Milizlinx

Yesterday we went out of Calapan to explore a few more beaches. It was interesting to watch the scenery go by and observe the differences and similarities to Cambodia/Thailand. It is much more hilly/mountainous, there are many more trees, and the houses are more often cement block than wood. This is because it is illegal to cut lumber. Too bad Cambodia isn't as good at protecting its dwindling forests...

We first stopped at a "grey" sand beach. It was a beautiful long curve of beach. Mommy enjoyed beachcombing. But it was Jasmin who "accidentally" found this beauty of a shell.The waves were a little strong for the girls to enjoy the water, but there was plenty of sand and shells for building with.

And waves afforded a great opportunity for wave jumping and victory dances.

And the sun on the sand made Mommy's new sandals glow and brought a smile to her face as all things yellow always do.

We had planned to stay there all day, but come lunch time we discovered that the one and only restaurant there was closed, so we packed up and drove on another hour to a white sand beach where all the resorts are. We went past the main beaches and on to the end of the road. The last bit of the road was like a rough cart track along the side of a mountain, inspiring comments such as "Who ever thought to build a restaurant out here!?" But, one has to remember that until recently, all guests would have been arriving by boat...On our way in, a cloud of butterflies surrounded the truck. We stopped till they passed.
After a late lunch, this beach was also explored. Jasmin decided this was the best beach of all because it had pockets of wave-smoothed rocks. An inordinately big number of them were flat and almost perfectly round. Jasmin filled her pockets so full of them I wasn't sure she'd be able to stand up, or if the pockets would hold!

There were also caves to explore - but it took a fair bit of encouragement from Mommy to get them to dare enter!
The gentler waves here Grace enjoyed, but Jasmin couldn't be persuaded to leave her rock collection for more than one quick swim.
Needless to say, we all slept well last night!