The sea gypsies belong to the Badjao tribe in the Southwesternmost part of the Philippines near the borders of Indonesia and Malaysia.
Their copper-toned skin and sandy-colored hair glistened against the hot, tropical sun. They are some of the forgotten people in the Philippines, but they carry fascinating stories with them.
They are excellent pearl divers.
Living in houseboats, newborn babies were thrown into the sea as a form of an old ritual. Babies learned to swim before they could even walk or talk.
They have no gods and are known to be pagans. They worship the sea who gives them food and life.
They mimic the cries of the dolphins, the sea their playground and domain.
They do not have any education and they counted their ages by the full moons.
They decorate their teeth with gold and diamonds.
They are an all-time delight to the local and foreign tourists who endlessly snap away their pictures.
(Photo shows Badjao kids swimming for the coins I tossed to them while on a ferry trip back to my island.)
