I am often asked some variation of the question “What was your favorite country/place?”.
I generally say “Switzerland and Indonesia”. Those are both amazing countries and we had many fantastic experiences in both of them. The reasons they generally bubble to the top when I need a quick answer are that they both provided a high density of great experiences and I want to go back to both of them.
However there are lots of places that I love for different reasons. Today as I sit inside watching the rain come down and the wind attempt to take my porch furniture away I’m dreaming of Sila Island in The Philippines!
We were staying at a nice little resort on San Antonio with friendly people, great food and enough internet access to get me started on a new project. I was talking to the owner about his new project. An “eco resort” out on Sila Island. He said he had a boat going out with supplies and if we wanted we could go along. They would take us out there in the morning along with lunch, show us the project, let us enjoy the beach and bring us back that afternoon
We took them up on the offer and it’s one of the most beautiful beaches we went to. The sand was crushed coral, so not as comfy to lay/walk on as some beaches we went to but the water was incredibly clear and unlike back on San Antonio the coral was alive and well and the marine life was abundant.
The eco resort project was being run by a nice British fellow who had convinced the owner to do it “right” rather than on the cheap. So it was being built from natural materials instead of simply thrown together out of concrete. I imagine it’s probably rather far along now (a year later) and beautifully nestled amongst the coconut trees set just a bit back from the beach.
We went for a snorkel, lazed on the beach, had an excellent lunch, went for another snorkel, dried off and then headed back to to San Antonio. The snorkeling was fantastic. Calm, clear, warm water with interesting critters to gawk at all around the little cove.
Right now with the wind attempting to carry off our porch furniture and the rain beating down when the wind needs a break I wouldn’t mind being watching the sun set from the beach after my afternoon snorkel before retiring to my beach bungalow for the night.
