Day 8 Samal Island

Today we were picked up by Gerry and George after checking out of the Marco Polo and then dropped our bags at Gerry's place. From here with an overnight bag we headed the short distance out of town to catch a small passenger ferry to take us over to Samal Island and the Paradise Resort.



This is a purpose built resort for the people of Davao to hop over for the day or like us stay overnight(s). It has a water frontage and all sorts of entertainment for guests. The accommodation is made of bungalow style complexes which are very clean, well equipped and comfortable.



We had the morning by the beach, catching up on e-mail and the blog before lunch. We then took a trip out to an old mansion, the first built on the island by the American Foundation. It is now in desperate need of repair, but has wonderful views over to Davao. We met some sweet children who lived there and loved their picture taken.




From there we went to Hagimitt Falls. This is a community project which brings money in by letting both tourists and locals alike take a refreshing swim in these fresh water series of pools and falls. It was great fun.



Afterwards we went to see the worlds largest colony of fruit bats in the world, at the Monfort Bat Cave on the island. These are Geoffroy's Rousette bats and there are about 1.8 million in the roost! The noise is incredible, but the sight of all these bats preparing to take to the sky as the sun began to set was amazing. They are quite small, unlike other fruit bats we have seen in India, but are quite pretty, with a white stripe through their wings.




Then it was time to return to the hotel for an excellent dinner. Tomorrow we return to the mainland an head straight to the Eagle Centre!