Before the accounts of Dive Day Four, I want to take a moment to say maraming salamat (Tagalog for "thank you") to a few very special people: some of the Atlantis Resort dive guides who have been so kind, generous, helpful and extremely knowledgeable since our arrival.
From the moment I told them in Tagalog that I spoke their language, am married to a Filipina-American, have a deep love of Filipino cultures and have extended family members here, we embraced each other as pareng ("brothers"). We bonded at the bar, where San Miguel beer and good conversation equally flowed.
So here they are, from the top left, with me in the middle: Ramcel Erum, Wing-Wing, Marco Inocencio and Kim Zudero. Top right: Marco Inocencio, a dive guide and marine biologist, leads a dive briefing for his group, about to dive Cogon, on Apo Island. Bottom right: Kim Zudero briefs his group on a dive top DuCoMi Pier. Bottom left: Dive guide Wennie Uy briefs a group on an upcoming dive. Not pictured here, but no less vital to our experience are dive shop manager Pedro Magsino, dive guides Gabi Flores and Jerry "the Mandarin(fish) King" Castillo, boat captains Ronnie Tropezado and Jaime Verances and everyone aboard the dive boats, such as Junnar Kitane and Ruben Dela Pena, who helped escort us into the bankgas and prepare our gear before and after dives to make sure we were safe, comfortable and relaxed at all times.
Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat!
Photos Copyright Gil Griffin 2009.
No comments:
Post a Comment