It was indeed one last Sunday in Tan-awan Bay in the small town of Oslob (about 2-3 hours drive from Cebu City). At 6am, there were already 50 or more people huddled around the Oslob Whale Watching Center to register. And we thought we got there early...
Apparently, this sleepy town averages 300 people per day during weekends. The frenzy may be attributed to a fisherman named Dodong (wearing green in the video) who somehow managed to train the whale sharks, the largest fish in the world to be friendly. Yes, friendly! Marco Santos of Aquaholics said "Oslob is the only place in the world where the whale shark comes to the people."
Fishermen are now called 'Gentle Giant Defenders'
This phenomenal hand-to-mouth relationship with the whale sharks started in June 2011.
Traditionally, the fishermen of Oslob catch fish by collecting krill (Note: as corrected by Scubarazzi, the local name is uyap and the scientific name is Acetes sibogae, from the family Sergestidae) at night and use the krill as bait during the day. As Marco narrated in the video "One day, Dodong started throwing the krill into the water and a whale shark came to eat.. instead of shooing away the whale shark, he said to himself that he will keep feeding the whale shark until it gets full... Dodong is actually the only one in the world who has domesticated the whale sharks."
under the whale shark's belly (photo by Gigi)
Today Oslob is bustling with weekend tourists - both local and foreign - who want to swim or dive with the whale sharks. We were lucky to have gone early and enjoyed a one-hour encounter using scuba diving gear. The number of divers has been limited to at least 12 per group although this is not strictly enforced.
We spotted five; however, Gigi counted six. The whale sharks would normally go from one boat to the other looking for the "feeder boat". We found a huge one, more than 25 ft., diagonally upright (top and left photos), happily devouring krill and wouldn't leave despite the splashing and kicking of the snorkelers on the surface, the bubbles from us divers below, and the bancas (outrigger boats) bumping into each other. Believe it or not, after twenty minutes, we actually got tired of watching and swam away to look for others.
LGU mans the ticket area
Business is definitely thriving in Oslob and now everything has a price. The local government unit (LGU) currently issues tickets - P300 for ordinary viewing (meaning, stay on the boat), P320 for snorkeling, P350 for diving and an additional P100 for camera equipment. Likewise, a penalty of P5,000 is imposed on anyone caught touching the whale shark.
The life vests are rented out for P30 each and the restrooms cost P5 to P10. There are also eateries, barbecue stands, mini sari-sari stores, and t-shirt vendors.
I have mix feelings about the the fishermen. Although they are now organized and call themselves the Tanawan Oslob Whaleshark Wardens and Fishermen's Association (TOWWFA), fishing is no longer their main source of livelihood and I don't know how sustainable this whale watching tourism is. The LGU has come into the picture and split the fees collected, 40% goes to the fisherfolk. I hope that the 60% goes to coastal resources management, education and protection of the area especially from poachers.
Early morning at Oslob (photo by Marge Buot)
Gigi checking the dive equipment
Loading of dive gear on the raft
Villa on the Cliff with the view of Sumilon Island
My birthday is coming up in a few days and this year, I want to do something different. Instead of the usual fanfare celebrating, I've decided to help others and give back to the community.
Since I am passionate about diving, I've decided to help the people of Culion through the "I dive Culion" project that my diver friend Memey is leading together with Father Xavier Alpasa, SJ.
Culion is an island situated at the northernmost part of Palawan in the Phlippines, about an hour away by boat from Coron (Busuanga). Some of you may remember that Culion used to be a leper colony.
In 1904, during the American period, the then Civil Governor Luke E. Wright signed the transfer of jurisdiction and control of Culion from the Municipality of Coron; and hence, the island has been established as a leper colony. In 1988, the administrative control of the island was transferred from the Department of health to the Municipality of Culion, ending nearly one century of administrative control by the health department.
In 2006, the World Health Organization declared the island free of the disease.
Please note that the "I dive Culion" project is only one of the components of the Isla Culion, Hotel Maya social entreprenurship program of Fr. Alpasa. His vision is to make the once shunned leper colony, self-sufficient through ecotourism.
As a diver, I want to help create and make the planned dive facility sustainable and income generating. The target is to open a dive center on the island on December 8, 2011. At present, most of the dive centers are located in Coron.
The first step is to train a local as a divemaster. Memey has identified a local "Renli" to undergo dive training from open water to divemaster in Coron. He needs support as follows:
1. Transportation allowance to Coron for training (P120 one-way x 24 trips) = P2,880
2. Open Water course to start on July 21 - P15,000
3. Advance Open Water course to start on August 21 - P12,000
4. Rescue Course to start on September 21 - P12,000
5. Payment for EFR - P5,000
6. Dive Master Course to start on October 2011 - P31,000
The total cash support to cover Renli's training amounts to P77,800. By the way, he also needs a buoyancy compensator (BC) and regulator to complete his gear. A kind soul already gave him mask and fins.
