Bad Bugs, Good Bugs

---

Bad bugs = sand flies. These tiny little evil black dots can barely be seen but they suck your blood and leave itchy welts. We read that the female can burrow under your skin and lay its eggs. Lovely!



Good bugs = fireflies. These little flying bugs don't bite or sting. They hang out after dark, lighting up the trees like Christmas lights.



We ran into both kinds within a day of each other.



We booked two nights at the Astoria hotel, four hours South along the coast from El Nido. At $100 a night, it was by far the fanciest place we'd stayed on the entire trip, but we just did it for the kids as a special treat. They couldn't care less about an expensive hotel room (and frankly neither could I) but the hotel had a water park attached, and we thought it would be fun to spend a day doing a kid-focused activity. For two weeks before arriving, we'd been talking it up to the kids and even shown them photos. There was an area specifically designed for the younger kids, a water play structure, and it looked absolutely perfect. We were also excited to read that the hotel also had two outdoor playgrounds, which would be perfect for our arrival and departure days.



As our minivan from el Nido pulled into the Astoria's driveway, Kyla and Jake spotted a playground and were instantly excited. We walked into the bright and modern lobby and had a great first impression. We were each given a bead necklace, a coconut shake, and a piece of cake. It was like checking into a hotel in Hawaii! We were given the welcome spiel and that was our first red flag. They mentioned wearing insect repellent whenever we were out of our room due to sand flies. Hmmm...



We checked into our similarly bright and modern room and then went to check out the playground we'd seen on the way in. The kids had a great time but were soon hot, so we went to the hotel's regular pool (not waterpark). It was a nice infinity pool overlooking the beach and the second kids' playground. The playground was located in the sand and restaurant staff confirmed our suspicions - there were sandflies there. Whoever decided to build a kids' playground on top of sand fly-infested sand is obviously not the brightest. Either that, or they're very sadistic!



We went back to the room to get ready for dinner. The kids were excited to take a bath rather than a shower, and I was super excited to take a shower there. It was a huge power shower with a head measuring a foot square. It was completely heavenly, especially after having a shower that wasn't much more than a drip for the last three weeks in El Nido!



That night we did the buffet at the restaurant. Kyla and Jake loved getting to go up and pick what they wanted, even if it was mostly white bread rolls. Thank God kids ate free! The thing they were most impressed with was the pool. It was lit up with lights that changed color every few seconds. Kyla announced that it would be fun to swim in a pink and purple pool after dark, so I promised her we'd do it the next night.



The next morning was water park day! Unfortunately I woke up with about 15 itchy bites where a sand fly had snook into our room. Luckily it hadn't bitten anyone else in the family. After breakfast we headed over to the water park with great anticipation. As we entered I noticed that there was a temporary fence being put up. You guessed it - the little kid area was being closed off! Kyla and Jake were disappointed but were ok with it, saying they'd go on the big slides. Scott and I were doubtful they'd be allowed and we were right. You had to be four feet tall. Kyla had a crying fit face down on the concrete when she realized there'd be no slides! It really was a bummer as the whole reason we'd come here was closed. Without the little kid section, there wasn't very much they could do! After we snapped Kyla out of her meltdown, we made the most of it, but after three hours the kids were getting bored. We instead went back to the playground, played some mini golf, and then got ready for an early dinner. White bread rolls at the buffet again! As soon as we were finished eating, we got into bathers and jumped into the pool. The kids had a great time swimming in a color-changing pool in the dark under the stars!



Despite sleeping in mosquito repellent, I woke up with several more bites. Jake and Scott had some too, but Kyla largely managed to escape them. She declared that, "Sand flies don't like me!"



We were glad to check out and head to Puerto Princesa for a couple of nights before flying out. Most people stay in Puerto Princesa just long enough to do the underground river, but we had other plans. The kids really wanted to go to Baker's Hill again and use the playground, and we also found an air conditioned shopping Mall with several play areas.



The highlight of Puerto Princesa was the "good bugs" - fireflies. A 45 minute taxi ride took us out of the city and into the countryside to the Iwahig river. We were the first in line for the boats, and were given tickets #1 and #2 - yay! Unfortunately, conditions were not ideal apparently because of the wind. It seemed like only a slight breeze to me, but fireflies it turns out are super sensitive to wind. They had to send a boatman out to see if there were any fireflies tonight. While we waited to go on the tour, Kyla and Jake made friends with the owner's grand kids and were even given glow stick lollipops by them. This kept them occupied while they waited.



Finally we were given the go-ahead, even though we were warned that the fireflies were not as prolific as usual due to the wind conditions.Scott and Kyla got into the first boat and Jake and I followed in the second. Our guide paddled us down the dark river while telling us his memorized facts about fireflies. He pointed a laser into the sky to show us constellations of stars. He also gave us a stick and showed us how to drag it in the water to make the phosphorescent plankton light up. Jake loved this part and kept asking me to "do the magic again." He loved it so much that he could barely drag his eyes away from it long enough to look up at the fireflies shimmering in the trees. It was strange. I thought there'd be fireflies spread out evenly along the river, but instead they congregated around certain trees. Despite the warnings, I thought we saw a lot. I was only disappointed by two things. First, they stayed far up in the trees and didn't come down to our level. Second, I had really wanted to see Kyla's reaction but we had to be in two separate boats. Scott said she loved it and took it all in.



So that's our time in Palawan at an end. Tomorrow we fly to Bohol island for the second leg of our Philippines trip!



**** As always, please scroll right down past the ads to see more photos! ****

---