River Trip

A new experience today.  We drove off into "the jungle" - as Steve described it.  Which sums up how stressful it was for him!  We didn't realise the kind of track we would be travelling on - or that we would be fording a river in the process!  And the managers of the guesthouse - guiding us in their pick-up - thought we had 4 wheel drive. Little bit of mis-communication!  Once we got there, it was amazing.  The river was beautifully clear - though a tad cold on first plunge!

We made a fire and put some foil-wrapped potatoes in it.  The Filipino family with us put their rice pot on to cook and did pork and fish barbecue. (The fish was amazing.  So moist and delicious). Then we had roasted marshmallows.  So fun.  We finished with buko straight from the tree.

There are Mangyan villages up in the hills there and a group of Mangyan kids and young people were swimming and playing a bit further down.  A couple of Mangyan guys were floating their stuff down the river on a log raft and they left it near us so Rose and one of the older girls had great fun playing with it most of the afternoon.                                            

Coming back wasn't so bad as we knew what to expect and Steve made us all get in the pick-up till he had crossed the river.  However, the Filipina guiding us back - because, naturally, none of the roads were signposted and it was the back of beyond - was sleepy and got us lost!  But some helpful guys at the side of the road who watched us go past them one way and then back the other pointed out the correct way.

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