El Nido - Bohol

Early start this morning, up at 05:00, breakfast at 06:00, and depart at 06:30 for the very short drive to the airport by hotel transfer bus.

Waiting for the pick-up

El Nido Airport

As airports go, this has to be one of the most laid-back ones we’ve flown from, it is surrounded by jungle, and you approach the departure lounge on wooden walkways with signs of “Please do not feed the animals”.

We show tickets and ID (passports) on entry, and then a very relaxed security, which beeps when I walk through. “It’ll be this,” I say, pointing to my knee brace which has metal bars through it. The guard just shrugs and waves me through to the lounge.

There is a lot of confusion at the time of boarding, as there are two flights leaving at the same time. There is only one gate, with no-one checking tickets, and once you get onto the tarmac, a few cones separate the two lines for the aircraft. Thankfully the boarding cards are checked on entry to the plane.

The gate on the right, the shop / café on the left

It’s the first time my walking stick has had its own luggage tag (despite me taking it onboard as 'carry-on').

They also ask us to sign the back of the luggage tags – the only other time that has happened is when I was checking in Big Bertha, my enormous 600mm lens.

As usual, I ask for an aisle seat on the right-hand side of the plane, but I am given a window seat on the left-hand side. As the flight has a mere handful of passengers, and David and I have a row each, it really doesn’t matter.

The almost empty plane

We have a row each

The in-flight meal

This must be a new-ish plane, as they have a sign referring to no mobile phones and laptops, rather than the old "no smoking"

As we exit the plane in Bohol, staff are waiting at the bottom of the steps with umbrellas against the rain. There’s a longish walk to the terminal building, but I have a wheelchair and porter to push me. And an umbrella.

Our luggage has been marked as priority, and thus comes out before the rest of the bags. One of the cases has sustained some scuff marks, which I suppose is just general wear and tear, and to be expected with all the flights we have taken on this trip.

Brian, the local guide, and June, our (male) driver, are waiting to whisk us the ten minutes to our hotel for the next three nights.

Bohol Beach Club

The reception is an open-sided affair, with plenty of comfortable chairs. A young man appears as we are being led to our room, carrying an umbrella to shelter me from the rain. David has to carry his own!

The reception area

The grounds are beautiful and lush, with plenty of trees and flowering bushes.

Our room is the furthest away in the corner of the grounds. The nice thing about that is that we are not overlooked when we sit on the covered veranda that runs outside the rooms

The view from our balcony

Lunch

Instead of handing us a welcome drink while we are trying to check in, we are given a voucher to collect one from the restaurant.

It is something citrusy and rather refreshing

BBC Burger (short for Bohol Beach Club, not the British Broadcasting Corporation) and cuba libre

I order a sausage sandwich, which turns out to be enormous

For dessert, I have deep-fried mango ice cream (and a Black Russian cocktail)

The ice cream itself is nice, but I am not sure the soggy Cornflakes add anything

David's Banana Split

As we have nothing planned for the afternoon, we yet again get a little carried away with the cocktail menu.

Banana Daiquiri

Chocolate milkshake with added Kahlua

The young waitress is absolutely delightful, she is studying tourism and spends ages chatting with us.

The afternoon is spent chilling, walking around the gardens and on the beach, before retiring to the room and ordering Cuba Libre with nibbles room service instead of going to dinner. It feels so nice and relaxed.

The first two of many room service drinks

Sitting on the doorstep of our room is a bedraggled-looking dove of some sort. We leave some crumbs for him but are not really sure what else to do. We mention it to the waiter who delivers the room service, but he just shrugs and walks away.

My lips are still tingling, but no cold sore has yet developed, so I am hoping that I have managed to avoid it this time. David, on the other hand, is covered in insect bits.

Thank you Undiscovered Destinations for arranging this amazing trip