Daily Report: Eagles Party At Duka Bay

Today Epril and I rode to Duka Bay Resort to join the Eagles Club for their Family Togetherness Day. It is about 50 miles further down the coast on the same national highway that Jasaan is on. As you can see above, we had a lovely trip going out. The road was fine, and twisted along the coast and through small villages. A gorgeous drive that took us a little over an hour.


Epril poses with one of the cozy coves
of Duka Bay in the background.Duka Bay Resort was surprisingly nice as well. The entire beach is cement. I know it sounds nasty... but over the edge of the cement is beautiful clear water with coral, sand, and wonderful little coves to swim in. The jungle foliage and flowers and rocks and tropical surroundings come right up to the water's edge, so it is possible to be sitting at a nice table underneath the canopy of a banyan, while the water laps gently against the wall just a few feet from you.

The resort takes up about a mile of beach, and there are about two dozen very nice bungalows in the terraced gardens that come right up to the water's edge. There is a pleasant river with water features too. Lots of snorkling and diving options available as well.


One of Duka Bay Resort's bungalows
up on the hill.I didn't see the rooms, but Epril said that Michael and Marissa Turner's room was monstrous. The bungalows looked quite nice from the outside though, and they were perched up on hills with nice views out over the bay. The restaurant was also nice, and Epril and I had a quick bite to eat there. (The prices were a bit high compared to what you would find at a "regular joint", but not so bad. A medium-sized appetizer of calamari was 200 pisos... $4. Small sodas were 35 pisos... 75 cents.)

All of the Eagles were down on the beach having a good time. The kids were swimming, lots of cards were being played, and food was being cooked. Somebody put on a CD of The Little River Band's Greatest Hits. The San Miguel flowed, the smoke rose over the bar-be-que pits, the kids splashed, and everybody had a great time.




Yours truly burning his fingers
on hot marshmallow. I like mine
burned on the outside, thanks.There was a roast pig for dinner, as well as fried chicken, kinelaw, and rice. After that, we roasted marshmallows. Unfortunately, we had to roast them over the bar-be-que pit instead of a campfire, and there were no good sticks to put the marshmallows on, so I had to use a plastic fork... but I haven't roasted a marshmallow in 25 years, and it was just as enjoyable as it was when I was a kid.

At 8:30, Epril and I rode home. (The resort was fully booked weeks in advance, as it was an overnight event.) We went nice and slow... and just as well: On one of the those narrow turns, I was watching to make sure that the oncoming tractor trailer wasn't too far to the inside, and I drove off the pavement onto the muddy inside shoulder, fishtailed, and Epril and I went down in a heap. We were only going about 10 miles per hour, and weren't hurt in the slightest. Scratched the paint a little though. Then, further down the road, we had the usual idiot walk out in front of us. Then, we discovered that a huge rainstorm had come through this particular part of the coast, and as I was driving along I suddenly found myself staring at a road covered with about 4-inches of mud from a landslide. Fortunately we didn't go down a second time. Then more stupid people in the road. Then more mud. Then tree branches. Then more people.

All in all, it was easily the scariest and most challenging ride I've ever had on a motorcycle. But it was the end to a great day, and the journey there and back to hang with The Philippine Eagles was worth it.