The Philippines, July 2026

As we continued south through the Philippines, we left the large island of Luzon behind and reached the less visited Samar Island in the Eastern Visayas and the day started with the most beautiful sunrise. 

We landed in Catbalogan City, a city with a population of just over 100,000 and it was an assault on my senses –commuter boats (which look like creepy insects to me), fishing boats (and the accompanying fish), the usual morning harbour sounds and of course, welcome music and dancing. 

From the wharf, we were bundled into minibuses and whizzed off under police escort into the hills and the Samar Island Natural Park where I had opted for the nature walk.   The park is a lowland forest reserve and home to the largest tract of relatively intact lowland forest in the Philippines. 

Despite being home to a number of endemic species, I did not see much during my walk up the 1,200 steps, dotted with rest/viewing areas.  Again, I think part of the problem was too many people and walking to fast, rarely taking time to stop and just be still.  I did manage to spot a couple of birds, loads of beautiful butterflies and a little lizard and really enjoyed the walk in the relative cool of the forest.

After the walk, we were transferred to the visitors’ centre where we were greeted by some more beautiful dancing, this time, what I believe to be a dance that showcases the Philippine Eagle and the other bird life of the natural park.

There was also a huge spread of local food, and …. free massages and even more dancing!  The welcomes we are getting are just getting bigger and bigger!

Back down in to the hustle and bustle of Catbalogan city (population of around 107,000) and we had a little time to wander around the harbour area.  One of the few downsides of a trip like this, is that there is little time just to wander and absorb the local atmosphere so it was nice to get a little time to do that here.  I might note the dances that meet us this morning were still on the wharf to dance us off as well!

We spent the afternoon sailing past beautiful, mountainous islands and I spent most of the time out on the deck as one of the aircon units was broken so it was pretty warm inside!  To help with this, slushies were provided – I may have enjoyed the vodka and orange slushies a little too much lol.

Too many slushies meant I missed the lecture on fishing in the Philippines, but I did go to one about ex-President Ferdinand Marcos, given by Stella, an expedition crew member who was there, on the streets, when it was all happening.

In summary, Ferdinand Marco was President of the Philippines from 1965 until 1986 when he was deposed by the People Power Revolution. From 1972 to 1981 he ruled under martial law when many people when arrested for speaking out against him, including the opposition leader, Ninoy Aquino, who was eventually assassinated.

And if you don’t know about him, you may know about his beautiful wife, Emelda who had thousands of pairs of designer shoes.  Or perhaps his son Bongbong, who is the current President of the Philippines!

 Yet another beautiful sunset ended the day, before a hot and sweaty night as the air con was still not fixed.  It is crazy when you have to open doors to let in air when it is a humid 30+C outside!  Sadly my cabin has no windows (actually I only have port holes) that can be open – just a little fan to circulate the warm air.