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Published: January 28th 2007
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May 18: I'm in the office thinking, today it will be a long and tiring day. We will be going to Sorsogon to see the gentle giant of Donsol... the Whale shark. The plans of leaving early did not push through because my cousin and I have important things to do at work. We ended up leaving late in the afternoon. To save time we decided to meet in Lucena city since my cousin will be coming from Pangasinan
(they have an exhibit there). We leave Cavite at around 4:00pm, leaving my youngest son, James to my mother in law.
I have doubts if I can make it until Goa, our first destination
(Goa is 7-8hrs travel from Manila). I made quick stop in Petron gasoline station in south super hi-way to have gasoline and to buy 2 bottles of Red bull to energize me during the trip.
For no apparent reason the energize drink did not work for me. I'm so tired and sleepy that I'm eager to go to our meeting place first to rest or if lucky to have some sleep. But because of traffic we ended up reaching the place around 9:00pm. From a distance
Nice view 1
Road on the way to Legazpi. Photo taken inside the van I saw my cousin's Revo waiting. 😞 My cousin told me we would have our dinner in the restaurant 2hrs from where we were since we have to catch up from the loss time we spent in the traffic.
We reached the restaurant around 11:30pm
(thank God!!) We ordered their famous pansit lomi and soup. I ate a lot that night
(this is my way to battle lack of sleep). With full stomach I leave the restaurant with confidence that I can make it through the night... Alas!! Around 2:00am we finally reached Goa, my uncle and auntie greeted us. After a few talks I excuse myself to do my long awaited sleep.
May 19... Going to Legazpi via Sagnay rout Early in the morning we went to Legazpi via Sagnay rout. Taking this rout was an awesome driving experience. The first kilometer of the trip you will be driving along side the mountain with beautiful scenery. The rest of the trip was even more spectacular you will be driving along the coastal line. It is best to make some stop to savor the magnificent sights. We stop in the highest portion of the road to take pictures
Magnificent view!!!
View from the highest portion of the road and enjoy the panoramic view of the offshore island.
We reached Legazpi city just in time for lunch. We stayed in my cousin’s uncle’s house. They advised us to re-sched our trip to Donsol since it's already late. In replacement we went to a resort somewhere in Tobacco. The resort has 3 pools with cold water. The cold water came from the mountain that flows freely in the resort' pool. I find the place less attractive, but our Dragons enjoyed swimming in the cold and frizzy water.
May 20... Meeting the Gentle Giant of Donsol At around 8:00am we reached the town of Donsol. We immediately registered on the local whale interaction office and were shown a short video about the Whale shark Do’s and Don’ts during interaction
(Butanding for locals). We hired 2 boats with 2 spotters and 1 Butanding interaction officer for each boat.
We waited for hours but no Butanding in sight. To kill time we decided to have a quick dip in the ocean. It's so deep that you have only a few meters visibility. Sometime during our stay our interaction officer saw a stingray, but the location was too far from us,
Quick dip
After hours of waiting for the Butanding Zamdudes decided to have a quick dip in the deep water of Donsol. by the time we get there the stingray was nowhere to be found.
After 3 to 4 hours of waiting our long awaited first interaction came. There was a sudden excitement in the air; my cousins are all shouting Butanding, Butanding!! At about approximately 25 meters from the whale the spotter told us to jump. Only me and John jumps. We swam as fast as we can. As we approached the direction the spotter told us I saw a huge dark object in the water. It's the Butanding!! My heart was pounding hard because of excitement as I approached it. When I'm about 8 to 10 feet away I saw the huge gills and huge dorsal fins of the whale; the movement was so gentle like a ballet dancer. It was an amazing sight! The interaction only lasted less than 30 seconds but for me it’s like an eternity. When we saw the mammoth fish disappearing from the distance we went back to the boat. According to the spotter the size of the fish we saw was only 15 to 18 feet long.
After a few minutes another Butanding was spotted. I can tell with its huge fins
Nice view 2
Road on the way to Legazpi. Photo taken inside the van exposed in the water that its much bigger from the first one we saw. We again jump to the boat... to my disappointment I only saw the lower portion of the whale... Another one was spotted but this time only John jumps because I'm so tired swimming due to strong current.
By 3:00pm we were all exhausted and decided to return to the resort. We had our lunch and afterwards we were given a Butanding Interaction Certificate. A certificate that states we have once swam side by side with the gentle giant of Donsol. After a few photos with our certificate and buying souvenirs we returned to Legazpi city. On the way back we pass Cagsawa church ruins, and for the first time I saw the Mayon volcano’s illusive peak. It was an awesome site!
The next day we went home bringing with us the unforgettable experience with the Butandings.
See our video and photos during our Donsol trip
>> Video in Donsol >> Donsol Adventure photos
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