Yesterday we took off for the newest mall in Davao. We had a bit of a delay as the rear step on the taxi had come loose. Now this is more of a small pickup truck with a box with seats on the back. It's open to the cab so the air conditioned air flows into the rear box. It's a mix of dirt and concrete along the way to the taxi. Sometimes nice and smooth and sometimes rocky.
We got the ferry only to be delayed again as they wanted a different ferry to be docked before they would allow the first ferry to load. No clue why. We traveled into town with Steve, another cruiser that has been here for several months and know the lay of the land. He told us we didn't have to pay for the ferry since the man that owns the marina also owns the ferry. Just tell the cashier "marina marina" as you pass and it's free. Nice deal.
Steve was headed for the SM Mall and we were going farther in so we shared a taxi(a real one this time). We got to the mall just after 1000 which worked out fine as that's when they open. It was huge!!! The newest mall in Davao and would put any mall in the US to shame. We were told there were 37 shoe store alone in the mall. It's three stories tall and packed to the gills. Food courts on each floor with a wide selection of choices. I know it was wrong, but we ate at McDonalds. A Big Mac combo meals(medium size) was just over $4.00 US. A good deal. Restaurants are cheap here as the daily wage is just a couple of dollars a day(not be hour).
We stayed till just after 1400 and grabbed one of the decorative busses back toward the ferry arriving at 1445 just in time to get on the ferry. We were on Samal Island by 1500 ready for the bus to pick us up at 1530. There are free "taxi" rides to the ferry at 0830, 1300 and 1500 with return trips at 0900, 1330 and 1530. There ferry runs continually so that when one is on one side, there is a second at the other side. They just switch docks about every 25 minutes.
Getting around, we found a great way to save money. The taxi ride to the mall was $197 pesos or just under $5.00US. If you take one of the decorative busses, it's only 24 pesos or about .55 centsUS. The bus we jumped on got a flat tire on the way to the ferry so the driver flagged down another bus and told the other driver where to take us and even paid him. People are very nice here and willing to help out. One of the people in the bus translated for the driver and told us how much the fare was.
Anyway, we got back to the marina just after a big rain storm had blown through so we had a bit of mopping up to do inside Zephyr.
The picture I posted is one of the small runabout fishing boats we saw on the way to Davao.