Diva is all excursioned out and is not prepared to go out
for an attraction which only gets 3.5 on Trip Advisor. So she went for a walk
round the air conditioned mall in Subic Bay.
TSH went to Zoobic Safari Park. He learned that Subic Bay
had been the biggest American naval and airforce base outside of the USA. The
American took over the facilities the Spanish had and stayed for 94 years. The
infrastructure around Subic Bay shows many signs of the American era –including
an airport with a very long runway.
The coach was interesting in that there were fold up seats
in the isle which meant that five people could be seated across each row – TSH
was relieved that this was not required.
People in the Philippines learn three languages – a local
dialect, one that is common across the Philippines and English. There are over
100 local dialects and the guide explained that if he used one phrase in his
local dialect it would mean he wished to go to the toilet whilst in another it
would mean that he was very happy.
TSH boarded a special bus to enter the tiger enclosure. The
bus windows were replaced with wire grilles which were designed to allow the
tigers to be fed from inside the vehicle. The feeding was undertaken by a
person from the park who encouraged the tigers to come to be fed with pieces of
chicken. The tigers were close enough for TSH to think that their breath was
not of the freshest.
After this the group was taken for what was described as a
close encounter with the tigers. Considering what had just been experienced TSH
wondered what was in store. It turned out to be a visit to where many tigers
were in cages and people were warned not to put their hands inside the cage
bars. The tigers are apparently a cross breed of Bengal and Siberian which TSH
was not impressed with. He was even less impressed to discover that they also
had cross bred lions and tigers.
The excitement of the tigers was followed by seeing the
fresh water crocodiles which are native to the Philippines. The opportunity
existed to feed them chicken dangled on strings attached to poles but again TSH
declined.
A short set of dances was performed by some local tribesmen
and there were two bits of bizarro:
·
A Belgian couple produced an eight inch replica
of the “mannequin pis” (a well known statue in Brussels – try Google) which
they asked the dancers to hold whilst they took a photograph of them.
·
“Rudolf the red nosed reindeer” was broadcast
over the park tannoy.
During this trip the guide and the Silversea representative
demonstrated that they were unable to do simple addition. Counting the number
of passengers on the bus was a long and often repeated process before a number
could be arrived at.
On the way back to the ship the guide said that people
should look out to see the fruit bats hanging in the trees – TSH thought it
might have been helpful if he had identified which trees as the coach was
surrounded by a dense forest.
