Noa Noa and umbrella island coral reef

Ari Journal

Day #12

3/28/2022

NoaNoa Island, North Sulu Sea

Oh my. That’s all I have to say. Not sure how in the world we ended up here, but it is a place I will never forget. I stumbled upon this place in a state of desperation while I was trying to plan our Philippine segment of the trip. After sending >10-15 emails to various hotels and travel agencies in the Philippines with absolutely no response, I was reading about the best places to snorkel in the Philippines and NoaNoa island was at the top. The website had a WhatsApp number, so I gave it a shot. Che answered!!! Hallelujah—I was able to speak with a human about the Philippines. She was not only helpful about her island (yes, she and her husband Andy own the island), but she helped me navigate the rest of our Philippines segment, so I figured why not, let’s stay at NoaNoa—not really realizing what an adventure just getting there would be.

We drove 4 hours from Sabang beach in a van driven by Tim. After a kick ass lunch in Taytay, with an amazing view of Taytay bay, we boarded a boat to NoaNoa island. Half way through our 45 minute boat ride, I began to be a bit uneasy about the fact that our white ass family ended up on a boat in the middle of the Sulu Sea heading to an island that we frankly knew nothing about. Judging by the previous place we stayed (Daluyon at Sabang beach), which had been ravaged by the typhoon and barely had the food service running, we could be heading straight into a disaster.

Well…it was as far from a disaster. This place seems almost impossible. There are 10-15 people working full time on the island just to keep it running. It has about 100 feet of reef, making it quite an interesting area. There is a spa at the top of the island, a main house ½ way up, a guest house (where we are staying, about 50 feet up from the ocean overlooking the Sulu Sea), workers quarters, a private separate house (used by Andy/Che when the island is busy and the main house it taken), and the restaurant/bar area. Each structure is embedded in the lava rock and perched on cliffs/steep hillsides. Perhaps even more impressive are the trails around and through the island, all handmade rock/concrete paths strewn together with vertical staircases, 2 suspension bridges, and floating walkways. The gardens are immaculate and everything is maintained to a “t”. I cannot imagine how much work this place must take to maintain.

The food is unbelievable. They literally give you more than twice the amount that is needed, everything made impeccably from scratch. The service is unreal, something I have never experienced anything even close to this level of service. Everything is included—glass bottomed kayaks, top of the line snorkel gear, SUPs—whatever you want.

But, none of the aforementioned things are why we came here. We came here in hopes of seeing a vibrant coral reef in its prime. The day we arrived at 5 pm, Andy and Che whisked us up and got us into the water. The coral/fish are thriving, abundant, driving us to the point of tears to see something this full of life. There are giant clams with technicolor flesh, black tipped reef sharks, 4 foot turtles, stingrays, octopus, and endless and abundant varieties of coral and fish. I am so happy we all had this opportunity to see life thriving in our current world full of decimation of fragile environments.

Of course, you have to have just a taste of adversity. One of the days, there were billions (literally) of small, pea sized clear eggs/animals/jellyfish (?) in the water, making it feel like we were swimming in tapioca. Some got in our swim shirts/pants and gave us small stings (like mosquito bites), and I’m just a bit uncomfortable. But this gets better, these memories will be forever. What’s really incredible to witness is seeing the looks on Asher and Linden’s (Cris’ too!) faces when they see these reefs. I remember how I felt in Barbuda when I first experienced it, and now the kids get to see something even more spectacular.

So our days have been filled with snorkeling, eating, playing pool, and kayaking to the adjacent island and snorkeling there. I feel so fortunate to have the resources, support, and right family to be able to do something like this.

Wondering what the next adventure has in store for us…

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3/28/2022

Cris journal- 2nd day at NoaNoa coral reef snorkel fest!

Being a mother is the hardest and most rewarding job I could ask for. And believe me, being an obgyn is also hard and incredibly rewarding. I am so grateful for both! Yet nothing compares to motherhood. My heart explodes and melts daily, maybe even hourly- all due to Linden, Asher, Luna and Winter. The sabbatical has stressed my mom gene A LOT! Is this the right thing for our kids? Is there a right or wrong thing for my kids? Will we make or break them? Is this irresponsible of us to pull them from school for a quarter? Will Asher recover after no 5th grade graduation celebrations and bonding? Will Linden retain her friends and confidence upon return? Are we going to spoil her gymnastics training and jeopardize her try out successes at Creek. Will the re-enrollment process go smoothly? Will the courses they want still be available as they say? Is it fair to leave Luna? She must be so confused to first say goodbye to Winter and now the family is gone too? Thank god for Michelle, Brian, Ellie and Radar at the house but still… what is she thinking? Is that too much for a rescue puppy from Kansas to tolerate? My mind is on off racing with these questions more than 24 hours a day.

