It has been a week since I went back home, my sunburn is now slowly peeling off as if revealing the long lost map of the Yamashita treasures. 

 It was a brief vacation actually, what is a 5-day vacation spent at home and a family you belong to compared to years of sitting (at times aimlessly) at work. The good thing with these brief moments is you get to value each time spent at home. Just at the thought of being at home, of being there and not somewhere in an oven-like apartment alone was a relief for me. And again I have my mom to cook for us, my father and his many trivias and health reminders, my brother for me to pick on to, and my youngest brother whom I’ll always adore.

Being at home was also a time spent with friends. It was only for a Saturday evening when we met up and bought some barbecues and beer and had the usual chit chat of the good ol’ days.

Something that is not missed when I go home is the beach and lots of food. This year, we had a Dolphin Watching tour along Tañon strait situated between the Negros and Cebu islands . According to Wiki, the strait serves as a marine wildlife reserve, breeding, feeding and resting ground for 11 of the 25 marine mammals.

Operated by the Tourism Office of Bais City, Negros Oriental, this tourist attraction started way back in the late nineties, maybe when I was still in freshman high school. It even started as a Dolphin and Whale Watching as there were sightings then of Humpback Whale.

We started the cruise at around 8 am at the Capiñahan wharf, we hired 2 pumpboats given by the size of my family since each boat has a maximum capacity of 20 persons only.

It took us almost 2 hours to get to the strait where most dolphins show up. Thanks to a perfect weather, with the bluest of skies and the whitest of clouds, these very sociable mammals came around frolicking and spinning as if putting up a show. We were all enthralled, I don’t know why but seeing them swim along the boat brings about a kind of child-like amazement.

 

After that (of course we don’t get to watch them all-day, these mammals get tired too I guess), we headed off to the SandBar, where in between those deep waters lies a kilometer-stretch of white sand.

 

We had our lunch in the boat, we had grilled squid and fishes, seaweed salad, Lechon, Pancit, fruits that were feasted by all of us. We dipped in the beach, despite the heat of the sun and enjoyed treasured moments with the family.

 

Just before going back, we dropped by at the Canumay Mangrove reserve which is maintained and protected by the Local Government. Mangroves are very essential for marine life since they maintain water quality, filtering pollutants from land and also serve as a nursery for fishes and invertebrates.

 

It was such a great day! It was just so perfect. It wish it would always stay this way.

 

 

For more information about the Dolphin Watching, please click here

 

Words and photos by Katharsis

 

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