One of the most absolutely-cannot-forget, etched-on-my-mind-forever travel experience:
The most frightening travel experience I have was when two of my friends/travel buddies had near accidents at sea...It was May 2003, in Donsol, Sorsogon...We were whale spotting..We set out to look for the whale shark, locally known as butanding, as early as 7 am. We were told that after lunch, whale sharks can't be spotted anymore so we set out early to maximize our time and money.....Two hours later, no butanding in sight...It was a real emotional rollercoaster for us...The whale spotter will see a whale shark, then we'll all get excited..then the whale'l suddenly disappear..leaving us disappointed...then we'll see something again and we get all excited again, then it will slip away and then we're left disappointed again..excited, disappointed...again and again...until, at about 10 am, the actual whale shark was just a stone's throw away...of course, it was an amazing sight to behold..so big, so real,so gentle...Our butanding interaction officer immediately dived with Roma to swim towards the big fish...But i guess we weren't properly warned about the seas of Donsol...the water was murky, the current strong...Armi was too excited to think about what lies ahead...together with Alma, who has not fixed her snorkeling gear yet, they jumped into the sea (with matching shouts of go,go,go,go,go!), for the much awaited butanding experience...
As I was watching Kuya Allan and Roma make contact with the butanding, i was waiting for my two other friends to come to view....But as I looked below the boat, I saw Alma struggling with her snorkeling gear while trying to stay afloat..Meanwhile, the bangkeros turned off the motor and were steering the boat towards the whale..To my horror, I realized that if the bangkeros continue to steer the boat, Alma will either have her neck broken or be sucked deep into the sea....I ran to the other side of the boat, bumping into Mabel who was speechlessly flailing her arms, while I was hysterically shouting MANONG! MANONG! to warn the bangkeros and ask them to save Alma, who is very nearly drowning...I heaved a sigh of relief when the hesitating bangkeros finally jumped to save her. While they were still hauling her up, I heard a faint cry of help from somewhere in our back...Then I saw a pale Armi, wearing the bulky life vest, slowly being dragged by the sea away from us...Later, she told us that no matter how hard she swam, she can't compete with the powerful waves of the sea. So the manongs, who did not really want to get wet in the first place, had no choice but to jump in a second time and save another person.
Inside the boat, Alma and Armi, very fresh from the frightening experience, looked at each other and burst out laughing...But this is one occassion in our 15 years of friendship when I could not laugh with them..I was too shaken with the experience and i really wanted to cry at that point..At the back of my mind, I was thinking that the trip could nearly have been one of those 'when good things turn bad' moments..I could've lost my friends..what would I say to their parents?....Later, when we continued the butanding search, and we had a few more sightings....Perhaps, the sight of the butanding drove all their fears away, or the giant creature was simply just too hard to resist...whatever the reason is, Armi and Alma bravely ventured once again into the deep blue sea and had moments with the big fish...while their other hand is firmly latched on to the experienced diver, of course ...
As for me, I contented myself with the sight of the butanding that swam beside our boat...I can't swim, and after that experience, I was wayyy too afraid to venture out...
Some highly recommended links if you want another butanding experience, this time from an American volunteer in Donsol town or if you want to experience it yourself...
As I was watching Kuya Allan and Roma make contact with the butanding, i was waiting for my two other friends to come to view....But as I looked below the boat, I saw Alma struggling with her snorkeling gear while trying to stay afloat..Meanwhile, the bangkeros turned off the motor and were steering the boat towards the whale..To my horror, I realized that if the bangkeros continue to steer the boat, Alma will either have her neck broken or be sucked deep into the sea....I ran to the other side of the boat, bumping into Mabel who was speechlessly flailing her arms, while I was hysterically shouting MANONG! MANONG! to warn the bangkeros and ask them to save Alma, who is very nearly drowning...I heaved a sigh of relief when the hesitating bangkeros finally jumped to save her. While they were still hauling her up, I heard a faint cry of help from somewhere in our back...Then I saw a pale Armi, wearing the bulky life vest, slowly being dragged by the sea away from us...Later, she told us that no matter how hard she swam, she can't compete with the powerful waves of the sea. So the manongs, who did not really want to get wet in the first place, had no choice but to jump in a second time and save another person.
Inside the boat, Alma and Armi, very fresh from the frightening experience, looked at each other and burst out laughing...But this is one occassion in our 15 years of friendship when I could not laugh with them..I was too shaken with the experience and i really wanted to cry at that point..At the back of my mind, I was thinking that the trip could nearly have been one of those 'when good things turn bad' moments..I could've lost my friends..what would I say to their parents?....Later, when we continued the butanding search, and we had a few more sightings....Perhaps, the sight of the butanding drove all their fears away, or the giant creature was simply just too hard to resist...whatever the reason is, Armi and Alma bravely ventured once again into the deep blue sea and had moments with the big fish...while their other hand is firmly latched on to the experienced diver, of course ...
As for me, I contented myself with the sight of the butanding that swam beside our boat...I can't swim, and after that experience, I was wayyy too afraid to venture out...
Some highly recommended links if you want another butanding experience, this time from an American volunteer in Donsol town or if you want to experience it yourself...
Some pix:
on the way home clockwise -Rome, Alma, Armi, Mabel
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