I met Angeli in 2009, the same year she moved from Cebu City to El Paso, Texas. At least every 2 years, if not every year since, we have gone back to Cebu City to see her family and enjoy the great resorts, food, people, and hospitality of the Philippines. That is, until 2020 when a little thing called COVID-19 occurred. October 2019 would be the last time we visited Angeli’s Motherland (technically so is the U.S. since she was born a U.S. Citizen, but I digress), and 4 years without kissing that sweet island soil is far too long for both her and me.

Fortunately, living in Nouakchott comes with some perks, one of them being 3 paid government R&R trips. With the first being to Florida last March, and the second being our cruise/Scotland adventure last summer, planning for the 3rd and final R&R commenced last summer right around when I was getting my next assignment. Knowing we wouldn’t end up being assigned close to the Philippines (at least not as a family) meant we wanted to use our final ticket to get there so Angeli could see her family. With Angeli having not been back home at Christmas time since before she moved to the U.S., we thought it would be a great opportunity to remedy that. Plus, nobody does Christmas as big as the Philippines, like, so big that when we got married in September 2012, the malls were already blasting X-mas music and fully decorated. It was weird but explains why our X-mas tree goes up obnoxiously early every year.

Getting to Mauritania is quite the chore, and wouldn’t you know it, getting away from Mauritania to the Philippines is even more taxing. When we gave our travel office at post our travel dates and destination city, some head scratching ensued. Below in photos is how we ended up getting to Cebu City.

Step 1 was a calm 6.5 hour flight from Nouakchott to Istanbul followed by a 3 hour layover.

Step 2 was an 11 hour flight from Istanbul to Taipei, Taiwan. Once we landed, we had a 14 hour layover and it was the evening, so we decided to stay in a hotel (pro tip, the Novotel next to the airport is great and connected to the excellent rail system they have in Taiwan)

Step 3 was a nearly 3 hour flight from Taipei to Cebu City, Philippines. You would think that would be it, but nope, the travel wasn’t done here.

Step 4, and the final step was a 3 hour car ride from Cebu City, to Daanbantayan , Cebu. Start to finish it was 46 hours of travel before we made it to our final destination.

A big part of what made this adventure palatable was that I was able to cost construct our trip from Mauritania to the Philippines on Business Class Airfare on Turkish Airlines. Turkish is known for reasonably priced airfare, and being posted in Mauritania allows me a cap of roughly $4000 per family member I can spend on airfare/travel when utilizing an R&R ticket. Again, an amazing benefit for being in the Foreign Service.

Back on the ground, Daanbatayan is a semi-rural provincial area of northern Cebu Island. It is where Angeli grew up and it also happens to be home to my favorite hotel called Kandaya Resort. It honestly makes the entire trip worth it. When most people think of resorts, they think of a sprawling mega property with 1000’s of patrons, but Kandaya in reality is a boutique, beachfront hotel, that has roughly 20 rooms and another 20 individual villas. You rarely see other guests, and it feels like you have this beautiful piece of property to yourself. It still offers full resort amenities like a spa, gym, private training, horse back riding, and whatever excursions your heart desires.

If you’re reading this and thinking I am some sort of high roller, I’m not. The Philippines has an incredible reputation for some of the best hotels, resorts, and service at bargain prices. I booked a villa here during the peak week leading up to and through Christmas that came with its own private pool, and the whole 8 nights cost me $1800 ($225 a night). During non-peak periods, you can find rooms here for less than $150 a night. This applies to places all over the Philippines, where 4 and 5 star resorts can be found for incredible deals. I can’t thoroughly recommend a trip here enough. Here are some photos around the resort:

Life in the province is otherwise slow. It is a beautiful area to walk around and take in the scenery, the people are friendly, and the pace is relaxing. I chose to come here for the first part of our vacation because it is really just a place to unwind, enjoy a good book, partake in an adult beverage, get a great massage, and otherwise just turn your brain off. It was the perfect start to this trip.

We stayed at the resort through Christmas, which was a lovely treat. Everything was decorated so nicely, the staff were really into the holiday, and it was overall a wonderful way to celebrate. The 8 nights went by in the blink of an eye, and before we knew it we were off to the second part of our journey which I will cover in another post. -Nick