LIVING LIFE WITH A SENSE OF ABANDON: "i HAVE SAND IN EVERYPLACE YOU CAN IMAGINE

EL NIDO, PHILIPPINES

Temperature: 35 Degrees Celsius

Track of the day: "I'm Yours", Jason Mraz

"I can't move," I say groggily, trying painfully to sit up in my bed, "I have the worst sunburn on my back." Alecs simply shakes his head at me as every time we visit the Philippines I forget to apply sunscreen until it's too late. "Should we take a day off from island hopping?" Alecs asks as he texts one of his cousins. Nodding my head, I carefully roll back over in bed, quickly falling asleep. "I'm hungry," Alecs whines a few hours later, "let's go have breakfast." I drag myself out of bed and get dressed, all the while glaring at Alecs for waking me up at this ungodly hour of

10:30AM. After breakfast we decide to run a few errands around town, which include buying new sandals, postcards and of course sunscreen. "Magkakano itong tsinelas (how much are these sandals?)" I ask a vendor, holding some plain white flip flops. The young girl informs me they are 60 Pesos ($1.75 CAD) and I of course snatch them up. Alecs also purchases some cheap sandals and it's now late afternoon so we head to the beach for lunch. A group of children stand huddled around something on the beach and Alecs and I struggle to see what it might be. "I think it's a really big fish," I say getting a glimpse of a tail, "let's come back after lunch." As we sit at the open air bar looking out on the ocean, dozens of children run down the shoreline gathering together at the sea creature. A little boy runs past us in the other direction, returning a few minutes later with a half dozen friends in tow. Quickly finishing our meal, we walk down the beach to see what all the fuss is about. A meter from the water lies a dead dugong with no visible wounds but blood on its face. "I wonder how it died," I say to Alecs touching the dugong's flipper. "Maybe it got hit by a boat," Alecs says, as several men snap photos with their cell phones. The rest of our day is spent walking in the shade, relaxing by the sea and preparing for another day of island hopping.

"Kuya June, good morning," Alecs says to our boat driver as we hop onboard. The air is cool and the ocean still as the boat breaks through the water at an ever quickening pace. The islands we are visiting today are the furthest away and it takes nearly an hour to arrive at the first destination. "I'm nervous," I say to Alecs as we gear up to get in the water. We are bound for Secret Beach, a hidden pocket of white sand beach only accessibly by swimming through the narrow opening in the cliff. If there are strong winds, the passage becomes impassable as the waves will push the swimmer up into the jagged rocks at the top. I follow Alecs to the cave opening where Kuya June makes us go through one by one, timing our entry with the waves. Alecs makes it through safely and I wait for my signal to go through, diving quickly under the cave entrance swimming rapidly to the other side. Once inside we find ourselves both alone and isolated in a serene heaven on earth. A school of blue fish follow us into the coral filled beach, and keeping our heads under water we watch another performance by the hundreds of fish and many sea creatures. I nudge Alecs underwater gesturing to a weird creature on the

ocean floor with lip-like characteristics. Alecs dives underneath poking at the purple thing which retracts quickly, reeling away from his hand, deeper into the sandy floor. Swimming around the enclosure we continually point things out to one another, fish, corals, clams, starfish and dozens of new and unusual creatures to us. We spend quite some time relishing in

the calm, quietness of this completely confined swimming hole. Hidden behind a colossal limestone tower lies a sandy beach far from any tourist. When we have fully explored the area, basked in the sunshine and enjoyed the beach to the fullest, another couple swims through the opening

signaling it is our time to leave. Feeling a little more confident about diving back to the other side, I film Alecs swimming through before continuing on myself. It was almost noon by the time we left and that meant finding a small island to cook our fish. On today's menu was a rather prehistoric looking fish with large sharp spikes for fins and a bleak looking expression on it's barbecued head. I take my first bite and am pleasantly surprised to find a delicious array of taste performing a tango on my tongue. Dozens of purple jellyfish wash up on shore and Alecs and I take turns holding to strange creatures that we both fear more than sharks. "I just don't know which one's are poisonous and which ones aren't" Alecs says scooping one out of the water, "that's what makes them scary." Pushing past the dead and dying jellyfish near shore we move to deeper waters to explore the coral and fish. Spotting a unique looking black and yellow fish Alecs nudges me and I follow it around for sometime as it dives through coral caves past rainbow coloured fish and eventually I loose it in

