I couldn’t shake the sad feeling that swept over me when I woke up that morning. I realized it was our last day in Palawan!

I woke up at dawn to double check if I had packed everything for our trip back home. All that time, my mind was on the dolphins that we were going to see as a final trip around Puerto Princesa. The group’s energy level that morning was collectively down, perhaps because of all the frenetically fun activities we’ve been doing the past four days.

When we got to the bay, energy shot back up, thanks to the condensed milk-laden taho that we bought by the baywalk. At around 7am, we went on board the boat that would take us to where the dolphins are. There was a slight disturbance when the boatman let extra passengers (about 5 or 6 of them, mostly children) board with us. We were already 15, and getting more in meant we’re over the limit. Apparently, those who came in apart from us were relatives of a coast guard official.

Grudgingly, we let it pass. Most of them were kids, anyway, and we

didn’t let this one ruin our entire vacation. We cruised the waters for about an hour, and some of us slept along the way.

After a while, we saw the dolphin watcher (I called him Harry Watcher, haha, corny) directing us to a specific spot where the dolphins were. True enough, after a few minutes we saw dolphins swimming and jumping out of the water from everywhere!

The group went crazy! We screamed with delight, with most of them running in front of the boat to get a better view (frankly, you don’t need to do that since the dolphins were coming from all sides of the boat anyway).

I stayed in the middle of the boat for two reasons: 1) I was afraid the boat would tip because of the weight the guys created in front; 2) I have a better chance of getting good shots where there’s no one crowding me.

So, we snapped our cameras away. There were supposed to be a good

variety of dolphins (I forgot how many. I didn’t pay attention to the guide, shame on me). What we saw were spinner dolphins throughout, plus some flying fishes along the way.

The dolphins looked like they were showing off with their skips, hops, flips, turns, and somersaults. Mind you, these are wild dolphins. We were asked not to touch the mammals so as not to scare them (or us) away.

I don’t know exactly how long we stayed in the middle of the deep, but it was long enough for us to remain smiling all the way back to the bay.

Yes, I want to go back to Palawan. Now, more than ever, I want to help save my planet from faster deterioration (I have come to terms with the fact that the Earth is dying). Thank you, Ronnie and Tonette. See you again, Palawan!