Today I went to Helicopter Island with some of the other group members. We hired a man and his young son to take us to the island and back. They also made us lunch on the beach. We just wanted to go to the island to hang out, go swimming, paddle board, snorkel and lay on the beach.
In the morning we picked up the paddle boards and brought them on the boat with us. The island didn't have anything on it except a beach with forest behind it. We set up our things in a nice spot and just hung around all day. I did lots of paddle boarding and swimming. Some people snorkeled but I don't like snorkeling as much now that I dive.
Paddle boarding is so relaxing. I love it. The water is so clear that I can see the coral and fish while I'm paddling above the surface. I was just waiting for a shark or something really cool to swim by but nothing did. Most of the fish are pretty much wiped out from the dynamite fishing.
It was a nice day. We headed back to El Nido around 2pm. On the way back I was watching the young boy who was helping his dad with the boat. He was such a good helper all day. He helped us with our bags, pushed the boat and put the anchor on shore. He is only 8 years old and it was amazing to see the things he could do. On the way back, he was lying on his stomach at the front of the boat splashing the water as we cruised. It was nice to see him playing like a kid. Also fun fact, I noticed that he has 6 toes on each foot.
Once back in El Nido, I got on the wifi and booked a hotel room with Sarah for tomorrow night in Manila. It took forever because the Internet here is so slow. I had a few other things I had to get done on the Internet as well. I realized I might need a visa for China even though I am only going there for 3 days. My leader thinks I will be fine, and that I will be able to get the 72 hour visa on arrival, but I will be there for a few hours over 72 hours. I hope everything goes smoothly. I'm annoyed with myself for only figuring this out now.
The group had our last supper together. It was a fun dinner and we ordered ahead of time so our food was ready when we got there. We all had a shot of tequila to warm us up from the rain.
I said bye to everyone because I am leaving at 3am tomorrow with 4 other group members. G-adventures messed up and put me on an earlier flight to Manila. The rest of the group is leaving at 9am. I got the s***ty end of the stick on this one.