Philippines: Visayas - February 2008

Atmosphere of madness, in an arena of cockfighting, in the Philippines! This video was shot in 2008 on the small island of Siquijor, in the Visayas. Sensitive souls refrain.

What is convenient when traveling to the Philippines is that everyone speaks English. Fishermen and peasants, villagers and townspeople, children and adults ...

The wealth of submarine sites in Dauin (Negros) and Apo made a strong impression. Life abounds there and the beauty of the coral, hard and soft, farting with health, is properly stunning.

Cebu City is a big city not very beautiful, of which I saw only a few streets and malls ... The kind of city where we just pass.

Spectacular dives at Dauin and Apo Island! The corner is teeming with life and sites allow you to alternate dive-muck, drop offs, reefs ...

Since my arrival in Dumaguete-Dauin on Monday, the weather has remained gloomy, between light grey and damp grey. It's raining under a sky of low clouds, shrouding the surrounding mountains and volcanoes in mist. It's no big deal, though: underwater, you're wet anyway!

In the Philippines, cockfighting is very popular. Neal, our dive guide in Siquijor, and Raul, who manages the Kiwi Resort, suggested us to go and see these bloody bird fights, at the nearest cockfighting arena, in the village of Enrique Villanueva.

It was in Siquijor, Philippines, that I had the pleasure of photographing my first Mandarin fish. What good memories, on this island!

Since I've been in Siquijor, I've been diving and snorkelling every day... Yesterday, our guide, Neal, took us out to explore the seabed at Salagdoong Beach, which I had already explored on the landward side during my motorcycle trip last week.

I am under the spell of the island of Siquijor, in the Philippines ... I continue to discover it, a little random, according to my walks after the dives.

Filipinos have a way of greeting you. To point out that they have seen you, noticed, seen, to say hello fast by the way, instead of a small nod, or a smile like in Thailand, they raise their eyebrows.

Come on, a little article just to help you see the tiny and very shy seahorse-pygmy that I had photographed in Sogod Bay, since many of you didn't manage to find it.

For lack of whale shark, in Sogod Bay (Leyte), I turned to the little people of the reef... And there's plenty to do and observe!

I did a good job of leaving for Siquijor without waiting. On arrival, I find an almost deserted beach, the beautiful Sandugan Beach.

Turquoise water and white sand. The beach of Alona, in the Philippines, is certainly very beautiful. But upon arrival, I have only one desire: to flee as soon as possible.

The good thing about the Philippines is that you can find chorizo... Another heritage of Spanish colonization! But I've yet to taste this Filipino chorizo.

First stage of my Philippine journey: the southern tip of the island of Leyte. For some dives in Sogod Bay, in the hope of crossing the path of a whale shark .

Small taste of the Philippines, at the diving show in Paris, where I went for a ride this weekend ...

The Philippines, you know where that is? That's where I'll be soon, very soon... In 23 days!