Will they have too many education gaps?

But wait! All of this is so far from the truth. This IS the right thing to do, especially right now. Even 2 weeks into our travels the experiences have been beyond rich! It is hard NOT to learn during travel!

Reading? Daily! Signs, kindle, directions, lonely planet on the Philippines- It’s covered!

Writing? I’m doing mine right now! Asher and Linden have been journaling (w/o a fight) for at least 10 minutes a day! They have been excited to share their words on the blog too! Both of their journals are so fun to read out loud! We read both Asher’s and Linden’s during morning breakfast at Noa Noa today!

Math? Heck yeah! Conversions from dollars to pesos, conversions from metric to standard. Tip percentages. Talking about gas prices with the locals even! Linden even calculated the perimeter for Noa Noa island with 2pR equation! We are doing math for sure! Even more geometric concepts with Pool last night! I could go on and on. And the kids have been so responsible about completing there school math assignments as well. How cool is it that Linden has her West math book here!

Social Studies! OMG! So much- I have learned so much not only about the Philippines and pearl harbor so far! Just with breakfast this morning Andy and Che were recommending we go to Corregidor island in Manila! He was explaining the hold out on the island, the fortress, MacArthur, the suffering of those that tried to surrender, etc. Asher probably absorbed the most!

*Corregidor Island, rocky island, strategically located at the entrance of Manila Bay, just south of Bataan province, Luzon, Philippines. It is a national shrine commemorating the battle fought there by U.S. and Filipino forces against overwhelming numbers of Japanese during World War II.

Another example was during dinner last night- the fish prepared is a grouper. Referred to as Lapu Lapu here. This is in reference to the person that ultimately killed Ferdinand Magellan!

We even discussed the Ukraine-Russian war and how propaganda and news is so powerful and different depending on where you get your information. Fact check, what is your source, always look at the other side news too, etc. As of now over 50% of Ukrainian children have been displaced from their homes! Over 3 million have fled the country and are now refugees.

Natural Sciences- Right now Asher is headed out in his “seal suit” (aka full body black thin wet suit- SO ADORABLE) with Che at Noa Noa. He will be doing some spontaneous reef snorkeling with the owner of this spectacular place! I’m so proud of him! The abundance of underwater life, colors, shapes and fragility of life is hard NOT to understand here! Linden has already snorkeled solo once today and went 3 times yesterday! She is pretty sure she even saw an octopus today! She is fully versed in all the fish names too and has wicked deep diving techniques covered to see it all! Yesterday I excitedly yanked her over to show her a beautiful fish in the water! “Mom, that is a parrot fish. I have seen hundreds of those.” It was my first! LOL! She dives down time and time again to get close looks at everything in the coral reef. It is beyond an education! We also jest that kids that it is their job to save the planet. Our generation and generations past have just screwed everything up! Noa Noa will be forever imprinted in their heads- the coral is so fragile and vital to us all.

Language? I could do better. There are many languages in the Philippines so that makes it hard to even explain. Most speak some English. The main language is Tagalog [ta-gal-og]. Pronounce with emphasis on the 2nd syllable. [ta-GA-log].

Hello: kumusta

Thank you: salamat

Asher has been so brave, adventurous, and tolerant during our sabbatical travels. We not only pulled him away from his last quarter of elementary school- 5th grade at CHVE but also away from his normal, wonderful life! A comfy Chenango bed, warm breakfasts, Luna (and Winter) loves and a leisurely bike to school every day. Mondays filled with music at the house with Mr. Nelson with piano and uke and occasional parent sing a longs. Weekends filled with beautiful drives and quiet family time over Berthoud pass mountain vistas to Winter Park. Sundays (and sometimes Saturdays too) filled with endless skiing with friends and family. Comp center with Coach Ari, sister free skis and even an epic 11th birthday ski fest with Nico, Sean and Bennett! He was patient and open as we planned and planned and planned the sabbatical! He was willing to be vulnerable to the travels and literally dive in!

So despite a long trip, Asher is snorkeling right now in the coral reef with Che. He is going to come back with even more abundance of knowledge that is beyond words or pictures.

Linden, believe it or not, is getting her first massage right now!!! As most know, that is typically NOT her style at all. At age 14 she has never had a outside of home massage (note: my kids typically get mom/dad massages nightly before bed!) She is so up for the new experiences here which have included so many new foods, languages, adventures and yes even a Filipino traditional Hilot massage with Queenie. I can’t wait to see how it went for her! Mine is at 2 pm this afternoon and I don’t think I have even had a massage in over 3 years! She has been so open for all experiences her! So proud of her.