Boardwalk through Mangrove Trees

This was a pretty rickety old boardwalk. She didn't seem none too steady. Yet we had no choice but to walk across it to get through the mangroves and on to the dock where we'd find our banca to go on our Honda Bay adventure cruise in Palawan.

Palawan, 2009

So my question now is, does a boardwalk qualify as a bridge? The definition of boardwalk is simple enough: A walkway made of wooden planks. Doesn't say anything about "bridging water". And a bridge is defined (for our purposes here): a structure spanning and providing passage over a river, chasm, road, or the like.

Well, as a "...the like"... I am posting this to Louis' Sunday Bridges. Eh ben, Louis, qu'est-ce que t'en penses, toi? You'll certainly find many more links to traditional, and amazing, bridges around the globe there.

I thought this was an interesting scene for Scenic Sunday hosted by Aisha. too. Check out the links there so you can see how beautiful our world is.

[SkyWatch] Unnerving Gray Skies

On a beautiful summer day last July we left the main coast of Palawan just north of its capital Puerto Princesa on a small banca (wood and bamboo outrigger) to go island hopping in Honda Bay. Within about 20 minutes we saw ominous gray clouds fast rolling in towards us. By then we were in the middle of the water, far from any shore, and not long after the rains bursting out of the clouds ahead of us were plain to see:

Honda Bay, Philippines, 2009

As we glided on, we got closer to the rain...

...and my friends - who are neither as adventurous nor as strong swimmers as my honey and me - were getting visibly unnerved as the water got more turbulent and the banca swayed with the waves.

So we stopped at the first island to wait out any danger in these nipa beach huts. Even with this gray sky and the intermittent downpours, the sun did occasionally peak through and I relished being in this tropical paradise:

 Starfish Island, Honda Bay, 2009

Our Pinoy friends were incredulous that we went snorkeling in the rain:

Fortunately, it did not take long before the darkest clouds moved on and before leaving the island I still walked to the end of the beach and the mangrove, with my camera, of course:

Despite a few raindrops, the ride back to the main shore was much calmer, and so were my friends.

This blog joins the meme SkyWatch Friday and by clicking on the link you'll find links to many more amazing skies from all over the planet. Clicking on my photos will give you a larger view of them.