You might have been bored reading my Bohol posts, so I just want to take a break before I resume again on posting gazillion articles on Bohol! Oh, I love Bohol, that is why!

This is just a short post and hopes it will make you smile of my stupidity!

Having worked with fisherfolks in Ragay Gulf back in the early 90s, I thought I was an expert in mangrove areas. But I was wrong (or shall we say, memory gap--or I was just plain being "makulit").

It happened during my last trip to Ticao Island, which I blogged here and here. Manong Cipriano or Pres (the fisherfolk association president) warned Haru, my companion from Philippine Federation for Environmental Concerns (PFEC), that she should not go beyond what she was stepping on because in a few more steps is a canal. Canals in mangrove areas can be quite deceiving. They are covered with mud and you would think it is hard--but not!

I heard it loud and clear. But then Pres was pointing at the colorful crabs in the middle. I got so excited at photographing them since we were hopelessly looking for biodiversity to document), but my 300mm could not magnify well the tiny crabs that I need to get closer to them.

So, unmindful of the warning barely a minute earlier, I took a big leap (thinking the mud was hard), and there I go! I got stuck in the mud! Good heavens, it was only knee deep. Some canals could go really deep--like up to your neck.

Enjoy the photos and laugh your heart out!

Knee-deep mud!

The rescue!

Mind you it was so sticky it was hard to get off the mud.

I am not wailing or what. I was laughing my heart out!

Almost!

Finally!

One last pull.

Finally off the mud.

Well, there is one fundamental rule in traveling that I learned: "Heed the warnings of locals."


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Photo Credit: HaRu Santiago, PFEC

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