As the sun raised up, I woke up in the early morning after a good night of sleep. That is also a thing I love about camping on the beach: Living with the sun and that's it. Having no clue about the time but early morning, noon, afternoon and evening. No stress, no hassle, just being with nature. Today I will take you with me on my second day of our Camotes island trip.
After we ate some fruits, Adong finally arrived and we agreed on going to Lake Danao located on around 20 minutes of driving away from our camp. Adong rented a motorbike by the pier so we did not have a problem to go around.
On the way to Lake Danao
After we paid the entrance fee, we walked to the lake. It is a very big lake, surrounded by green trees and barely people in the lake. We immediately noticed those Kayaks for rent, and we decided to rent 2 kayaks to reach the opposite of the lake to get our daily dose of exercise and adventure.
Kayaks, waiting for us to rent
Miriam and I decided to share one kayak while Adong got his own. We made our way again the quite strong current since it was a windy day. Tired but happy we were, we reached the other side of the lake and parked our boat to dive in. The water wasn't deep at all and the ground was very muddy. The dip was refreshing but if you don't like dirty water, better stay in the boat!
Paddling back did not cost us much effort since the current helped us to go back. Much faster than the way to go, we arrived back and returned our kayak. We barely stepped out of our boat or it started raining. ''We are so lucky!'' I thought while we ran to the restaurant. We ordered all of us again a mango shake for lunch while waiting for the rain to stop.
After the rain stopped, it was time for the more unique place: Timubo cave. We arrived and it was just a hole in the ground, going down with a man made, very steep stair. Since I am 6 foot tall, I couldn't stand straight and felt a bit claustrophobic during our hike down. If people ask me what did you learn about yourself in your 1,5 year of traveling, than I can tell them I developed an anxiety for ceilings and door openings.. I don't even know how many times I bumped my head already.. countless! Okay, never mind.
When we arrived down my eyes met a pool with blue, clear water. So worth it to go down here! We didn't have to think of we jumped already into the pool. Adong mentioned there was an other room and he pointed. All I saw was just a black gap in the wall. They were a bit scared to go in but I got my torch and we followed the light of my torch to explore a bit more than the common. The pool stopped and after a rocky area was an other pool I saw when I shined my torch. After a bit of doubt, Miriam and Adong followed me while talking how perfect this area would be for a horror movie. I actually totally agree in that! Very dark, no people and very mysterious. When we reached the end it started to be more and more hot. It felt like there was barely oxygen left this deep inside the hot cave and we felt a bit relieved we were at the end. We walked back to the first pool to chill out before going home.
The hidden pool, deep under the ground
When we finally arrived outside, it was raining again but not too hard. We made the decision just to drive back in the rain and just change our clothes when we arrive back on the beach. But 20 minutes in the rain made me feel very cold and we arrived totally drowned on the beach. I never felt so blessed being able to change my clothes back to warm dry clothes. We searched protection agains the rain in the restaurant. There I ordered soon already a rum coke, the best way to warm up a bit while playing cards. Adong and Miriam taught me a few new card games while drinking. It was a great evening and at 12, Adongs Birthday started!
Serious games
Unfortunately, we did not want to sleep too late since it was a long day. But as addicted as I am to going to the sea in the night, being surrounded by the sounds of the waves under a sky full of twinkling stars, I couln't refuse it to walk in the direction of the waves.The sounds of the ocean were inviting me to come followed by Adong and Miriam. We barely walked into the water or Miriam wanted to go back since she got stinged by a jellyfish and I also felt I got stinged but I don’t know with me, maybe I was just a little bit tipsy so I felt it less, or I was just enjoying my time too much. ‘’The bites will get itchy like mosquito bites, but those great memories will stay since I really love those plankton’’ was the idea going through my mind while I walked to the darker corner of the sea not minding those jellyfishstings.
In the darker area it is more likely to find plankton. Soon, I ended up by the grassy dark area with the water still below my knees since it was very low tide. I stepped into the grass and the area around my feet lighted up looking like an fairy threw some white-blue fairy powder everywhere around my feet steps. I enjoyed my time walking trough the grasses, while I felt more and more stings while I got deeper but the magical feeling of all those lights around me made my night feel like a part of a fairy tale.
It started to be later and later and I decided to walk back to grab a little bit of good sleep before traveling back to the city. I opened the tent and laid down, trying to sleep but my legs didn't work with me. They started to tickle but very painful, as thousands of little worm crawling trough my skin and I felt very cold. I did not feel like I could be able to get some sleep since I felt so cold, but was still hoping I was able to fall asleep until I started sweating and shaking. I was never shaking so much in my entire life! I tried to breath in and out to relax my body but it did not work out well as my face around my eyes also started to feel weird. I did not know what was wrong with me but the only thing I knew was that I wanted to leave this tent. I opened without making any sound the tent and walked out. I was still very cold and shaking, so it might be good to walk and warm up a bit. I walked a few times from the start to the end of the beach and it actually worked out a bit and felt better since the pain in my legs was over and my muscles started to relax a bit, but they were still shaking and I still felt cold.. When I arrived at the left side of the beach, the darkest side without restaurants or anything, my eye noticed a tree full of lights: Fireflies! They turned a laugh back on my face. Happy as a child meeting a fairy, I stopped walking and kept staring for a while, watching those little light flying around the big tree what must be their home.
Unfortunately, while standing here and staring let me feel very cold again but I felt my heart warming up because of those magical lights. But than the rain started again and I walked back to the tent. I didn’t feel tired at all and decide to sit down on the beach bed right beside our tent with beach umbrella again the rain. Soon, I decide to lay down for a while. Not much later I fell a sleep but woke up the whole time because of the cold and I was still shaking a little bit but at least I was able to grab some night rest. When the sun came up, I woke up and all the dogs as well, excited to see their friends again. I felt a little bit more relaxed to watch all those 6 dogs playing with each other. They do have a great life!
When the others woke up, we went to the restaurant. I really needed some hot coffee and Adong offered me his pullover. We talked about last night when Miriam mentioned she missed me when she woke up. I told how I felt and Adong noticed my face was still a little bit swollen, but it felt already better than last night. Slowly, Adongs pullover made me feel a bit warmer, and soon, the sun appeared! It made me feel relieved! The coldness was over!
Miriam and I decided to relax for a while more on the beach while Adong felt energetic and rented a skimboard by the reggae house. And after his skimming session, the time was ripe to go home, back to the city, back to there where life isn’t slow but fast, where the people aren’t relaxed but stressed.. Camotes, I will miss you!
Adong showing of his skim board skills
Regards from all those lovely jellyfishes… Auchh
Hopefully I achieved my goals to inspire your travel souls with some island stories, and reached your bucket list with adding a new tropical place wander to. But if you get stinged by jellyfish, better just leave the ocean if you don’t wanna have an ugly swollen face and allergic reaction! I would appreciate to hear your thoughts below, and if you like your comment the chance is big I willgive it an upvote! Questions are also always welcome, If you are interested in visiting Camotes or the Philippines, I am very much willing to give you more tips. Just PM me :) See you next time!
Love,
Sha