Flow For Fire: 10,000 Fireflies

Fireflies light up for 3 reasons:

1) to attract a mate

2) when they sense danger

3) to communicate

As we cruised on the starlit river, the trees seemed empty and quiet. I was on a firefly watching tour and there was hardly any light in the dark maze that we had entered...until the tour guide shined a red LED light into the trees. The fireflies perceived the red-light as danger and lit up those trees like the fourth of July! Actually, they light it up like Christmas time because they make the trees look like Christmas trees adorned with lights. Hehe. It was really an incredible sight, and I loved that there was this kid on board who got everyone excited by exclaiming, “I see it!!!” every time we encountered the fireflies. Once in a while a firefly would linger on our boat like a little fairy cruising by.

Manila pics:

Carlos Celdran Tour. Many people skip over Manila when they visit the Philippines because the pollution is rampant, and infrastructure is weak. For example, there is a path that lines the beautiful Pasay river, but no one uses it because it's accompanied by a sewer system for a majority of the way. After taking this tour, I am majorly impressed by Manila's resiliency because it's been tossed around as a way toy, moving from a mostly Muslim population to Spanish Imperialism to US and Japanese hegemony.