Manta Bowl

Last weekend I finally got to go diving again. Ida and I went to Donsol, the small village that mom, dad and I went to with Flager back in Jan '09 to snorkel with the Whale Sharks. It was a little strange to be back again as not much has really changed. The first thing I noticed was all the backpackers though. Sorsogon city itself has no westerners and I have enjoyed standing out in Iloilo as well. Donsol meant back to the hassle of taxi drivers and getting overcharged for stuff. Something I didn't miss....
Anyway, Donsol is the jump off point to a dive experience called Manta Bowl, which is a dive specifically to see Manta rays. We saw dolphins on the nearly 2 hour ride to the dive site, but it was totally worth it as we saw multiple mantas up close as well as some white tip reef sharks. I was surprised at how big the mantas were and how not worried I was to dive with sharks nearby. Very beautiful, I enjoyed being in the water again.
As for Sorsogon itself, not much is going on. I am mostly just hanging out and relaxing all day. Sorsogon is a tiny provincial capital. So small it doesn't even have an airport and all the traffic seems to be tricycles. I'm staying in Ida's tiny home with her roommate JD about 3km from the centre. It's funny because you only have to go a couple km from a city centre to end up living in a subdivision neighbourhood with cows and water buffalo wandering around...
In other surprising but not too surprising news, apparently as soon as I left the school in Iloilo it went bankrupt and shut down. We all saw it coming but were not expecting it quite that fast. Looks like I left at the perfect time.
I am finally leaving here this weekend. Taiwan next...
Ammon