It was a beautiful morning as we approached the northern coastline of Mindanao. The ocean was calm and the mountains of my home island glistened majestically in the morning sun. We were late getting in to port and I was suffering from lack of sleep. My husband had quickly and easily drifted back off to sleep after our “incident” but I was too shaken to get any more sleep at all that night. It wasn’t until later than I told him the history of the many ferry accidents that had taken hundreds of lives in my country over recent years. When I later told him about them he finally began to understand the basis of my fears.
The port city was a small, quaint and beautiful little town tucked at the foot of the mountains. Unfortunately I was too tired to enjoy the scenery. Fortunately my well rested husband took these pictures that I can now also appreciate.

As we departed the ferry, I was greatly relieved to finally get back on hard land. Feeling lucky to be alive, all I wanted now was a nice soft bed to recline on, a pillow to lay my head and relax my mind.
It was not until a few weeks later that I learned that the ferry had actually been badly damaged and had required extensive repair in dry dock. And oh, one other small detail. The smaller boat that we had collided with in the middle of the night? It was, in fact, a gasoline tanker! It doesn’t take much of an imagination to guess the picture that now came to my mind. Now I could not only imagine being eaten by the sharks, but also sauteed before being served.