Bahala na

From El Nido we took a 5.5 hour ferry ride to Coron, then an hour-long trike ride to Concepcion. The ferry was only a couple years old and had very comfortable seats inside an air-conditioned cabin. We were excited for a luxurious journey. Then the rolling seas started… two of us lost our lunch; the rest of us only narrowly escaped! We found the back of the cabin less bouncy and the kids took turns standing back there holding onto me. Then a kind lady suggested we go up to the open-air deck. She was right – the view was gorgeous, the fresh air helped the nausea, and the wind was enough to keep the heat away. Sorry I don’t have any pictures of this ride – I had other things to focus on at the time 🙂

Concepcion is a small fishing village (smaller than we expected) close to popular island hopping destinations. We went for an eye-opening walk on our first day: we wound up in a neighborhood of huts on stilts in a mangrove forrest. They would have been super-cool forts, but it’s hard to imagine these were homes for families with many children. Still, everyone we saw smiled!

Other random findings include more roosters than anywhere else, pineapple plants, a nice long pier, and star apples (delicious but I forgot to take pictures).

We spent lots of time at Concepcion Falls. Cool freshwater swimming was a great alternative to air conditioning! It was only a ten- minute walk from our room 🙂

We rented kayaks one day and paddled up a river that wound through a mangrove forrest. Daniel and I have been reading Mark Twain so it felt very much like we were Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn!

On Sunday we found a church to attend. They were super-welcoming and we made some friends. After three and a half hours, 80% of which we couldn’t understand, I was really proud of our kids!

Of course we spent a day island hopping, but I’ll save that for the next post!