This isn't the criminal kinda gang with gun fights and stuff! Oh...by the way have you guys read The Outsiders? It's awesome! Except you should be at least ten when you read it! I give my thanks to Sully (the other one) for lending me his book! Hey Sully do you know if there's a second book? I would LOVE to read it if there is! Alright back to the Blog! I meant a gang as in a group of friends so The Local Gang is a bunch of locals who are friends.
We arrived on Apo Island to a surprise! Apo Island is small. Very small. Coming from Canada which is the second biggest country IN THE WORLD (as you all probably know!) an island that is only a 15 minute drive around the perimeter (yes I've been doing a lot of math!) is pretty small (to me) so I was shocked. The next shock came when we got to our room. A toilet that doesn't flush and a sink without a tap. Uhhhhhhhh? We got used to it and eventually found it funny but upon arrival we were like "what?!" because we had no idea how to wash our hands. I had a vague memory of Cambodia where you flush the toilet using a bucket and you pour water into it but I was never expecting to have to do it again! Also, the power was only on for 2 - 3hour sessiosn at a time!
The water is so clear around Apo Islandso we decided to go snorkelling and look for marine turtles! They have Green Turtles and Hawksbills too which are classified as 'critically endangered' so they're very rare! They also don't feed he turtles that come close to the shore but the Green and Hawksbill turtles come because here is an abundance of sea grass which is what turtles eat. The first night that we stayed we went out and my made was too tight so I spent the whole time on the shore fixing it! GRRRR! The next day though after eating breakfast (it's porridge but it's called 'porridge pudding' there!) we went down again to the Marine Turtle area and were about to go in when some local guys started shouting at us! At first we thought they were trying to sell us stuff (Apo Island has nearly NO hawkers there! I think it's because it's not touristy.) but then we realized that they worked for the Marine Conservation Department and they were telling us we had to hire a guide if we wanted to swim inside the buoys (where the turtles are) and we could hire the guide for the whole day. We hired one and he led us to all the good places so I recommend you hire one as well! We saw like ten turtles! That's the most we've seen in one place on the trip! I think we saw 2 Hawksbills and 8 Green Turtles so you have a 2/10 chance of seeing a hawksbill! Yes I have been doing fractions lately. Max and I were really hoping to see a Leatherback ( a BLUE-shelled turtle!) but we found out that you can only see Green and Hawksbill turtles! If any of you guys ever see one send me a picture! Then once we were tired of swimming we came onshore and Jay found out that his GoPro (Hero 3+) had gotten water in it! So he asked me to go get some rice and when I came back he put the case (NOT very waterproof) the battery and the GoPro all into the bowl! We went back into the water at 1pm and this time we saw some SEA SNAKES! I saw a gold one and a blue one and a pink one! Max said he saw a multi-coloured one but I swam away from him with the guide because Max wanted to follow Jay! I'm also OBSESSED with watching the clownfish in their anemones because they like to rub themselves against the anemones so that their body has the stingy quality of the anemones! Also did you know the name 'Nemo' came from anemones! A-nemo-nes! Jay took some really good pictures of the clownfish/anemones and he also got some pretty cool turtle shots as well! Max and I normally like diving down (ever since a couple in Gili Air who are the best snorkel divers I've ever seen showed us how!) but we were afraid of the sea snakes because they are one of the most poisonous species IN THE WORLD!
At night I was reading one of my books and we heard some shouting down below us! I thought it was some evening divers at first but then Jay told us to go down and play with them! We later realized that they were local kids! Max and I went down to play and I started lifting the little kids onto and down from the boat! It was HARD work! After a while though I had to take a break and some older kids (my age) came and for some reason we started playing games like chopsticks and this game where you slap another persons hands (Chicken I think?) and if you fake and they flinch you get to go again and if you fake and they don't flinch they get to go and if you hit heir hands and they juke then you they get to go but if you hit there hands you get another turn. It's actually not as complicated as it sounds! The next day was our last full day on Apo.
We went snorkelling again and this time I saw a YELLOW sea snake! Kinda weird for a small animal to be a bright colour! Maybe they are showing that their poisonous?? We saw tons of turtles as well! Sadly though the day was getting dark so we had to go in but we played with our local friends again and this time we played hide and seek and a game where you roll a barrel with the same rules as tug-of-war except you're pushing not pulling and there isn't any line where you have to get the thing across. It was hard! Anyways I'd better start packing up for tomorrow...We're gonna see whale sharks tomorrow! The biggest fish in the world!
Bye!
Sullivan