BKinASIA: June 2008

Its a strange title but it still fits.

I left Vancouver Sept. 14, 2007 on a sunny late afternoon for what was to be the greatest adventure if my life. That adventure has come and gone now. But its not the end. It really is only the beginning. I'm heading home 8 months (to the day) from when i started. Am i sad? I was. Depression is bound to happen when you end an 8 month sojourn. But i'm also excited to be going home. I want to see so many ppl again.

Tossing away all the comforts of home in exchange for a backpack was tough at first, but now, is life. Tough will be tossing the backpack for all the comforts of home. Reverse culture shock. My first experience with it.

I don't really know what i want to write about. Writers block i guess. As each minute ticks away, my journey draws closer and closer to and end. But i no longer feel that way anymore. not like i did a month ago. Its not the end. Its...the beginning. a new adventure is just around the corner. I'm heading to a new country. Canada. To one of its most beautiful cities, Vancouver. What's in store for me there? I don't know. Maybe thats why its so exciting. Its old, but i get to see it with new eyes.

Whatever, this stuff is jsut mindless banter. I'm ready to start it all again. I'll see you all very soon.

-bk

No, not yet. Just a brief post to keep you updated. Since Camiguin, all i've done is dive. I had 5 nice dives over there, including one incredible night dive. you know, the kinda dive that only comes round once in a while, the one that makes you feel like a kid again. it was only 5 m deep. And we were down there for 74 min, but i just wanted to keep looking around. so what if i was cold. this was too cool! Hhaha. from there i pushed my way to Cebu by overnight ferry (not sleeping in the terminal this time) and headed north by land up to the tiny island of Malapascua. known by tourists as 'little Boracay' it has beautiful white sand beaches, clear water and nice atmosphere.

Now philippines are well known for their small things (as most of the pictures show). And prior to diving here i was always all about the big stuff in the ocean. But i have to admit that doing macro underwater photography is actually quite fun/rewarding. Its fun to find taht little crab stuck in the coral, or nudibranches cruizing along (they are my favorite subjects. Colorful, small, silly looking, and best of all, very very slow moving), or a spider crab cameflogued to look like a piece of garbage.

Camiguin was great for that kinda stuff. And Malapascua had some pretty decent stuff too. but that was not why i made the pilgrimage here. there was one, and only one reason to come. to see the world famous Thresher Shark. Sorry everyone, no pics. I was only able to get a video of 2 of these 10+ feet beasts, circling around eachother in front of us while we lay motionless on the bottom. And no, i'm not gonna put it up. its in segments and i'm too lazy to patch them all together for you.

So, thrilled with the sighting of 2 of these great beasts, i decided i would try for the other elusive creature i've been hunting for the past 8 months. the manta ray. We dropped into the water in the afternoon heat and headed for the bottom (24 m). the current was a little strong so we needed to really head down fast. On the bottom, i just layed myself out, set the camera to movie mode and waited. And waited. And waited. Ding ding ding my dive guide taps out on his tank. i look over and flying gracefully though the water was a 1 m wide ray. Beautiful. there is nothing like watching a big ray fly by right in front of you. I tried to take a movie but i wasn't paying attention to the camera and so the ray was out of frame. The incident lasted only a min at most and the ray never came back. Satisfied that i did see a ray we headed back for the surface.
for safety reasons we did multiple safety stops as we approaced the surface. so we spend the better part of the next 7 min just floating in open water, hanging on to a rope. my dive guide was always looking around while i just floated about, not really concerned with nething.

Suddenly he grabs me and points into the murky depths. What? where? what? i strained my eyes to see. The vis was low that day so i couldn't really see more than 20 m underwater. Out of the darkness i saw two white stripes. then two more, further away on both sides. Could it be? was this an actual manta ray or something else? my eyes resolved a little more and i knew at that moment that it was not just wishful thinking. A little over 20m from me was one, big, and i mean huge, manta ray. At teh surface the guide estimated it to be 5 m wide from wingtip to wingtip. Why did he have to come out now? why didn't he just swing by 10 min ago! god, the difficulties with wild animals. but i guess i wouldn't have it any other way.

I can see whalesharks and mantas in the singapore aquarium. hell, i can even dive with them if i pay for it. but there is something special about catching a glimpse of somethign like this, out in the middle of the ocean.

i don't feel like typing anymore so i won't. I'm only here for a few more days and i'm not going to spend them on the computer. enjoy the pics. they are mostly just randoms so some maybe out of focus. I'm too lazy to grab all the good ones.

-bk

40 dives in 8 months. thats not too bad eh?

08/06/12 - I think i should actually label these photos. What the hell, might as well, maybe it'll help alleviate my writers block.