Puetro Princesa

April 14
We arrived early and docked just as the sun went down on the 13th. We spent some time watching the dock workers unload the “John Oliver” off our stern. It reminded me of an Indiana Jones movie! There were all these old crates and they used two rope slings to lift everything off. The men wore flip flops, no hard hats and were throwing 50lb bags of onions along the line and then onto the back of a truck. One bag accidentally went into the water so they had to jump in and get it. I don’t think we’d see this kind of action at home! They pulled everything from a large truck to crates of eggs off that boat. It was another world!The people at this port were pretty excited to see the ms Volendam and had a huge welcome party for us. Puerto Princesa is trying to become a major tourist destination in the Philippines. The mayor is quite the go getter and is well known because he’s really cleaned up the area both environmentally and in regards to personal safety. There were a lot of guards at the dock as well as in the stores in town. It really was lovely and I’d happily travel there again. Blair and I did a little sightseeing by three wheeled taxi and enjoyed their amazing city market. We also had the most beautiful sunset of the trip as we sailed away.