This is probably the last blog I’ll put up in line with my trip to Siargao, Philippines. This is really just me telling a story without any takeaway (wait that’s ALL my blog).
Anyway, I remember we were having the most spontaneous day. We threw our itinerary away and decided to just go with our guides’ schedule. We visited places back to back to back.
Our entire day was filled with hours of motorbike rides, swimming and picture-taking. We were drained, ready to call it a day when on our way back to our airbnb, I asked Kuya Nanding, “I heard we could watch fireflies somewhere.”
“Did you want to see them?”
“I do. But I could save it for later since we’re basically done with our day.”
“We could still do it now. We’ve been going non-stop all day, might as well push it all the way. I don’t like you leaving not feeling happy.”
Kuya was serious. He immediately changed course and the next thing I know, we were getting on a boat, cheered on by the friends we made at Maasin River.
The night was clear and a hundred stars filled the night sky. It was beautiful. We started to row. We headed the course opposite what we took during our daytime river cruise.
After minutes of paddling in the dark, flickers of tiny lights started to come to our view. And not a minute later, I started to see them.
They swarmed one tree after another. It felt so unreal. Thousands of flickering lightning bugs surrounded us so magically. We stayed on a good spot to savor the moment. Kuya Jun started taking videos while we sat on the boat.
I was there. In a dream-like setting I could only imagine in my fantasies. For a second I couldn’t tell where the stars stop and the fireflies begin. I won’t deny I cried a little.
I was happy to have seen something so beautiful in a time when I was so down. It was then when I thought, I’m ok now. I was hurt, I was crying, I had all these emotional baggage I couldn’t entirely tell anyone; But at that moment, I was finally ok.
I don’t really have pictures of that night. Although I had my friend to share a short clip from her phone to remind me it was real. I will keep the memory alive for as long as I can. Hopefully I could go back to see it again.
Thank you to every single person who was a part of our island musings. This trip is my best one yet.
Your Ryeness 