On Thursday, March 3 we headed for the Gulad Sa Batuloa Nature Trail near Batuloa to meet the manager and naturalists who had laid out the trail. This was formerly the Zabel Hacienda and it will be developed to maintain the ecological balance.
While deep in the forest we heard a helicopter overhead and a little later we were joined by another group of men carrying rifles. The helicopter landed and a man in a printed shirt and dark red pants got out. I chatted with him about the vegetation. Then, to my surprise, Edgar told me that he was Tony Leviste, the governor of Batangas province. He invited us to have lunch with him at the Club House. We felt bedraggled walking there on the marble floors flanked by luxurious plantings and fountains. We were served in the open air dining room where a mobile of bird’s nest ferns planted in coconut husks hung from the high thatched ceiling.
Here I learned that I should have been taking malaria quinine pills for several weeks before coming to the Philippines. I was grateful to Stan and the Hinegartners who gave me some so I could take double doses.