Decided to go for a boat ride around Boracay, and to be honest I was a tad hesitate. Last summer when we were in Thailand we went on a boat trip that was a total disaster with me seasick with blood streaming down my leg from a cut on the coral watching Eva vomit over the side of the boat.
Hopefully, this year would go better!
I could expound at great length about the fiasco that negotiating a boat trip on Boracay entails, but it will suffice it to say it is a Third World encounter wrought with duplicity and scheming. Even Eva who is seasoned traveler to some of the more dubious parts of the world, found the experience embittering.
We eventually decided to not focus on the trivial amounts of money that were embezzled out of us at every turn, and instead just enjoy ourselves. We both decided that had we simply had been told honestly how much everything would cost in the beginning we would not have cared, since it was not a lot by American standards (a movie and popcorn in the US cost more than the whole trip, extortionate fees included.) It was the insult to our intelligence and deceitfulness that left a very bitter taste in our mouths
. But enough unpleasantness. It was actually a good time!
We first went with one of the crew to the market and procured food to be prepared later in the day on a small island off Boracay. The crew member was nice enough to carry all our many items free of charge!
This was actually helpful, since Eva, Gordon and Sonny purchased half the market, including prawn, clams, crabs and chicken.
When we finally cast off it was pleasing to discover that we the only 4 people on the boat which could have held about a dozen people. (Last summer when Eva and I got sick in front of strangers, it was very embarrassing!
) Our boat, Adrian, was a wooden out-rigger style boat with a crew of two. The captain, Danny, was friendly enough and spoke ok English. I don’t think his first-mate spoke at all the whole 3 hours, but was helpful and affable.