hours!! Unfortunately, we can't upload the videos here, but there are a few photos included :)

The water of the river is turquoise blue, mostly clear, and therefore quite cold^^

After the first photos, we went directly to the first slide by climbing over some rocks. I think you could have slid down in a forward sitting position, but that would have been too boring. So, we had to lay down backwards and then plunge down :D :D

It was quite fun but also a bit "scary" and so it continued like this all the way^^

I was a bit uneasy about the mandatory jumps, but I did them and even two voluntary ones. Yay! :D

Jonas, of course, participated in all the jumps. Towards the end, there were one 10m jump and one 12m jump, and even then he (and also the two Dutch girls) was completely fearless.

I enjoyed the climbing and sliding more than the jumps, but overall it was a super cool package!!! Jonas and I had a really great time and we are super happy that we did it <33 And Jonas was even a bit proud of me for only refusing the two highest jumps but participating in everything else :p :D :D

At one point, there was a rope where you could swing like Tarzan and then fall into the water. Jonas had aroused great ambition to perform a somersault when letting go, and on the third attempt, he succeeded and it looked pretty cool^^

At the end of the tour, we arrived at the Kawasan Falls and could have splashed around there, but none of the four of us felt like it^^ We were a bit exhausted, it was getting quite cool at some point, and above all, we were hungry and thirsty ;-)

What we didn't know beforehand: The tour included lunch, so when we returned to the tour provider's office, there was a really great lunch for everyone with some vegetarian options specially for us <333

During the meal, we chatted nicely with the Dutch girls and then we took the tricycle back to the hostel, where we arrived at around 2:00 pm.

Although the lunch was really good, I had a few cookies and then made the mistake of lying down :D :D

Of course, I became super tired. I felt dizzy, hot, completely exhausted, and didn't really feel like getting up again today :p ^^

But since we still wanted to go snorkeling and look for turtles again with a fully charged action cam here at the beach, I pulled myself together and rented snorkeling gear again :)

Just like yesterday, the result was impressive. We saw a lot of different (colorful) fish again, a blue starfish, and luckily we found one of the turtles again!!! <33

So, we snorkeled for almost half an hour and took more videos and photos of the impressive underwater world here with all the corals and marine creatures :)

Just because of that, we can already recommend coming to Moalboal. Even if we were not convinced by the place itself, we are super happy that we came here!!

After such an action-packed day, we returned to the hostel around 5:30 pm and for dinner, we had rolls (the minimart here had both toast and rolls, which we bought both :p).

While we were looking at the videos and photos from today, I wanted to spread some nice rolls with margarine/butter, but unfortunately the ants got to them first :O When we unpacked the margarine, we saw a lot of ants right on our bed (not a smart place for them :p). And when I carefully lifted the lid, we found a stracciatella variant of the margarine :D :D

Well. So, we had dry rolls but that was completely sufficient^^

Tomorrow we will move on again and as always, we are looking forward to it ;-) :D