An Unexpected Friendship Blossoms

We got up early to board the first mini bus to El Nido on the premise that the driver would be fresh and hopefully not too fast. We were lucky, our driver was careful and not a speed demon. We spent the 4 hour journey chatting to our travel companions who included a German/Afghan/Kurdish couple, and three English guys (the latter mostly about football as Liverpool had won the previous evening). On arrival in El Nido we got a tricycle into town and Pedro once again went to find us somewhere for us to stay - a tiny but cute and clean guesthouse right in the middle of town. The town was much more built up and developed than Port Barton, with loads of nice looking bars and restaurants, and we had a delicious pizza after queuing outside the restaurant for forty minutes. The following day we hired a brand new scooter and drove to Macatan beach. The drive was lovely and the beach, once we had paid the obligatory fee, was absolutely beautiful, with gorgeous sand and clear water with actual waves to play in. Flora found a couple of very cute puppies to play with

and joined a local girl in a little bamboo bar helping to make Pina-Coladas.
It didn't take long until we bumped into the boys from the minibus, Fergus, Sam and Harry. We had lunch with them and then hired a sailing boat to take us to the outlying islands, along with a couple of Australian girls we had met on the beach and a Portuguese guy called... Pedro, of course. The trip involved sitting on the woven string between the outriggers, along with some snorkeling. It was pretty cool, but as the sun was going down, we headed back to El Nido once we got back to shore.
After a lie in, we stayed in town relaxing. Pedro attempted a swim but was swiftly waved out of of the water under claims that it was polluted. He then realised he was the only person in the water! We met Fergus, Harry and Sam for a delicious seafood dinner, and then taught them how to play King on their terrace.
Tour A awaited us the following morning. We got up early as advised, only to wait around for ages to be collected and for the organisation to be ready. After a couple of hours, we finally boarded our traditional boat, along with around 20 others. Our first stop was Seven Commanders beach, which was gorgeous, where we played volleyball and footvolley with the boys. We then headed to a couple of cool snorkeling spots, where we saw more clown fish, before stopping for an amazing lunch whipped up by the crew, on a lovely beach. Flora spent her time making a sand sculpture of a turtle. Our final stop

was a lagoon which was most easily accessible by hiring a canoe. Instead, Cat, a Scottish guy named Paul, and Harry, Sam and Fergus, decided to swim it while Pedro and Flora stayed on the boat as she was tired. It was quite an effort, although during the middle section you were able to stand. The whole trip was very beautiful with amazing scenery and crystal clear water. We later met up with Paul and the boys for dinner before Pedro took Flora home and everyone else went to the local club, complete with security with a semi automatic weapon! The club was fun, the music largely awful, and the company great.
After Cat had a lie in, we headed on a tricycle to Las Cabanas where we found Fergus, Harry and Sam doing it tough on the beach. We walked up to the end of the beach to a gorgeous spot for sunset, but other than Pedro, the only person who could manage a beer was Sam. The boys had moved to a fancy hostel nearby so we went there with them for dinner and everyone managed to get back on the beers. This time, Cat took Flora home whilst Pedro headed to the club with the boys again. Yes, El Nido is great. Not so much for the town itself, but mostly for the surrounding islands and sea water. But what really made this place especially memorable for us was the chance to hang around with these three fun, clever and sweet English boys in their mid twenties. It was clear to us that we would see them again, and perhaps build a long lasting friendship.