Travel plans and preparations

This is expected to be our longest stay in the Philippines so far! We plan to extend a few weeks to the 59-day visa, as there is a lot to do and we also want to spend as much time underwater as possible. In between, our friends Uschi and Herbert join us for diving - in Mindanao, Camiguin and Bohol. Mäge and I will regularly return to Calaanan to support the Batulong team and provide training where needed. As always, there are some uncertainties in the planning, but we try to remain flexible :-)

Saturday evening before departure: everything is packed (for me) and the roller bag is a bit lighter than expected. I am a bit curious about the Cebu Pacific flight from Manila to Cagayan de Oro. Last fall, I won a round-trip flight from Manila to Cagayan de Oro in a photo contest, but as much as I am happy about it, it was rather exhausting: about 5 emails until they issued the flight for me (return in May was not possible yet) and more emails and a long 'conversation' with a chatbot and later with a real person in a chat until I finally saw my flight online. Unfortunately, I could not book a seat or an extra baggage allowance (I have more than 20 kg) afterwards - this is not possible with a sponsored flight :-0 .. they will get back to me (which of course did not happen). It wouldn't surprise me if I would experience some surprises with this gifted flight - maybe I finally have a seat on the wing :-))