PALAWAN Philippines…Part two on the Wilderness Kayak Tours by Lee Goldman…Palawan the PHILIPPINES best kept secret & NATURES Paradise…brought to YOU by The PHILIPPINE-MICRONESIA ALLIANCE, The Divers Choice
© Gunther Deichmann - Nature at its
best...pristine Jungle in Palawan
http://www.alliancediving.com/main.html
The
main focus of the trip is the incredible area of northern Palawan;
El Nido and Bacuit Bay. This is easily one of the most beautiful
places I have ever been (and I worked in Palau, San Juan Islands
and Vancouver Island in the Pacific Northwest, Belize…) so I
have an idea what pretty is. We spent our time here snorkeling,
kayaking, and camping.
While it is hard to say what activity is best in El Nido, for me
snorkeling ranks up there at the top. There are over 400 species of
coral in Bacuit Bay and in a recent survey lead by the world famous
ichthyologist, Dr. Gerald Allen, they recorded over 800 species of
fish, including several new species and records of fish. What make
it so special are the gigantic islands in the bay that provide
protection from potentially large ocean swells that may damage
coral. Fields (and I mean fields) of staghorn coral, table corals
that measure 3 meters in diameter, un-imaginable colors radiating
from all types of hard and soft corals, beautiful and rare fish and
all this in 1-2 meters of water! On our trip we spotted hundreds of
juvenile fish with some of the guests favorites being the Humphead
grouper, Zebra lionfish, Helmut Gurnard, and Javanese Damselfish. I
am a coral guy, so to see such healthy and diverse coral gardens
was the ultimate treat for me.
While most of the bay can be accessed boat, kayaking is the only
way to see this place. Picture perfect shallow lagoons, intimate
stands of mangroves, and paddling next to a 300m vertical cliff
face that erupts from the water is a pretty amazing experience. We
conduct our kayaking with complete boat support, so we transport
the kayaks to our designated area. We had great weather; calm seas
and cloudless skies. Our daily excursions were designed to go to
places that not many other tour groups go and because we are
camping out in the heart of the islands, we could easily time our
visits between other operators.
We are also the only outfitter that provides luxury camping in
Bacuit Bay. Our campsite provides large walk-in tents with
mattresses, fans, lights; a dining tent with sit-down meal service;
a chef (who did a fantastic job preparing 3 – 4 course
breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals for us); a generator to charge
batteries (and make fresh fruit shakes or margaritas); a comfort
room tent and shower tent and we also had a certified masseuse
there to help with folks whose muscles were in need of attention
after a day of snorkeling and kayaking. Arriving at camp in time
for the sunset was a great way to end the day. Of course, waking up
to a beautiful morning amongst the islands was a great way to start
the day as well. For those wishing to get the most they can from El
Nido, our expeditions should not be
missed!
Lee
Goldman
Can YOU identify this Fish? Wilderness travel...Snorkeling in Palawan & Whale Sharks in Donsol... by Lee Goldman
This is Lee…Lee Goldman that is… I thought you might like this article and read about my recent experience in the Philippines...
Hi Lee, Gunther here…of course you always welcome and we are very happy to publish your real life stories, thanks Lee please keep it up, we appreciate your input very much.
See below the story which I have just received, thanks again to Lee Goldman, Marine Biologist, who always finds the time and supplying us with some interesting articles.
Who can
Identify this Fish? Please help...
Photo © Lee Goldman, image taken in the
Philippines
Snorkeling the
Islands of Palawan. Okay, so the title sounds like we spent the
entire time in Palawan, but our first 2 days of the expedition were
snorkeling with Whale sharks in Donsol. Come ‘on, how can I
invite guests to the Philippines and not expose them to one of the
best big animal encounters a snorkeler can have!
This entry will be a quick one because how can I describe the
experience? Amazing, exhilarating, sometimes exhausting. Because
visibility often does not exceed 12 m, when you see a whale shark,
it is an up close and personal encounter! The guides put you right
near them and as they swim by, you are sometimes only a few feet
from them. My guests all commented on how amazing it was that they
actually had to swim away from the sharks rather than having to
chase them down. Needless to say, our experience with the whale
sharks in Donsol was exactly as it has always been promoted; come
and swim with lots of whale sharks. We swam with no less than
eight. We also had a chance to snorkel in the area. Due to
proximity of the rivers, visibility was not optimal, but we
didn’t miss a beat. Many varieties of fish and coral exist
there and for most of my guests, new species of fish were checked
off in their fish identification books. For one guest, an avid
admirer of nudibranchs, a new species of Phyllidia was her treat
for the day. As a guide who spent many years in the Philippines and
Palau, you may think I had seen it all. No way, that’s what I
love about the Philippines; new species of fish I may know but not
seen, or in my case in Donsol a new species of fish I had no idea
existed.
Even some of the better
ichthyologists could not help me with the identification. I intend
to pursue this one and will keep everyone updated as I know more.
Anyone out there with a suggestion?
Lee
Goldman
Our Philippine-Micronesia Alliance
partner in Palawan Philippines is Club Paradise & Dugong Dive
Center for all your travel arrangements and
for Lee Goldman's Wilderness travel contact our partner in
Manila Blue
Horizons.
OUR ENVIRONMENT...& Exhibition in Armenia with images by Gunther Deichmann and many other international Photographers
DID YOU KNOW?
Is brought to you by the
Philippine - Micronesia
Alliance,
the Divers Choice.
We care about our Environment!
To go to the
Center click on the image
The Armenian Center for Contemporary Experimental Art: ACCEA
" NPAK" in Armenian acronymis an alternative center for
avant-garde
and modern art in Yerevan, Armenia
We
have to take care of our PLANET and the ENVIRONMENT otherwise there
be nothing left for our Children…
we all need to contribute & STOP Global
Warming.
Some
of Gunther Deichmann's images have been recently part of an
international Exhibition in Armenia...for more detailed information
some links below… many other international Photographers
have contributed images for the Exhibition and environmental
awareness, for a complete list of all the participants and sponsors
including the WWF
World Wildlife Fund in
Armenia go to the provided links below…
I am happy and proud to have been part of
this Exhibition in providing images creating awareness for our
fragile environment.
Click on the image above and view the Exhibition
with images and slide shows from all
the international participants.
The image above was taken in Palau Micronesia it was used as the
Cover
for the official Exhibition Booklet, for other environmental
related images
by Gunther Deichmann click the link
below:
http://www.deichmann-photo.com/environment.html
WHY BURNING MY HOME...THINK!
Slide show of the
images from the Exhibition by Gunther Deichmann
click on the link or image above.
http://www.davosstudio.com/Exhibition/Participants/Gunther%20Deichmann/