Camosta kayo bini bini! (Hello pretty ladies!)

This is Aiden's new Tagalog phrase that earned him many more members of his fan club. We had a wonderful family trip to Boracay. It is an island in the Western Visayas. We flew into Aklan, to the town of Kalibo. From there we had a small van drive us the 2 hours up the coast to the Caticlan Port. It was a beautiful drive, it was what we imagine how the Philippines looked before so much development.

Myrsa, Sophia, Adam & Aiden at Kalibo Airport

Adam & Sophia on banca trip to Boracay

Aiden & Mome enjoying the boat ride!

Boracay port - our banca is the one closest to us

From Caticlan, we took a banca (a motorized outrigger). It was quite the vessel, very spliced together odds and ends of wood and bamboo. Everyone was handed a lifevest which was both discouraging and reassuring at the same time. The kids enjoyed the boat trip over to the island of Boracay. We landed at the new boat landing and all five of us got into a trike (a motorbike with a side car). It was our first trike ride here in PHI and it was super fun, going through the lush valley and out to the southern White Beach area. It is an area about 4 kilometers long of pure, white sand, and turquoise blue water. This side of the island is very calm, so the waves were small and the water was very kid friendly. I try to rent vacation houses now instead of going the hotel/resort path. We stayed at the very mellow, beautiful and modern Boracay Beach Houses. We rented two floor of the owners home, Anito House - the kids and Myrsa got the Zen Room, and Adam and I got the dVision Room. Check our this link for more photos of the rooms: http://www.boracay.lihp

View of sunset from our room

Adam watching for falling coconuts

We got into our suits and enjoyed playing in the water for the next couple of days, making sand castles, taking walks on the beach and eating! Sophia is such a strong swimmer, and she even was able to master her little kid snorkel we brought for her. Aiden really enjoyed playing in the sand and flirting with every local and tourist girl who walked by. Adam and I walked all the way to the other end of White Beach to check out Diniwid Beach, after checking out the skim boarding near Willy's Rock. The next day Adam tried his hand at skim boarding and did pretty good, guess the skate boarding skills still pay off.

Adam skim boarding near Willy's Rock

We were going to rent a paraw (narrow hulled sailing outrigger) to go snorkeling, but it was too windy and choppy for sailing or snorkeling. Adam and I decided to hike Mt. Luho, the tallest peak on the island. We took a trike ride and hiked the rest of the way to the observatory. It was breathtakingly beautiful and worth the trip. We asked our trike guy to take us to a resort for lunch and he said,
"you don't want to go there, too touristy, you should try lunch at Balinghai." We were game and took off on another exciting trike ride through farms, dirt roads, and down a narrow lane. We got to the top of a cliff-side groovy hotel and hiked down to the beach/bar/restaurant. It was stellar! We shared a tiny white sand beach surrounded by lava rocks with two other couples. Lunch was yummy chicken curry and cold San Mig beers. The best part was that lunch was cantilevered over the ledge above us and lowered in a basket by pulley & rope. If you wanted service, you wrote a note, put it in the basket and pulled the string. So cool!

Mt. Luho observatory - top of a shaky bamboo platform

Adam & kids walking up the road from our beach house

Bar / restaurant at Balinghai Beach - amazing!

The next day was also too windy for the paraw so we took the kids on a trike ride up to Puka Shell Beach. It was totally windy but really beautiful. Sophi and I had fun exploring the beach while Adam held Aiden for an impromptu beach siesta. Sophi and I found lots of shells and make ankle bracelets from fishing line we found.

Sophia at Puka Beach

Aiden napping at Puka Beach

Adam and I managed to get away for a couple of really nice dinners, especially at Dos Mestizos, a Spanish tappa restaurant way off the beaten path. We saw amazing sunsets, played backgammon and spent quality time at some very low key bars in our area sitting on driftwood furniture, barefoot, on white sand, candles, reggae, drumming, drinking rum, meeting fellow travelers.

Beach backgammon - we were tied 2 vs 2

Mome & Aiden at the Red Pirate - keep smiling!

The only bummer was that our return flight was cancelled after waiting at tiny airport for three+ hours, no flight off the island as the run way lights were out. We were taken to one hotel, dropped off, advised that they couldn't accommodate us, picked up and dropped at another -1/2 star hotel/resort. But we were together and safe and had padded an extra day onto our trip.

Adam killing time at restaurant at Kalibo Airport - the entire area was made of bamboo - floors, ceilings, railings, chairs, tables....and surrounded by rice fields, it was pretty groovy

It was a really wonderful experience for all of us and really inspired us for more island hopping. But now we are home, getting back into our routine of school, work, and for me, a new project volunteering as a web & newsletter coordinator for a local women's group. I'm really excited to be a part of this organization, volunteer my time and keep my marketing skills going while being full time expat mom. We're also planning Sophia's 6th birthday festivities! Can't believe how big she's getting.

Mabuhay! H-A-S-A