Mindoro Island
Sunday March 6
After one night at the Philippine Village Hotel we embarked for the island of Mindoro. We rode in the sleek white 50 foot launch of the Marble craft Industries for the two hour trip across the Verde Island Passage to Puerta Galera. We were all soon drenched to the skin with the waves coming over the prow of the boat where a pig was tethered. We rounded a headland, passed fishermen’s huts and pulled into a well-weathered dock leading to the fifty steps that we climbed to the Catholic Rest House. It was built by Father Theil who is a Catholic priest who has devoted his life to the mission he established here for the Mangyan tribes who live in the mountains above Puerta Galera.
The room was filled with cots hung with mosquito netting. We were pleased to see a row of cubby holes with flush toilets and glad to find lavatories in our rooms. The pump was dismantled on the ground under our balcony so there was no water. But the view wasspectacular overlooking several bays fringed with palms and with a mountain dominating the western horizon..
We dutifully took our Sunday malaria pills and tucked the mosquito netting under our mattresses as we drifted to sleep with the geckos calling along the balcony.