Of course, aside from training Renli to become a divemaster, the following are also needed:
- dive equipment (in good condition) for the dive shop
- and support for the coral reef protection program
The next step is to educate the residents of Culion (at a later date) on how to protect their environment and preserve their reefs so that eventually, it will be an ecotourism area that will give them employment opportunities.
I do hope I can appeal to your kind hearts to help the "I dive Culion" project. This is either in cash or in kind. I will be visiting and diving there next month - during the four day weekend, and if you want to join, please do drop me a note.
I've always believed that life is short, opportunities are few and I have only so much energy.. So I'm taking this opportunity and focusing my energy on "I dive Culion" as my personal social responsibility this year. I will for sure see it through the d-day on December 8, 2011.
Let me end by sharing what Martin Luther King Jr. said "Life's most persistent and urgent question is: what are you doing for others?" Thank you and God bless.
I don't want to sound like an alarmist but experts warn that climate change and rising sea levels are of great concern to this group of 1200 islands which according to nationenclycopedia.com is slightly more than 1.5 times the size of Washington, D.C.
Maldives is only 8 feet above sea level at its highest point and as the North Pole's icebergs melt and sea levels rise, it's entire existence is in danger. In fact, the disputed Bengal Bay island (by India and Pakistan) which is 6 feet above sea level has already vanished and displaced its population.
I'm glad that i got pulled by Marge, Esq. and piqued by Atom's query to dive in Maldives this Easter holiday.
Somehow Maldives was never in my diving radar and regard it more as a luxe honeymoon destination. It never got to my must-dive bucket list lke Cocos Island for hammerheads, Palau for grey reefs, Bali for sunfish, Sardine run and great whites in South Africa, etc.
Ricky and Marge enjoying the view on the deck
I was surprised to discover that Maldives has reasonable rates and the diving excellent. The initial quotes that we got for resort-based diving went as high as USD4,000 per person excluding the dives which was another USD50 to 100 per dive for a week's stay. So I'm happy that we found the dive safari run by Bas van der Mee.
Bas' mantra during our trip was safety first. He would wake us up at 5:30 and yell "coffee, tea, dive briefing." He conducted detailed dive briefings with maps and all before each dive and made sure that everyone had a dive computer, mirror, safety balloon since the currents can be pretty strong and "its 2400 km to Africa" as he always said at the end. He was fairly strict and limited the dives to one hour underwater and three per day (total of 17 dives) since most dives were rather deep and we would sometimes go on deco mode.
Bas briefing us on our next dive
We saw everything - grey reefs, white tips, schools of dog tooth tunas and jacks, squadron of eagle rays and even dolphins underwater-- you name it we saw it, except sadly, the mantas and whale sharks that Maldives is famous for. We went to the usual haunts in South Male' and South Ari. Alas, nada! The construction of the new airport must've scared them away which prompted Bas to change the route of the group after us and headed to North Ari to Rashdoo where they spotted lots! Note that Atom who stayed in the W with his family said he saw seven mantas in one dive.
Heading back
Oh well, there will definitely be a next time. Bas runs two seasons Spring (March & April) and Autumn (October & November). Ricky SB is already planning a diving trip for this Autumn. Hmm… maybe plan a reunion dive with all the Belge/Dutch/Dane on the boat?
That's Bettina Go, Clang Garcia, Raeanna Cranbourne and moi outside the tomb of King Tut in Luxor's Valley of the Kings, a vast funerary complex at the West Bank. We finally made it after much visa hullabaloo in Manila. Thanks to Kim Harrington who not only helped us get our 'visa upon arrival' but also hosted us at her place in the hippest Cairo-hood in Zamalek, helped us with our tours and even got us an affable taxi driver, Abdul Amin!
We've seen most of Egypt in a week. First stop was Cairo's Citadel (1176) and An-Nasir Mohammed mosque (1318). It wasn't hazy that day and got a clear view of Giza's pyramids from the terrace. From the citadel, we drove through traffic (the city has 15 million population) to visit one of the seven wonders of the world - the pyramids! There are three structures: the Great Pyramid of Khufu (2750 BC) at 146m high, his son's called Khafre (136m) and his wife's Mankaure (62m). It is indeed amazing to be at the foot of a monstrous mountain life-like size tomb and it makes me wonder if there is any truth to its extra teresstial origin.
the Red Sea
The next day we flew East to Hurgada and drove down the coast to dive the Red Sea. It was a toss up with Sharm el-Sheikh but we were warned that it was very crowded and most of the corals are damaged so we opted for Marsa Alam, a newly built city with relatively less divers. Brrr! It was freezing at 22 degrees! I felt like a 'Michelin' man in a 5mm full suit plus a 5mm shortie! The dive operator at our hotel (Iberotel), Coraya Divers was run by Germans. They were very organized. I'm referred to #164 - for my locker box number, gear, etc. It was quite expensive at 20 euros for full gear rental per day (without computer) and 30 euros per dive (its an extra 3 euros for the guide). The best dive sites require a full day boat trip to "Elephinstone' and "Sataya".
