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.

We had both finally dozed off just before we were abruptly awakened by a large crash that threw us forward in our bunks as the ship tipped precariously from one side to the other. I was immediately shocked awake and frozen with fear, sure that we were about to die. It was almost 12:30 at night and pitch black in our tiny room that was now beginning to feel more like a coffin. My husband sat up in his bunk and pulled back the drape. Looking out his port hole, he saw the smaller boat below us that we had obviously hit well below us and dead in the water.

I was panicking and did not know what to do. My husband calmly told me to get dressed and put on my life preserver so we could go outside our cabin to see what was going on. Everyone on the boat had the same idea. They all rushed to the rail with their life preservers, wondering if we were going to sink. The motors on our ferry had been shut down and we glided to a stop. After a few minutes the captain came on over the intercom urging passengers to remain calm while they checked out the damage. Easier said than done. After about a half an hour of sitting there dead in the water, the captain came back on the intercom and jovially commented “no problem, just lost a little paint”. We would be back under way in just a few more minutes.

I tried to get back to sleep but understandably had a very hard time. I couldn’t help thinking about the sharks that we had been feeding just a few days before and the bigger ones that we might have been feeding that night. Daylight and the shore line of Mindanao couldn’t come soon enough for me.

As I had mentioned before, I had a fear of boats and the water. I did not like the idea of taking the ferries but it was the only reasonable choice we had of getting back and forth between Mindanao and Cebu. When I first mentioned the idea to my husband he thought it sounded like a wonderfully romantic cruise. I knew better but I did not want to diminish his high expectations prematurely.

The boat we had taken over to Cebu was very crowded and the state room that we had was clean and neat despite the fact that it was somewhat claustrophobic in the interior of the ship. At least the state room that we had on the return voyage was on the outer rail of the ship and we could see the ocean from the port holes. I say at least because that was the only good thing about the room that we had on the return voyage that was even marginally acceptable. It was tiny, had two small bunks on either side, a refrigerator that did not work, a filthy & clogged shower and no bed linen or bath towels to be found anywhere. When we called the porter and complained, he wanted to argue rather than help us. He said they must be there somewhere. My husband finally had to go to the linen dispensary and get them himself.

The contrast in our accommodations of the past 24 hours could have not been greater. Fortunately we were both tired and were only interested in getting some sleep during the overnight voyage. Unfortunately the bunks were very uncomfortable and despite my trying to fit on one side with my husband I finally gave up and retreated to my own small bunk. Sleep was not something that was going to come easy that night.

It was a sad day the morning we woke up and had to check out of our beautiful honeymoon resort. In retrospect we both wish that we had stayed at least another week. We were really just beginning to thoroughly enjoy the place when our time ran out.
Since our check out time was in the morning and our ferry ride back to Mindanao began at sunset we decided to have our driver show us some of the sights in Cebu in the meantime. Our first stop was a small store that had an excellent selection of dried fish. My aunt had asked me to pick up some dried fish and squid for her while we were there in Cebu because she said that was the best place in the Philippines to get it. After my husband tried some of that squid he wished we had bought a couple of pounds of it for us.
On the way back to Cebu our driver told us of a beautiful Chinese temple over looking the city and we decided that would be our next stop. Then, quite by accident, on the way there we ran across a decorative kite flying competition and decided to stop there for a while. The kites were beautiful and amazing and the wind was just perfect for the occasion. We took many pictures and then proceeded on to the temple. We had a very enjoyable tour and arrived at the port just in time to catch our ferry back to my home island.

While we were there we even took an afternoon trip to a nearby shopping mall . There he bought me a nice watch and a comfortable pair of sandals for himself. We had lunch at the food court at the mall and my husband was really impressed with a very tasty squid dish that he got there from a very ordinary looking booth. It was a bit of a culture shock to go so quickly back and forth from our tropical resort paradise to an urban mall with only a short taxi ride in between.

Back at the resort there were all sorts of water sports available. They had tour boats, kayaks, pedal boats, jet-skies, tubing and snorkeling. Our greatest regret was that we were not able to take advantage of any of the water sports because we did not want to take the risk of having my hubby’s infection return. He has promised me that we will take advantage of them all when we celebrate our second honeymoon. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful place and a wonderful time and it all passed by too quickly.

Our honeymoon paradise resort was quite a unique place. From the road outside it looked like a fortress with a large wooden stockade fence and gate complete with shotgun toting guard. Once inside though, the ambiance changed quickly and completely to that of the most luxurious tropical paradise. We had missed the enjoyment of taking in the not so subtle beauty when we first got there because of the worry over my husband’s condition. Now that he was on the mend we began to enjoy the surroundings immensely.

On the far side of the breakfast pavilion was a large tank where they kept and fed live sharks during the afternoon. You could actually walk out over the shark tank on a small bridge and help feed them if you were brave enough. There were vendors along the ocean side selling all sorts of trinkets and keepsakes. My hubby bought a whole collection of beautiful exotic sea shells for next to nothing. Some he left there in the Philippines with my family and some he took back to the US with him. He says that his all time favorite picture of me is the one shown above on the white sand beach with the shells in front of me and the gentle wind blowing my hair.

Finally it was beginning to feel like a real honeymoon for both of us. The warm summer breezes off the ocean and the cool moon lit nights walking on the white sugar sand beach were like living a dream for me. Each morning we would sleep in late and then get up to go for the most wonderful breakfast buffet that I had ever tasted.
The resort had two restaurants. One was primarily an open air seafood restaurant located on a narrow peninsula reaching out into the ocean. The other was a beautiful glass enclosed pavilion next to a palm surrounded, pond shaped swimming pool that was crossed by a narrow wooden bridge. The wonderful breakfast buffet was served in the air-conditioned pavilion.

The food was a combination of the most delectable native Filipino dishes and traditional American food like bacon and eggs backed up by a full compliment of the freshest of sweet tropical fruit. My hubby and I both agree that it was the best restaurant that either one of us have ever dined in.