Trip to the Philippines - more on Cebu

The triangular Fort San Pedro near the pier area of Cebu City, Fuerza de San Pedro, was started as a wooden fortification in 1565, but only built as a stone fort in 1630 with major modifications in the late 19th century.

Since then it served a multitude of purposes; it was an army camp, a school, an emergency hospital, a garden for the Cebu Garden Club, and a zoo. Today the fort hosts a small museum and serves as a recreation area.

This is a drawing that shows the fort in 1565:



If you are lucky you can find a by-the-way blind musician playing inside the fort:

You can also find nice butterflies:

And fossil rocks!! Doesn't it look great?

On our way back we walked through the not so lucky districts

When driving back to Mactan, the small coral island where most resorts are, you can see pile dwellings. I was told that they are not used for living but only for fisher men's activities. But maybe the lacustrine pile dwellings of old have looked a bit like these stilt houses. A bit more messy than on reconstructed drawings :)

And this is back in our safe tourist haven of our resort, the Shangri-la Mactan. So we spent the rest of the day enjoying some luxury like a swim in the infinity pool:

How about a massage while watching sun set?

Or rather exploring the wild life near the pool?

Or maybe just paddling off into the sea ...