Rama Beach

On our way up north to Central Luzon, we stopped at the Rama Beach Resort in the Zambales Province, located about four hours from Manila. One of the best ways of getting to know the country is being with the natives. Roger, an Australian expatriate and owner of Rama Beach Resort is married to a Filipino, and we became fast buddies during our stay. Roger showed us his environmental project - saving the baby turtles eggs that are often found on the beach by the natives. They bring the eggs to Roger; he buries the eggs and after a period of incubation in the sand, they are released out into the the vast South China Sea. Above, you can see them scurrying for their lives. I got to let a few go and wondered how the hell these tiny little creatures were ever going to make it.

The shells eggs were very soft and I was lucky to hold a few and let the tiny turtle work his way out of the shell. Some are still born, and chances of them swimming their way successfully into the ocean and surviving is about 10%. You can see part of the shell toward the bottom of this photograph.

This is a sight of the Zambales shore often lined with nipa huts. It is a rugged coast, rolling mountains with a vast sea horizon. The South China Sea was very calm that day. The Philippines are known for their tremendous typhoons. Also, this is the area that Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1991. I collected some pumice stone still laying throughout the beaches.