April 14,

I was feeling quite a bit better; Jeff only marginally. We were getting around and packing, when at 0730, I heard a knock on the door. A staff personal said “hello mam,” and handed me her phone. I talked with another staff person – the lady who had booked our transportation. It seems the van we were booked on, didn’t have other people going to San Vicente, so they are not going there. WAIT! What? HUH?? It seemed we would be dropped off at the San Vicente Junction and have to hire a trike to get us into town and our place. Hmm?! She said there would be trikes at the junction… No problem. I said okay and explained this to Jeff as he had been disposed while I was talking. Nothing else to be done right now…finished packing and readied for grub, the lodge was not serving again.

We went to breakfast at Thery’s hamburger place. They have another shop – a waffle place. So we each had a waffle with whatever fix-in’s you wanted. I had two kinds of ice Cream, two fruits and a strawberry syrup. Jeff went more conservative with mango and choc. syrup toppings. I had a latte coffee, which I should not have had. It was bitter. Jeff had a mango shake. Finished we went back and quickly talked with my sister.

By 1000 we were out waiting for our ride. At 1025 it showed up – we were the only ones – but when we were seated the minibus went back into El Nido town to the bus station/stop to load up more people. Finally, at 1100, we were completely full – 12 passengers and the driver – so we left. The bus stopped once more to get gas. Then we hit the road, with the route being the same way we had come up – so nothing noteworthy. Except, the bus went past our stop! So Jeff whistled. The driver seemed confused, but he stopped. He actually had to back up. We got out and a couple standing there took our place. We saw a sign at the T junction – our destination is 18 km away (just over 11 miles). We found some shade and took in our surroundings. There were NOT any trikes, NO tuk-tuks, nor any public mode of transport of any kind around. There were a few open shops. Jeff got us each a soda pop, and we waited… There should be minibuses coming from Puerto Princesa – we were hoping.

After about 10-15 minutes, a minibus did turn for our direction, but the driver rolled down his window, shaking no. He was full. Another 10 minutes maybe a private vehicle turned and pulled over. He offered us a ride. I think he was an angel in disguise. His name was Julius and he is a manager of some sort of a hotel in San Vicente, where we were going – actually, the road ends at the town there – as it’s on the coast. We struck up a conversation him. Julius had contemporary Christian music playing. He is also a pastor. What blessing God had given us. He actually drove us right to our place! When we arrived I asked if could pray over him and he was fine with that. I choked up because I was so moved with his kindness. Then he prayed for us! Jeff offered him money that we would paid for a trike. Julius wasn’t going to take it, until Jeff said he could put in his churches’ offering. We unloaded. So thankful!!

   Welcome to San Vicente!!

We walked the little side street – maybe a hundred feet – down to our place Seaside Blue Inn or Selim Guesthouse, as the locals know it. We looked around but did not see anyone. We got to play/pet some puppies🐶 for about 10 minutes. YAY! Finally, we heard someone above us. Jeff went to check – it was the manager, Roy. He was finishing our room. We were in it then in a couple of minutes. It was nice: clean and cool, as he’d had the AC on. We were blessed again. Unpacked some and chilled a bit.

Later we walked to the main part of town (I guess we are staying in a little borough of San Vicente). We found Marina Terrace Restaurant. It is located on the second story and had great view of sunset, which we watched as we enjoyed a Pumpkin Salad with pumpkin, chickpeas, onion, tomatoes and lettuce on a bed of red pepper hummus with mint vinaigrette; and Fish and Chips- nice piece of Tangigi (Spanish Mackerel) and three-times-fried home fries. I had a glass of white wine and Jeff had a beer. What an amazingly blessed, fantastic day!!!

     April 15,

Up and about at six due to music being played loudly next door! The roosters started though around 0500. We could hear both with or ear plugs in. Jeff is still having digestive issues, we think his Gallbladder is acting up from the stomach distress. But he is hungry. We have included breakfast which we’d ordered last night. We both had corned beef, but I had it with scrambled eggs and toast; Jeff had it in an omelet and toast (we misread the menu thinking it was a veggie omelet with side of corned beef).🤣😂  We were served our meal on our balcony. We are on the second floor, and can see and hear the surf on the beach below. This village seems to be fairly poor and mostly a fishing one.

After we finished, Roy went to see about a scooter for us. It was delivered shortly after. It’s 600 PHP/day which is $10.58/day. We got it for four days. It’s another black Mio 125. We took pics and the guy left without looking at Jeff’s license or passport. Alrighty, then. Roy did tell us to watch for police/traffic stops and make sure we have our license with us – the Filipino elections are coming up. Questions???  Anyway, we loaded up and went for a ride. It is under-powered, but it got us about. We went on a loop around this little peninsula. The first leg was a dirt road that was very muddy at times and reminded me of Vietnam, as we slid a few times. Jeff did a great job though. Then the loop wound onto the coastal road and along the longest beach, called, well, Long Beach. The beach is close to 9 miles long but mostly empty. Julius told us it is not good for swimming due to currents. So this maybe why it’s empty and not commercially developed. It was beautiful though… and hot. So we only stayed to look around and left. We finished the loop in about an hour and a half, returning to our place.

We cooled off and then talked with Jeff’s sister and her husband. Then we jumped back on the scooter and into the main town of San Vicente for lunch. We ate at Mango Restaurant Bar and Grill. I had BBQ chicken & rice with a Cucumber-lemon shake; Jeff had Garlic pasta with bread, and a Coconut shake. It cost us 745 PHP – Jeff gave 800, due to not having change, which we run into a lot. Many times the staff have to run to another shop or grocery to get change! Crazy! Anyway, that amount is $14.11.

We went back to our place for the rest of the afternoon. It was 93 degrees outside, but “the feels like” was 108!! Jeff said the phrase, “Only mad dogs and Englishmen…” True that! It was hot, but our room was cool – just right for a siesta! We watched the sunset from our room, then watched some YouTube while eating popcorn for our supper.