Fluvial Procession 2009

 

Despite days of rain, strong winds, dizzying temperature changes and savage seas, the 2009 Fluvial Procession of Sr. Sto. Nino and Cebu’s Patroness Our Lady of Guadalupe back to Cebu City was still very well-attended. In fact, the committee had to say no to some bangka operators due to safety and security reasons. The night before the parade, the weather was a bit rough and scary. The next morning, however, the Mactan Channel was very peaceful and quiet.

 

Huge passenger ships docked for the annual fluvial procession.

Devotees waiting for the start of the procession.

Some brought food and drinks.

A foreigner eats his apple while waiting for the parade.

A boat from Cebu City sails full speed to the starting point.

A kid stands on top of a truck to see if the boats are coming.

A helicopter! There were numerous helicopters during the procession.

Peaceful! The Mactan Channel at 6 am.

Trans-Asia. One of the many ships docked in Cebu City.

The lucky ones. Hehehe.

Do you remember this guy? He’s the same coin diver I saw during last year’s fluvial parade.

But this time, his family is not alone.

Here’s another boat with a granddaughter and her lola. I think.

I don’t think that’s what she should be doing at her age.

Here’s another boat with a mother and a little kid. The mom leaves the kid every time she dives for coins. Scary.

 Young boys swimming near the ship.

This one jumped right in when he saw that his friends were having a blast.

 Coin divers. Wet and cold but still happy.

Another boat from Cebu trying to get to Mactan before the parade starts.

The Cebu City pier. Quite clean.

I made the terriblem, terrible mistake of going to the Boardwalk Mall right before the parade started. I thought that I would get a better view at the mall. Guess what? I was totally wrong.

I didn’t realize why there were only a few people there until the actual parade started.

A boy carrying his Sto. Nino statue.

The devotees in Mandaue City.

There’s the second helicopter.

A kid carring his little statue.

Helicopter. Kadako! Hehehe.

 The parade was headed, as usual, by a small boat from the Coast Guard. 

There’s their bigger ship.

And there’s the Nino’s boat.

Boat of the Sto. Nino

Balloons in Mandaue!

Birds were displaced when the docked ships blew their horns.

The fleet. Wow. 

There’s another helicopter.

These are the vessels and ships that followed.

 I’m sorry for the horrible shots. I should have stayed at my previous location. Sige lang. Bawi lang ko next year puhon-puhon.