Chocolate Chips Of The Sea

Oh how I love these once in a lifetime experiences I get to enjoy out here! Even the ones that freak the pee right out of me! Ok, not really, my bladder gets stage fright in the ocean but you know what I mean.

Since the Philippines is a country made up of over 7,000 islands, "Island Hopping" is a favorite weekend pass time. At home, I'd probably go to a movie or freeze my white girl booty off in the snow on a February weekend. But this past weekend, I spent my time on a boat in the ocean, basking in the sun. Feel free to glare at the computer screen now.

A banca boat is a long and skinny boat with large skidders off the sides. We went on one on our Bantayan trip but it was vastly different from the luxury version we spent the day on this time. We got to the beach at about 9:00 in the morning, and we were loaded into a small little boat that I felt sure would tip each time someone entered. A small crew member pushed us to the boat and we climbed aboard. The boat was amazing! It was all white, half of the deck was shaded, and lined with cushioned benches. There were big bean bags and a lounge chair to soak up the rays. I instantly knew it was going to be a good day.

Our captain and crew were introduced, the lead guy's name was Alvin, and it took all of my self control to not ask if the other members were his chipmunks. These 4 crew members were at our beck and call. They handed us towels as we got out of the water and laid out all of our life vests to dry. They also lugged our coolers, and gear everywhere!

Our first stop was a fish sanctuary about a 1/2 hour from Mactan island where we took off. We all lathered on the sunscreen and chilled on the deck as we made the trip. For those of you who know me, you should know that the ocean freaks the heck out of me. There are some creepy things in it, it's big, and it has the unfortunate side effect of causing death in 20 different ways at any second. But I'm only here once, and you better believe I was going to experience everything! Snorkeling, yeah, that's intense.

The fish sanctuary was a big coral reef, and we dropped anchor and donned some highly sexy masks and orange life vests and descended into the depths of the ocean. I sat on the ladder for a few minutes, trying to convince myself this was not how I was going to die, and praying. But I finally got in. I held on to the skidder and took my first look under water. SUCK A DUCK SIDEWAYS BATMAN! I stopped breathing for a minute. My first thought was something like this..."AHHHHH!!!!"...followed by..."That's the freaking ocean!"...and then I was struck at the beauty and the majesty and the grandeur that my mother has always described the ocean with. I soon discovered that no one can hear you with a snorkel mask on, but continued to freak out each time I saw a fish. Our cute little neighbor girls were so kind as to tell me not to look behind me, because that was the drop off. I swam as fast as the current would let me away from the boat and the drop off. I wasn't even slightly tempted to look at that death hole.

I saw some random orange guys, a barracuda, and a lime green and ube purple fish! I saw big fat round ones and long ugly brown ones. But the most prevalent fish was a small black and white striped fish, we called them zebra fish. They were everywhere! They swim in big schools and have no respect for personal space. So here I was, enjoying the awesome and terrifying ocean, minding my own business when I learned a very important lesson, boats drift in the ocean, even when anchored. I put my face back down expecting to see something pretty and instead I saw nothing. Dark, murky, vast nothingness. When I imagine hell, that's what I see. I freaked, and was out of the boat 5 minutes later. But I told myself that I needed to really see and experience everything. So I grabbed a hold of the ladder and took a long look at the drop off...I now know why Marlin freaked out when Nemo touched the butt!

Our next stop was a small island, Pandanam island, it's part of the Bohol province. We got off an this gorgeous island surrounded by a huge sand bar and noticed the sand moves here. There were crabs everywhere. Not the big red, Sebastian kind, but small sand colored little dudes that were about the size of a quarter. They were dang fast! There were also hermit crabs all over! There were natives with buckets of crabs, rock lobsters, and sea urchins. You could buy them and they would cook them for you. We stayed with our KFC chicken we'd packed. We had our lunch inside a little leaf covered hut and set out to discover the treasures of the island. We found big pretty seashells, and little "sand pesos" they are similar to sand dollars but a little smaller and more puffy. We found our big ones amid oyster shells, the seagulls eat them and then toss the shells back into the water.

As the tide went out and the sand bar was exposed we went for a little walk. Gaylene found starfish. Live, huge, starfish! They are called "Philippine Starfish" but I prefer the nickname "Chocolate Chip Starfish." These guys are native to the Philippines and have black horns all over, that look like chocolate chips! They were incredible. We took lots of pictures and I enjoyed the tape like feeling when you pull them off!

After we played some more and got scorched, aside from the 4 applications of sunscreen, we loaded back on the boat for the return trip. As we slowly moved out we looked over the side and saw lots more of these awesome starfish. Including a white one with black horns, when moving it looked like a zebra! As we got settled the crew handed out ice cold wet washcloths for us, heavenly! And then we all went home.

I have never understood why my mom loves the ocean, being a mountain and desert girl. But now I understand. There is something so beautiful about standing on the dock surrounded by nothing but water and how small you feel. There is a majesty and a mystery about the ocean that simply blows my mind every time. I love looking for shells. Every time I find one that's different or perfect or has character I feel like my Father in Heaven is saying, "Here Ashlee, I made you a present." I am so grateful and humbled by all I saw and felt. I love the ocean, and I will sorely miss it's presence in my life.