Philippines
Location: Philippines
I have recently come back from a trip to Donsol, Sorsogon in the Philippines. Sorsogon is about 550 km's from Manila, and if your like me and love adventure then it's worth every bump in the road.
The first morning we were up bright and early for a trip to the Butanding (what the locals call the Whale Sharks) Interaction Centre for registration and a Video-clip briefing. We were divided into groups of 5-6 people and loaded onto Bancas (Outriggers) and went off in search of the Whale Sharks. The Whale Shark is the largest living fish and shark and they feed on Plankton and small fish. The largest Whale Shark recorded is 40 feet, but some say they have seen them up to 50-60 feet.
Once the spotters found a shark they shouted "Butanding, Butanding", and pointed to the location, then our leader positioned us all on the sides of the Outrigger and we started to gear up our masks, snorkels, and fins ready for the cue to jump in the water. Once we were very close to the Shark our leader shouted, "Follow me", and that was our cue to jump in with him. We had to jump in as quietly as possible to be sure not to frighten the Whale Shark away.
I was totally awe struck with this big beautiful creature. I was so close that I could have touched the Shark if I had extended my arm a little further, but I soon remembered that it wasn't allowed. A short while after we were watching and it disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. The entire group surfaced at around the same time and simultaneously we all started cheering and laughing with our hearts thumping a million miles an hour!
Once back on board the Outrigger our Spotters were back to work trying to spot more Whale Sharks. In fact they did 6 times over and we were out there for a total of 3 hours. There are no guarantees of spotting a Shark, but on clear days early in the morning you have a much better chance and if your lucky you can sight them every ten minutes or so. The length of time your in the water with the creature can differ too, it can be as short as 10 seconds or as long as one hour.
It was past midday when we arrived back onto shore, and we were all absolutely starving from all the adrenaline and swimming we had done. We all sat down together, ate lunch and shared out experiences with each other, of with I'm sure will be repeated many times over at future lunch and dinners to come.
Hanging out with the Whale Sharks was by far my most favorite experience on this trip to the Philippines, but it doesn't stop here. I went on a Firefly River Cruise (by the way did you know that they're no actually flies but beetles?), which was a spectacular display of dancing Firefly's. I was mesmerized, I could have stared at it for hours. I also got to experience the presence of Luminescent Plankton in the waters. It's where if you drag your hand through the water you create a silvery effect on the surface. It's almost like liquid Moon.
If you are a true nature lover and want to get off the beaten track then I totally recommend visiting the Philippines and swimming with the Whale Sharks, you will never forget the experience for the rest of your life. I know for sure that I won't.
