Philippines XIII

Not perfect, but just for me alone

Somir-cave / Northern Surigao

After 5 hours looking for surfable waves without result....

...it was time to change the plan. I just had to find a guy named Raúl in a village wher i've never been before. Found out pretty fast where he lives (in the house next to the basketball hoop). Then i had the priviledge to be one of the first ever foreigners to visist the Somir cave ('I think i'm going to call it Somir-cave'). Thats the entrance to the cave

after the first narrow passage                                                  you end up in this chamber

then you 'just' have to squeeze through the next hole...






















to end up in the main part of the cave

then there is spectacular formations,

music,

a few inhabitants                                                                 and a subterranean lake for a bath

Greetings to Knut, the old speleologist

Philippines XII

Me: ''So you go surfing?''
Local: ''Nah, waves nah good!''
Okay, than i'll go surfing alone. Like nearly everytime....

How to... get rid of pain / the cocodunk II

What to do against pain in your foot? Surf! Two times surfing and the pain is gone. Now the foot is only swollen and blue. Let some doctor explain that, hehe.

the cocodunk

Thats why you shouldn't do a dunking with a coconut on uneven ground. That probably one ligament less.

the mouse vs the heat

Yes, it's very hot here, hehe.

Omi (1916-2013)

In Remembrance of an enthusiastic ornithologist a picture of the well-travelled arctic tern

foto: planet-wissen.de

Philippines XI

with the fully loaded outriggerboat to the next island

How to... sell lots of burgers

thats the way they're promoting burgers here...

Phlippines X

18h stranded in the harbour of Liloan/ Leyte because the ferry in the background had engineproblems

Tuesday is boulderday (2)

What to do if the weather changes and destroys the expected perfect surf but it's too late to leave?

Option I: place yourself on a deckchair at the pool --> NO WAY, NEVER!!! No chance for this option!
Option II: You walk along the seemingly endless and straight beach until it finally gets more interesting

Then you encounter a climbing crag into which there could easily be bolted some 50 routes around 20m to 30m in height. Naturally, you want to see them closer so you cross the 'river' which later turns out to be a strait between two islands.  'Hah', you're thinking, 'done!'. But then there's the exhausting and dangerous approach to the rock over crumbling limestonerocks and through the bushes. And despite the all-terrain-highaltitude-fliflops you're thinking the first time: 'Why can't i just be a normal tourist and just for one day do nothing and be happy with lying at the pool?'

After your flipflop got stuck for about the tenth time in between the rocks and uncountable stones crumbled under the weight of your body you're reaching the crag thinking: 'Hah, that was easy!'. Then you can climb some routes on 'sight' in your head.

For the way back you're thinking to yourself: 'I'm not so stupid and gonna walk through the stones anymore!' and you choose the mangroves. After a while you're seeing yourself twisting and wiggeling like Bear Grylls through the roots and branches of the mangrovetrees and you start thinking again: 'Why the hell can't i just be happy sitting at the pool? Or be happy with just booking an all-inklusive holiday and do nothing all day?'. Then, after a while, you're reaching a village in which everyone looks at you totally astonished and probably thinking: 'What the hell is he doing here?'. And they're right.

There you go to the bakery and buy a bun with a surprisingly purple-coloured filling.

After that you go home.
There you see the pool as an option for the next day.
-->  NO WAY, NEVER!!!

Tropical Perfection

I was waiting 4 hours in the rain for the owner of a Guesthouse. At the time when i was sick of waiting i caught the next bus and rode with it until the end. After one day of waves, that were just too big (i tried paddling out 3 times) the next day was just perfect. In the morning 3-3,5m with offshore and sometimes on the sets around 4m. For a change the water was cristallclear and not a floating trashcan. Here a picture between the first and the second surf (around 11am)



In the evening after three times surfing and around 8h of paddling in the arms it was still perfect with 2,5-3m and still offshore. But the arms.... I was surfing the whole time alone despite 1,5h when 4 locals were paddling around me. And you can't let any of those beauties go unridden.



from time to time there were some smaller waves coming through (around 5.45pm)

but the small waves were dangerous cause there were still some monsters coming through.

1 month in the Philippines and already the second decent day of surfing. I think i'm on a roll....

Philippines IX

something for the romantic people amongst you....

Travelling on the border of dreamlike and nightmare

With such busses the travelling is done here away from the main touristroutes. Here on my way through Eastern Samar.

 5 times 200 liters of fish in plasticbags sitting next to me

 and for sure a really nice bodywork

Here's a short video:

Man vs Beast

Hired a boat with some other tourists today to try and snorkel with a Whaleshark. The odds were bad for it's not the season right now. We went anyway and, well, and we didn't find one.
Whaleshark: 1  Tiburonny: 0

Philippines VIII

 Here, Majestics should be breaking. What it hardly ever does. At least the weather was shait, the food was bad and expensive and i was knocked out for three days with some kind of flu from the nonstop-rain on the way to the Mananap-Falls.

My hut and the view of the superbright ocean

How to... fix your adapter in the plug

Here's my elaborate work (pat. pend.):

Happy New Year!

Philippines VII

Mananap Falls
After 2 hours of searching with a belgian couple the coconutfarmer showed us the way

Philippines VI

Citylife in Daet

Here's a video from the market in Daet:

Philippines V

A typical vendor on the street

Sausages, Chickenheads and Pigintestines