the depths of the ocean. Dodging a large jellyfish, I swim back over to Alecs who is diving to the corals, getting a closer look at fish who huddle together guarding their section of the sea against him. Above water we are surrounded by several island dotting the water and a beautiful sandy beach that rivals Boracay's fame white sand. "I don't wanna leave this place," I say to Alecs when we finally surface, "there's so much to see down there." When we finally do manage to climb aboard the boat, Kuya June and his regular

helper Joenel set off for snake island, so named for it's hundreds of poisonous sea snakes which surround the island - just kidding. Snake Island is a long white sandbar that snakes it's way across a bay with the island appearing like the snakes head. Following Joenel, we climb up the island to a viewpoint overlooking the long sandbar and the many other islands around us. "This is breathtaking," Alecs says, sitting at a small bamboo hut up top, "you can see everything from up here." The numerous mountainous islands are surrounded by sparkling waters, leafy palm trees and sensational sandy beaches. A fisherman and young boy

cast their small nets in the distant waters as we begin our descent down the rocky hill. Carefully maneuvering around loose rocks, uneven stone steps and protruding tree roots we reach the bottom and continue walking along the white sandbar. "This is too much work," I say, walking down the beach into the water, "let's swim instead of walking." By the time we've reached the end of Snake Island Kuya June is waving us over to the boat for our stop. Before we know it D'Victory (our boat) is pulling up at a small cave opening in a cliff and Joenel and Kuya June's son guide us into it. "You have to lay on your belly and crawl through," Joenel tells us doing so himself. Alecs positions himself on his stomach and using his arms he pulls himself through the cavity unable to avoid scraping his back on the rocks above. Following closely behind I also come out on the other side with a plethora of scrapes and soon-to-be bruises on my shoulders

and arms. Alecs taps me on the shoulder pointing to the many black creatures hanging from the ceiling of the cave. "Paniki (Bats)" Joenel tells us as we continue climbing deeper into the dark cave. As Alecs and I finish exploring, Joenel and Kuya June's son carve their names into the rock near the entrance. Upon leaving, both Alecs and I are able to exit without further scraping ourselves up. "Last stop is the grotto," Kuya June says while starting up the motor. A short drive away from the cave is a tall limestone karst with a cross high above, towering over the heart-shaped island. Decades ago, a group of priests, nuns and pilgrims came to the island where they constructed a nail less cross carrying it to the highest cliff where it would overlook the islands. Ascending the dirt stairs to the top Alecs and I admire the beauteous scenery wildly shooting photos from every angle. "Imagine carrying a wooden cross up here," Alecs says, trying to catch his breath, "carrying a bottle of water up here was almost too much." We walk around the small outdoor chapel before catching our boat back to El Nido. After a long day in the water Alecs and I have trouble

keeping our eyes open as we splash through the water. Kuya June hands us each a life-jacket so we can make practical use of it as a pillow and we both settle in for a short nap on the water. "I can't take you two island hopping tomorrow," Kuya June says after waking us up 45 minutes later, "I'm taking my son and his friends to some islands." We agree to meet up again in two days for the final loop of islands - Loop D and bidding him farewell we walk up to our hotel on

the beach. "I really want to buy a pair of flippers," Alecs says the next morning as we prepare our backpack for the day, "I love using the ones we rented." We decide to walk along the small streets of the town proper meandering in and out of shops searching for various items. We stop at the El Nido Botique Art Cafe where after much discussion we agree to each purchase a pair of flippers that match our masks and snorkels. "We need to go snorkeling now," Alecs says practically running back to the hotel, leaving me far behind, "I can't wait until tomorrow." Although today was supposed to be a 'do nothing' sort of day we decide to book a half day tour to two islands close to our beach. Stepping up into our small speedboat we take a seat across from each other and I can't help but smile as Alecs is literally unable to sit still with the anticipation of testing

out his own flippers. Stopping at the first little island on the map, Alecs dives in before the boat has a chance to dock and I quickly try to catch up. We spend over an hour speeding through the water, practicing our dives and thoroughly enjoying our purchase that we have yet to regret. The last stop on our half day on the water is helicopter island, named so because of its helicopter-shape, however the waves on this island certainly live up to its name. "I have sand in everyplace you can imagine - literally," Alecs shouts as we sit on the shoreline with the water literally sucking us in and the pushing us forcefully back out. As the sea sucks us in we are pulled along the beach as sand fills inside our shorts. When the sun has dipped low in the sky and a cool breeze runs over us we agree it's time to pack it in for another day.

Tomorrow will be our last day here in paradise and we are planning to re-visit some of our