Fast Sketching by Robert Alejandro

My good friend, Robert Alejandro and I were given the opportunity to help promote birdwatching in the Philippines at the Taipei International Bird Fair last November 7-8. It was a great event to showcase the Philippines as a birding destination and gain really nice Taiwanese friends!

Robert did great sketches of birds from the names of Taiwanese visitors to the Philippine booth. He was such a hit!

Here's a timelapse video of him working on the sketches. It usually took him one minute to complete a sketch.

Agusan Marsh - Time Lapse

How would you picture in your mind a wetland several hundred square kilometers in size, with people living in their floating houses? It was really an eye-opener for me when I got to explore Agusan Marsh in the province of Agusan del Sur. Great site, really! The floating houses (and schools and stores) rise and ebb with the low and high waters. The carabaos are likewise sitting pretty in their floating cages. The people live very simple lives. In the midst of their situation, they manage to always keep smiling at the visitors.

The place is already great for some meaningful travel. Now, what it needs are good people who can develop tours around the lake. Oh, I almost forgot, there is already a non-government organization developing tours and the provincial government is already positioning the marsh as an ecotourism destination.

Here's a time lapse video of our visit to the marsh about two weeks ago (2nd week of January 2009) for our birdwatching visit.