We did another dive (in Sha'ab Marsa Alam) the next day before heading out to Safaga to cross the Red Sea mountains with a police convoy to Luxor. I've never felt secured with checkpoints every 500 meters or so and a police escort. I guess after the bombing incident at Sinai in 2005, the government is trying to protect its US$6B tourism industry. The drive took almost five hours, 2 hours to Safaga and 3 hours to Luxor.
At Luxor, we went first to the West Bank's Colossi of Memnon where we were welcomed by a pair of massive statues (18m high). Then drove to Deir al-Bahri to climb the steps up to visit the mortiuary complex of the first female 'male' pharoah, Queen Hapsheshut (very difficult to pronounce, just say hot chiken soup). Its a limestone monument carved out of a mountain! First sign of vandalism here with coptic graffiti and also where her stepson Tuthmosis III scratched out her face. Then drove to the Valley of the Kings to visit the tombs of Rameses I, IV and VI. There are 700 tombs and only 15 tombs are open for public viewing. Our ticket allowed us to visit 3 tombs. The highlight here would be the colorful painted walls depicting the life of the pharaoh, scenes to help guide his journey through his afterlife, heiroglyphics and the sacrophogaus at the end of the tomb (the contents - mummy, gold masks, etc - are at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo).
Luxor
ancient hieroglyphs
After, we drove through the Tomb of the Nobles and stopped at Deir al-Medina named after a coptic temple built by christian monks. Here we visited two tombs of the workers where for 5-20 egyptian pounds, the guards allowed us to take photos! It was extremely hot in Luxor at 40 degrees, so we decided to break for lunch at a resto along the Nile River. After lunch, we spent the whole afternoon in the temple complex of Karnak and Luxor and in the evening, did the Sound and Light show. (note: we bought tickets through our travel agent only to find out its cheaper and easier to do it on your own).
at the foot of the Step Pyramid of Zoser
After Luxor, we flew back to Cairo and Abdul picked us up and drove straight to Saqqara, a huge cemetery of ancient Memphis where the oldest pyramid is located called Step Pyramid of Zoser. For 5 pounds, we were able to take photos inside the tombs. After visiting the pyramids and the newly built museum, we drove 10 kms away to Dashur where we climbed the 125 steep stone steps of the Red Pyramid and down the 63m long claustrophic passageway down the tomb.
Dashur
The next day Kim drove us to Alexandria, the city founded by Alexander the Great. We walked down the Corniche to Bibliotheca Alexandrina, designed by Norwegian architect Snøhetta, it houses millions of books, 3 museums and a planetarium. Then a seafood feast down at the seafood market and walked down to Fort Qaitbey (1480 AD). Back in Zamalek, we were too exhausted to eat out and decided to watch DVD of "The Yacoubian Building", film adapted from Alaa El Aswany's novel.
The next day, Kim booked us to Wadi El-Hatin (western dessert) on a 4WD with driver Moustafa and his side kick Mohamed, to visit the UNESCO world heritage site for the first recorded fossilised skeletons of primitive whales. The site used to be a vast ocean some 35 million years ago. The topography is likened to the Grand Canyon in the United States. We had a picnic lunch at the nearby dessert Waddi Rayyan. Then before heading back to Cairo, a stopover at Tunis a plush domain-secondaire type village to view pottery. (note: town not recorded in Lonely Planet).
A sea in the desert between 250 million and 35 million years ago
For our last night in Egypt, Kim took us to a walking tour of Islamic Cairo. Our first stop was to a bazaar where locals go to (opposite Khan al-Khalili) and then crossed the street to the famous touristy Khan and visited several shops including the famous Fishawi's Coffeehouse. The nobel peace prize author Nagib Mafouz (Cairo Trilogy) grew up in this neighborhood in Sharia al-Gamaliyya.
I enjoyed my trip and luckily, despite warnings by friends, we didn't get harrassed at all by street hawkers or for 'baksheesh' (tips). The magic word is 'la' shukran' which means "no thank you". Also most earn pathetic monthly salaries of 40-50 pounds (tomb guards) or 78 pounds (military solider). That's why they end up harrassing toursits for tips. I'm quite tolerant and in fact, ended giving tips to everybody!
