Travis talks about Dauin in Negros, Philippines

G'day!

We have now been in Dauin on the Philippine island of Negros for a week.

And right now we are sitting in a car and driving on to Malapascua.

That's two ferry crossings and a car trip in between from the south to the north of the island of Cebu.

So on the way in the car I finally have the opportunity to tell you something about the last few days. There have already been questions because I haven't contacted you for so long, says my oldest. This will probably be a bit longer now. Get something to drink or something.

My older ones do a lot of diving here. However, my older one had an ouch on his ear at some point and it's best not to dive at all until it's healed again. The nice Jew said "Better safe than sorry." Exactly.

That's why a few things came about.

The first was that we went on a nice trip together for a day. To the Twin Lakes and a small waterfall.

My older ones are very happy that they don't have to drive here, they said. The rules and traffic conditions are probably quite different to what you are used to, a bit confusing. I heard the word “adventurous” more often. And when I look at it with all the scooters and tuk-tuks, I think so too. By the way, a tuk-tuk is a type of moped taxi. With roof and bench at the front or side.

Our driver was called Nelson and showed and explained many interesting things to us. And once we bought small bananas fried in coconut oil on the side of the road. Only 7 pesos each and sooo delicious. At least that's what my older ones said. I don't eat anything. Just watch. By the way, 7 pesos are about 10 euro cents.

So, the Twin Lakes: as we drove up the mountain it was a bit cloudy and foggy. It also rained at night. The path down to the lake was quite slippery and my oldest had to hold on really tight.

Once at the bottom, we were able to let a very nice man paddle us in a boat to a "watchtower" in the middle of the lake. From there you can see the second lake - hence the name "Twin".

It was really small, this boat. But I was really brave. At first I had to hold on, but then I sat at the front all alone.

While we were on our way, the rain came. And in the tropics it can be pretty awesome. My older ones said this is normal. In addition, a typhoon - that's what the big thunderstorms are called here - was probably also moving nearby. My older ones said it was at least warm rain.

Nevertheless, the climb to the watch tower was pretty wet. Well, admittedly not for me. I was well protected under the shirt ☺️

When we arrived back at the small restaurant by the lake, my older ones laid down for a while and then drank hot coffee with Nelson. And then there were four young people, also from Germany, who had taken motorcycle taxis up the mountain and were soaked through. Then my older ones asked them if they would like to go down with Nelson and us. I think they were pretty happy.

After the lakes we went to the Pulangbato Falls. Once down the mountain and up again somewhere else.

You could also swim in the pool where the water falls. But my older ones had probably already gotten sufficiently wet beforehand. Sorry, I'm being a bit mean, aren't I?

They no longer even wanted to go to the hot springs that still existed nearby. However, I have to say that it smelled a bit unpleasant. My older ones said it was the smell of sulfur because the water was made hot by the volcano. Yes, why is he cooking with sulfur if it smells like that?! He could use wood or something.

When we got back to the hotel, my oldest went diving with Jude again at dusk and into the night. My oldest and I were waiting for her. So in the dark - who knows what can happen there. But nothing happened and she came back in a good mood and had obviously seen some great things under the water.

My oldest's ouch ear also meant that my oldest went alone on the diving boat to Apo Island the next day. She wanted to go there because the corals there are so beautiful. But - she wasn't alone. I took good care of her!

And Jude too, of course, because I couldn't do it under water.

By the way, they continued to think about how I could possibly get into the water. There are a few ideas, but we haven't tried them yet. Well, I have zeeeeeee...

I think my oldest was happy that me and Jude brought her back safely. But there were other nice people on the boat too. For example Karsten and Bettina from Berlin. I had the impression that my older ones got along well with them. They had a lot of good tips. And they also worked hard to think about how Travis could dive.

Maybe we can do a few experiments in Malapascua. We are still on the way there.

Luckily my oldest can now dive again. Because they both had the right medicine with them - you can drip it into the ear, that's why it's called ear drops - the ear is healed again. That's a good thing, because where we're going now you can see certain sharks underwater. They are supposed to look great and elegant and have a very long tail. I'll tell you more about that later.

On the last day in Dauin, yesterday, my older ones also saw really cool things underwater. My oldest was really happy that he and his ear could be there again.

So that's it from me for now. See you again soon. We want to call someone whose birthday is today. Seems pretty important to my older ones. They probably like it, it seems to me. I heard his name is Simon. I've heard of that one, I think. 😉

See you soon and greetings from Travis the Buddy Bear