Camotes

This week we have a lot of pictures to share from the second day of our Senior Couple Conference/Retreat. We took a day trip to the island of Camotes which is about a two hour ferry ride from the town of Danao which is about a 30 minute drive from where we live in Lilo-an. There are actually two islands reachable by ferry that are separated by a narrow channel with a short bridge between them. These are the islands of Pacijan and Poro.  The main town on Pacijan is called San Fransisco. To catch the early ferry we were on the road by 4:00 AM. They can pack a lot of vehicles on these ferries, including large trucks, all of which must back on as all loading and unloading is done from the bow.

Ferry from the stern.

Loading ramp.

Enjoying the ride.

Elder Bell catching up on sleep.

Approaching Camotes by ferry.

The first area we visited on Camotes was Santiago Beach. Clear water, white sand. What more can we say?

This chapel near Santiago Beach was built in 1862.

Next we went to  Mangodlong. Although the day was warm there was a nice cool breeze coming off the water. Some swam, some chatted and enjoyed the views. This is a resort area that looks and feels like some parts of Hawaii without any of the crowds and where the rooms are much more reasonable.

There are currently six missionaries assigned on Camotes, four elders and two sisters. We met the elders for lunch at Cindy's where we had hamburgers, fries and chocolate malts that were actually quite good. We had heard about Cindy's from missionaries who had been on Camotes and it definitely lived up to it's reputation.

We also went to Buklit Cave. It is only a short hike into the mouth of the cave and unlike caves we are used which tend to be cooler than it is outside, this was quite warm and humid with seawater inside.

Older Elders.

Young at heart Sisters.

We enjoyed our time on Camotes with the other senior couples. There were quite a few 'foreigners' visiting the islands and many of those were young people with backpacks. We talked with a man from Austria, another from Australia and a group of young ladies from Switzerland. Hopefully we will have opportunities to return to these islands again.