Vice Mayor gave us a letter of endorsement for our next stop. The letter says we are good and nice people. This is the most unique testimonial I ever got in my life.

Thelma even packed lunch for us – a big bag of rice with corned beef wrapped in banana leaf. She is such a hospitable person.

She warned us not to stop at certain places but proceed to the capitol, Caboran. She said people in those places are not so friendly. They may invite visitor to a meal but may pepper the food with poison. That’s a scary thought.

We packed more food and water for a long day in anticipation of not meeting up with our support boat.

All the beaches here so far are steep with big waves. Just like an aircraft, taking off and beaching require us to be more alert.

The coastline in this part of southern Mindanao is very rugged. Mountains drop steeply to the sea. All beaches are black volcanic sand. Coconut trees dominate the landscape. Villages are sparse with rustic living standard. Not all villages are accessible by roads.

At around noon, surprisingly, our support team showed up. This time, with two small boats. We were just simply glad to see them. As soon as they came, they left us and went ahead to Caboran.

Today’s wind is strong. At one point, I was moving at an amazing 5km/h without paddling! How I wish it would be like this all the way.

We formed a raft for lunch. By the time we finished, we had drifted 900m. That’s maximizing Nature’s power.

We arrived at Caboran at 3.30pm. The team has set up base camp at a beach house owned by the Mayor. We went to his house which sits on top of a hill overlooking the sea. His name is Alex Bangoyan Wangkay. His ancestors came from Manado in Indonesia. Tomorrow is his birthday. We just missed the horse fighting, a unique local sport.

Finally, we had cell phone connection. I called home. Sheng En said “Daddy, can you come home tomorrow? Can you don’t go away for 3 months?” I can’t wait to see them in Cebu.