When Jin Met Simon
19 friends and a baby, a quest for whale sharks and whisky.
What could go wrong?
Jin and I are friends who met through mutual friends on a dive trip to the Philippines in 2011. We snorkelled with whale sharks, dived the stunning tropical coral reefs (whilst our friend’s baby slept on the dive boat) and explored a secluded tropical island. As well as enjoying the 3 bottles of whisky that someone had picked up on special offer in duty free.
The unexpected highlight of the trip was an incredible last-minute night trip by dugout canoe surrounded by natural light. A universe of stars above, thousands of fireflies in the trees, and blue bioluminescence in the waters below.
However, one of Chickenfeet Travels’ heroes Yvon Chouinard (founder of Patagonia - read his [book] if you haven’t!) once said that “its not an adventure until something goes wrong”. So, this Philippines trip was definitely an adventure because, even after months of planning, a lot went wrong!
The trip proved to be just one example of the wonders of South East Asia but the problems visitors can face, and why we believe Chickenfeet Travels is needed.
The adventure starts...
We flew from Singapore to Manila and then to Legazpi City. Then travelled by private minibus to Donsol, about 1.5 hours where, if you are lucky, you can see whale sharks.
First up, on day one, after arrival, we were off to go snorkelling with the whale sharks. We saw a number of them and dived off the boat to snorkel/swim alongside these huge, stunning, languid creatures. Don’t get me wrong, it was an incredible experience to snorkel/swim alongside these huge, gentle creatures, but it was one we shared with hundreds of other tourists and boats around. It was almost like a feeding frenzy of boats and tourists hungry to dive in to invade the world of these tranquil creatures. It can’t really be a sustainable way of seeing these creatures, and this invasion must upset the whale sharks’ habitat.
Then, on the way back, our boat broke down. Fortunately, because there were so many other boats around, another boat eventually rescued us and took us back to shore, but it wasn’t exactly plain sailing.
Having seen the whale sharks, we then travelled about 1.5 to 2 hours by boat to a small nearby island called Ticao, which would be our base for a few days’ diving. On our first dive, whilst we were marvelling at the coral reefs, we suddenly heard these booming and pinging sounds. It turned out to be dynamite fishing. People literally drop dynamite into the water, blowing up the coral reefs, in order to catch fish. I only learnt that’s what it was when we surfaced. Otherwise I’d have have been a bit more scared at a depth of 20 metres!
Our dive guides were, to be honest, subpar. Jin, being a dive instructor herself, was worried about safety, the diver-to-guide ratio, the lack of proper dive site maps and dive briefings, and the general lack of experience while diving was obvious to her as a dive professional.
The journey home...and our troubles continue!
After a few days of diving, relaxing, and hanging out with our fellow dive adventurers on our small tropical island, our troubles continued. On our journey back to the mainland our boat got completely lost at sea because the crew had forgotten the batteries for the GPS. We only learnt that was the reason our trip took hours longer because our half Filipino friend overheard the crew speaking in Tagalog. They told us in English it was the wind and the tide!
Eventually, we made it ashore, our journey having taken about 3 hours longer than it should have done. We spent a night in Donsol, and the following morning, we were off to the airport, but only a few miles along the road, a truck tipped over in front of us, completely covering the road with its cargo of fish. There was no way at all to drive through. The drivers made several phone calls and organised for us to be picked up on the other side of the fish spill. We unpacked all our gear, walked over all the slippery fish and got onto another bus to the airport. With a small amount of panic, we were just in time to check in for our domestic flight back to Manila.
Back in Singapore and the start of Chickenfeet Travels
When I caught up with Jin over beers back in Singapore, where we both lived, we laughed about our adventures and also talked more about their many travels in South East Asia. We realised that our Philippines trip encapsulated a number of the problems we have come across with travel in South East Asia. Three main things stood out:
Southeast Asia is a stunning region to explore with amazing surprises BUT humans are having a devastating impact on the environment;
There are tons of amazing places to visit BUT most people only go to places that are spoiled by being too touristy and overcrowded;
People are generally really nice BUT it is still easy to get ripped off or sold something overpromised and its very difficult to find reliable information on local guides and operators who you can trust to deliver.
“If not us, who? If not now, when?” - Anonymous
Fast forward a few years, some more travels, and many similar discussions, and Jin and I decided we had to do something about it. Thank goodness Mark was leaving Singapore for good and trying to offload all the top-notch whiskey he had collected over the years. Being freeloaders, we reconnected over free-flowing liquor. Thanks Mark. Jin had been keeping a notebook since she started travelling in 2006. Amongst random quotes and memories were the names and contact details for the great local guides and operators she had stumbled upon. From this, combined with Simon’s experiences and those of some of our close friends, was created a network of incredible local guides and operators. They all really care about their part of the planet and are proud to give visitors the very best experience possible. Working with these truly brilliant local people, Chickenfeet Travels was launched.
As Chickenfeet Travels has grown over the years and we have developed more adventures, we continue to try to solve the problems we have found with travel in South East Asia so that our Chickenfeet travellers can avoid them. The focus has always remained on 1) working with the best local guides and operators in off the beaten track destinations; and 2) ensuring a positive impact on the environment and communities people visit.
PS. In case you wondered, all 19 friends and the baby made their flights home...but only just!
