March 3, 2016

Started off this day with me having to give directions to our taxi driver!  Yikes!  Not sure that is a good sign....although perhaps it just means that I was meant to be rewarded on this one unique time when I was sooooo organized that I actually had printed directions to get to the private terminal we'd be flying out of. :). Wahoo!!  Taxi got us to our terminal in short order as traffic wasn't bad at all so we had lots of time to wait around for our 11:00 a.m flight.  When you're flying on a private airline this isn't such a bad thing though. :). Complimentary snacks and drinks were available for the taking and continually refilled as the plates were emptied. (sandwiches with the crusts trimmed off, baked goods, fresh fruit, soup with garlic bread, coffee, tea, water, and juice sounds like more than a snack to me though!)

Baggage allowance is strictly monitored on these flights and so we breathed a sigh of relief when our checked bags both came in right on the nose of 10 kg (the maximum allowed without having to pay a very steep additional baggage fee). You're allowed an additional 7 kg between two carry on pieces as well so we were good to go.

When the time came to finally check in for our seat assignment...the girl at the counter must have taken a shine to us because we ended up with exit row seats so a little extra room on this 50 seater plane.

You may recall that I've mentioned before that I'm often recognized (regardless of where in the world I am) and today's wait in the terminal at Manila was no exception.  On one of the days that we were touring around Vigan, I got to chatting with a man from Toronto (who is of Philippine decent) and wouldn't you know it....there they were in the terminal waiting for the same plane we'd be catching to El Nido.  In no time, Lynda had been adopted and we were "in the family".  What this meant was that we now had a ride from the El Nido landing strip into town as well as a family connection that would earn us an additional 20% off our room if we'd like to stay at the same place our new family was staying.  They assured us that it was not expensive and so we decided to check it out.  True to their word.....it is a cute little place that is about 100 yards from the water and Lynda's and my room is nice and big with air con AND a fan so I am happy happy happy.  Weather is toasty warm here....about 32 Celsius and humid.  Our new family consists of Evangeline, Claude, Imelda, Rose, Jenna, Carlos, and Carlos' wife....gonna have to pay attention to catch her name again!  Evangeline and Claude live in Toronto and the rest of them live here in the Philippines.  They are on a family vacation and will end their trip with 5 days on Claude's families private island that they will fly to from Puerto Princessa (where they'll be going after they leave El Nido in two days)

For now, Lynda and I are booked into Novie's Tourist Inn at El Nido for the next two nights.  Cost for us to stay here was 1500 PHP/night (about $45 CAD) so again...we're well within budget. :)

Till next time,
L & L