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Published: March 31st 2009
APO ISLAND
We arrived in Apo a little wet, but it wasn't too bad. It was warm and the sun was shining. We had to go and register ourselves with the authorities for some reason. They did the same thing when we arrived in Palawan, copied our names, adresses and passport numbers in a log book. I never did find out what the deal was.
Apo Island is a very small island with a village of approximately 800 people. 80 to 90 percent of the locals fish for a living. The village is small and pretty clean with several tiny stores, a community eatery and an island bakery. Almost every residence raises chickens for eating and cock fighting, a very important part of the culture here. Most people live in small bamboo homes with nipa roofs. Nipa is palm fronds used in traditional homes. The people got their water from shallow wells, the water table being about 5-10 feet down. It is not suitable for drinking, it is a little brackish, but it is good for everything else. For drinking water they collect rainwater or buy water. A 4 liter bottle cost 60p, about $1.50. A bucket on a
line retrieves the water and they filled 30 liter containers and took them back to their homes on carts they make. Many homes have their own well, but there were community wells for everyone else. The community wells could be quite a scene with women doing laundry and collecting water to take home. The town has a couple concrete paths about 5 feet wide running through. Of course there are no cars or motorbikes on the island. The people were really friendly, most people would greet us when we passed on the path.
Our first hotel on Apo was Apo Island Resort, a.k.a. Kan-Upi Cove Resort It's on it's own little beach which is a nice change from the hustle and bustle of Alona Beach. The only room available was their most expensive, one of the 4 “golden cowries,” 2250p. From there it was just a short walk or wade, depending on the tides, down to the next beach to the village and the other resort, Liberty's Community Lodge. Unknown to us the island did not have much electricity, 3 ½ hours a day, and no running water. The 2 resorts on the island had generators but they only
ran ithem from 6:00 pm till around midnight. Every day they replenished 2 large bins in the bathroom, one with sea water for flushing, and the other with fresh water for washing. We took “showers” by ladling water from the bucket over our heads.
Security
Our first room was at ground level right on the beach. We liked it a lot but it was not too private. Anyone walking on the beach could look right in the room. With no power at night to run a fan we had to sleep with the doors open to the beach. It freaked me out the first night, worrying about someone coming in to the room. The security guard sleeping on a lounge chair on the beach or the half blind arthritic house dog did not provide me much comfort. After another day on the island it became clear that we were fine. When we were in the Philippines two years ago we left with the impression that it was a slightly dangerous place to travel. The shotgun index was and still is high. The shotgun index is something we use to help us figure out what def-con we should adopt
for a new country. It works like this, go to a bank and count the shotguns. In Manila the index is 4, 2 outside and 2 inside. 4 is a high index. It is supported by the fact that for the first half of the trip we saw armed guards everywhere. As we spent more time here we began to realize that the index had failed us, it is actually very safe here. (It is very unsafe for politicians, but that is another story.) The guards have guns and uniforms, but they clear tables, act as doormen, handle the bill, etc. Except for the banks, you never get the sense that they are “on guard” for trouble. Once we got away from the more touristic areas and the cities, there were no more guards at the banks. In Port Barton, we met a guy from Chicago (Palatine) who had been down here for 13 years. He told us that in Palawan, where Port Barton is, it was perfectly safe. The nearest cop was 1.5 hours away and he was never called. He never locks his doors unless he is away.
School Visit
They had an open house
at the school one day we were there. The mayor of the municipality came over from the mainland (Negros Occidental) to dedicate the new high school classrooms and a new computer lab. A tourist from somewhere in Europe had contributed 8 computers to the school and after much wrangling they had finally got them set up in the back of one of the grade school classrooms. They had trouble getting approval from the schools chief because none of the other schools had computers. Apparently neither did he. They finally won him over by giving him 2 of the computers for use in his office. When we were there the computers were turned on, but just the “pipes” screensaver was going. The little kids had never seen anything like it and had a grand time watching the pipes fill the screen. We spoke with one of the elementary teachers who admitted that before he could teach his kids how to use them he would have to learn himself.
On the wall over the computers was a big chalkboard with statistics for the elementary school that had a real "no child left behind" feel. They use the American K-12 school system. There was one class for each grade. Class size ranged from a high of 29 to a low of 20. I guess that is the birthrate for the island. The failure rate was about 3%! (MISSING)Results of the standardized tests were listed also. I wish we could have found the stats for the high school. I wanted to see how many finished and how many quit school to go fishing or have babies.
We stayed at Kan-Upi for 5 nights. They had a big group coming in so we had to move to Liberty for 3 nights after that. Liberty only had two rooms available. A 1300p room that was just wide enough to accommodate a double bed. It was very spartan, no other furniture, no closet, and felt a little like a cabin on a boat. It had a private comfort room, as they call the bathroom here, but it was down the hall. The walls were quite literally paper thin. Of course the only other room was one of the most expensive. It was a bi-level deal with CR and sitting room below and a nice big bedroom with balcony above. We took it for 2500p, as I couldn't get them to discount it. It was a very nice room and we liked Liberty a lot. It was more of a backpacker place and was very friendly.
We were put off by the no running water thing at first. I'm glad we didn't know coming in because it might have given us pause. In the end we quite liked it. With running water it is not uncommon to have water pressure so low that you can hardly rinse yourself off. The water “pressure” from a bucket dumped over your head is always good. The no hot water was no problem as it was very hot there. The bucket baths were always nice and refreshing.
Our friend Hector, from Miami and Key West , was staying in the dorm there (300p) with his “new wife”, Mona. They met on the jeepney from Dumaguete to Malatappi, the jumping off point for Apo. Mona was heading for Sipalay, further down the coast, when she succumbed to Hector's glowing description of Apo. They were “married” by the person who checked them into Liberty. After trying several times to tell her that they were not really together they gave up and said they were married. Mona said it was just easier to be traveling with a guy here. The local people just can not conceive of a young woman not having a husband and they would ask her all kinds of personal questions before suggesting that she might want to meet their single cousin.
We met Hectior at the airport in Manila. We were on the same flight from Tokyo. We ran into him again in Sabang. He left there long before we did and weeks later we saw him again at Alona beach. We left for Apo before him, but we knew he was coming, so it was no surprise when we ran into him on the beach at Apo. I think we are done with Hector now. He has already been to Palawan on this trip and his next stop was going to be Padre Burgos on Leyte Island.
Apo Diving
The diving on Apo Island was very good. As a matter of fact, the Wild Pacific Reef exhibit at Shed Aquarium is based on this island and some of the fish and coral were collected here. Silliman University on the mainland of Negros Occidental helped set up a marine preserve on the island 30 years ago. As a result, they had some of the most amazing soft coral we have ever seen. Because it is a small island, the currents can be tricky, changing several times on one dive. These same currents also support some very big fish like huge schools of Trevally, the biggest groupers I've seen on a long time and Spanish Mackerel. There is also plenty of very interesting and unusual small critters, Dragon Fish, ghost pipefish, frogfish, cuttlefish... The island was volcanic so one dive we saw lots of vents in the sand that release tiny bubbles, creating an effervescent effect.
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Mark Smith
non-member comment
Apo Island Adventure
I must say you two are quite the adventurous, intrepid travelers! Bucket washes, limited electricity, cozy lodgings and great diving - that's what it's all about. Continue to be safe and have fun. We look forward to your return and the many tall tales or daring do. Mark