Dedicated to my loving Wife Linda,
who continues to be my daily joy in life and just basically puts up with me.
Welcome to my little slice of paradise, known as the island of
Mactan located off the main island of
Cebu
within the Philippine Islands. My Beautiful Wife Linda and I live
within the city of Lapu-Lapu, named after the tribal chieftain who
killed the Spanish explorer Magellan hundreds of years ago on this very
island. The photos page linked below will host ever rotating pictures
of the local area and of course the many beaches we visit twice a week.
Some of the pictures may come as a shock as I try to show the standard
of living that ninety percent of the population must endure here. The
one thing that struck me the most, was that even as materially poor as
these people are, they seem very happy and content, always a smile and
a friendly hello for me, very laid back and most hospitable of all
nations. A very tropical way of life, from exotic fruits and "house"
plants growing wild to kids jumping off seaside cliffs naked. The
traffic does take some getting used to, the most common form of
transportation are Jeepneys (mini decked out bus of a sort) and
Tricycles (small motorcycle with a huge covered side car), even though
we are in the middle of a city, I can even now hear roosters crowing,
cock fighting is very popular here and you will see a few roosters tied
up by a foot staked out in almost every yard. Its also very common to
have to steer around road crossing goats and cattle and a lot of stray
dogs. You do not leave anything edible unattended on the beach, if you
do, don't be surprised to find a goat standing on the picnic table
helping itself to your lunch.
Getting around Mactan or Cebu Island is relatively inexpensive.
The "tricycle" shown is the most common of local transportation costing
Linda and I about 80 cents for the twenty minute trip to the beach,
which for us takes us almost across the entire island. I
appreciate the rack located on the back of the tricycle as it allows me
to carry home all my collection buckets.
The local drivers
have all taken us to the beach so many times now over the years that I
no longer have to tell them where to go, once they see me standing on
the side of the road in a wetsuit they know exactly where I want to go.
They are also very friendly and know that if they help me to
carry my gear either to the beach or back into the house they will get
a nice tip out of it, of which I would do regardless of their helping
or not as I feel sorry for the drivers spending an hour on the road
just to make two bucks.
There are also plenty of taxis
available which you will need to get anywhere of any distance. On
rare occasions some of the drivers will try to make a "bargain" with
you on the fare which is never a bargain for anyone but the
driver. Insist that they use the meter and if not, get out and
find another taxi. There are no city public transportation to
speak of yet there are a great many "jeepneys", which are nothing more
than modified trucks yet are fairly comfortable and very inexpensive,
but with a taxi only costing two dollars to just about anywhere you
need to go, I would rather enjoy the privacy and air conditioning than
to ride in the back of a jeepney.
TO BE CONTINUED