Manila

The first leg in our journey was from St Helena Bay to Durbanville, Cape Town. We left as a party of 5, us plus 3 dogs, in 2 vehicles with 3 pet crates and 4 suitcases. One car sold immediately, dealt with promptly a gorgeous consultant from WeBuyCars, more than 6 feet of very “easy on the eye” candy who will be known henceforth as Z. Another departure followed a week later by Graham, who flew to UK, and of course the delicious Z had to come back for the second vehicle – Graham not thrilled!

The dogs left the following day, collected from Durbanville by Animal Travel Services. I am the evil dog-parent who allowed 3 unsuspecting hounds to believe they were going back to St Helena Bay, when actually they were about to undertake a 3-day,12000km journey, unaccompanied, 12km high in the air! Not somewhere a dog should find themselves. Their padkos was packed – biltong for the South African side, Hills for Dubai – and their crates were infused with pheromone. Well worn and aromatic T-shirts went with them so they wouldn’t forget us! And they had been well dosed on CBD oil for the previous fortnight.

So there I was, on my tod, a hot mess down to a mere 2 suitcases, about to leave my birthplace of Africa. There is something to be said for being responsibility-free for a couple of days, as I winged my way via Hong Kong to Manila.

I disembarked to an endless chorus of “Welcome Ma’am!” and “Hello Ma’am!” from beaming Filipino faces…it was overwhelming! And continuous airport buggies offering to carry me to passport control. I felt like I had truly “arrived”! By the time I had swept through customs with ease, I had a big cheesy grin on my face and a lump in my throat…”

…and then we walked into a wall of heat and humidity…

Now A.C. is my new best friend, and my second best friend is the little hand-held, battery-operated fan I picked up in BGC.

Animal Travel Services were so right, the dogs seemed to completely forget their ordeal as soon as we were reunited.

Our days in Manila are a blur of vibrant colours, chaotic roads, and full face smiles that crease eyes into adorable half-moon crescents! Filipino people are so very special! Poverty that abounds in exuberance and friendliness, juxtaposes with opulent “First World” amenities like I’ve never seen, which also abound with happy hospitality.

The streets of Parañaque jostle with scooters and Jeepneys – jeeps that the US left behind after WWII that were elongated and decorated, and repurposed as taxis. The hooting cacophony is completely without aggression and is a very necessary warning system.

In a world filled with belligerence and prejudice, it is so soothing to discover a pocket of soft kindness.

As is well known, western men are not oddities in the Philippines, but tall western women with silver hair attract a lot of curiosity…and I’ve become used to the open interest!

Cebu

A quick commute to Cebu meant that we all lost a nights sleep, arriving with the dogs first thing in the morning in Cebu City. The airline cargo staff do not handle live animals very often and we got to the facility to find the Knee kids were getting much attention and adoption requests! Our driver was horrified at fitting 3 crates, 4 cases and 3 adults into his MPV, and so the entire crew became experts and much rearranging and loud puzzling was done until the perfect result was achieved, to an enthused round of applause from a relieved trio of tired travelers!

Rowel, our lovely driver, safely transported us in air conditioned comfort, along the coast to the southern village of Santander, where our beautifully appointed shack on the beach awaited our arrival. It is a slice of heaven – wading into clear waters on the high tides and walking the coral-strewn beaches with the hounds. Dinners of prawns from the market with a giant salad medley, and breakfasts of mango, watermelon and fresh hot sweet-rolls from the street bakery…!

And here we are based, happily discovering the culture, until our next chapter which will be our move to Siquijor Island….