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My German buddy Till arrives in Coron straight from Germany,he is as pale as I could remember him, great to see him after 5 months, we had great times travelling together in the Caucasus, and we'll see if we can give him some tan before he leaves the tropics. Lots of catching up to do, we had a few beers at the Sea Dive restaurant where we are staying and then took him to one of my favorite eateries in town, Trining's, earlier I bought some "pitik" a kind of lobster that I've not seen anywhere else in my travels and some squid so Till can have a great start to his Philippine travels, I dropped the seafood in the morning and they cooked it for me, It was fantabulous, needless to say we gorged the feast, my friend MJ joined us, he owns a travel company that arranges tours around Calamianes, I worked for him briefly helping out with his customers and in return I get to see most of the attractions for free as part of his staff.
MJ has a tour leaving tomorrow and I encouraged Till to sign up for it as it goes to most
of the highlights of Coron. Till was exhausted from the long trip to get here so I alone went to hang out to Cueba bar, also to give my friends there the German chocolates Till brought with him, a few beers later off to bed. Our room is clean and decent size for 400 PHP/night fan room on the annex of SeaDive next to the dive shop air pumping station and the laundry room where most of the noises come starting at 5am, I did not sleep well but Till was passed out. Anyway today we are off to explore with MJ's group,1st up was to Kayangan lake, it's a bit windy and overcast but the sun soon appeared in full force, great to swim in the lake once again, the water is sweet, not a lot of coral fish but a good amount of schools of needle fish patrols around the edge of the platforms knowing that tourists will feed them bread. A bunch of big shrimps with pincers soon appeared and started nibbling at our feet. The next stop to Barracuda lake, different scenario, less vegetation in the limestone cliffs that overhangs the enclosed area of the lake
that actually opens up to the sea, less people here too but later on a group of divers came. Till lost his swim goggles and asked them to see if they can locate it for him, 15 meters is the average depth here and only divers can get down but unfortunately they were unable to find it. Swimming here is great though!
Off to the twin lagoons where if lucky you can not only feel the mixing of hot and cold water but may also see the thermocline, the separation of differing water temps. like a slick of oil underwater. We were lucky there weren't anyone there, for a good 30 minutes we had the place to ourselves then the local hordes of tourists came,majority of the Filipinos cannot swim and they were all wearing life vests and being pulled by a guide into the depths of the lagoon. Heavy traffic trying to get in and out of the small opening entering the lagoons. We had lunch here we were all starved so it was a relief to finally get some sustenance, swimming is tiring especially if you don't have fins.
From there we briefly stopped at Atwayan
Coron according to Till
me swimming @ Kayangan lakebeach, white sand beach good area for snorkelling too but we all opted to have a snooze. Then an hour of choppy boat ride to Malcapuya Island where we stay the night, the waves were rough and at one point the left outrigger on our boat broke! Quickly mended we continued on at half speed, eventually making it to the island. We chose our cottage, set up some lamps on the beach in the eve, though windy it's a great to be in a beautiful tranquil place such as this, long stretch of pure white sand, huge moon over us with a huge ring around it. Next morning we snorkelled to see the giant clam farm and feeding the fish, the area is teeming with small and big fish, though its a bit deeper than other sites, we had great fun, I saw nemo several times, and an eel, among other things.
To Banana island next, wow this one for me is better than Malcapuya, snorkelling is excellent! Just a few meters from the also stunning white sand beach is the coral teeming with fishies, after a heavy lunch and some rest we snorkelled to our heart's content, saw
some fan plants, a sting ray darting off in the deep, a moray eel again and lots and lots of coral fish that surrounds you as you swim towards them. There is a nice sand bar on the side of the island but the Korean group was there for ages and never seem to want to leave it so we decided not to wade the shallows to get there. Back to Coron in the afternoon and chilled at Cueba bar in the eve before turning in for the night, quite a long day.
The next day we decided to hire a motorbike and drive around the island stopping at some places of interest, Till is an expert motorbiker, I am not so I was in the backseat, we rented our bike from Boyet bike rental, he gave us a brief explanation of where to go and also a map that was a bit confusing to follow we found out later. Gassed up and off we go, paved roads turned to gravel but not bad just yet, we arrived at Concepcion, a sleepy town where we had lunch at Tattoo Mike's bar and restaurant, nice guy, we had a delicious
menudo meal for lunch. Then we continued on passing several towns, like Salvacion, we almost ran into a kid on the street not watching where he was going he suddenly decided to twirl himself in front of the bike in one of the small villages we were driving past, he was okay if not fully embarrased, he ran back towards his house!
The road is brutal from here on trying to get to Okum Okum beach for the night, Till is desperate to get there, his hands were numb from the vibrations and our bums were starting to get sore from the uber bumpy roads. We finally made it to the beach, nice place, we opted to stay in a tent as the rooms were all booked, a good dinner of fried fish a short chatter with the other guests and off to bed for us. There is no wind and it was a bit stuffy inside the tent so we pulled out the fly only to regret it later as it got colder during the night, we struggled to share the only blanket given to us, I had a good sleep I thought, Till was complaining how uncomfortable
the thin matt is, we both wake up with sore hips.
Early start in the morning by 6am we are off again to get to Calauit Animal Sanctuary, another brutal ride, we got lost a few, Boyet's map was no help on this bit and luckily we passed by some friendly locals and directed us until we eventually found the port at Malacachao village. In the pontoon we took a boat to Calauit island, a good 5 minute boat ride RT for 400 pesos. Another 350 PHP per head to enter the sanctuary. Everyone there is friendly we walked around opting out on the jeep ride which costs 1,000 PHP! We have a guide with us and explained to us the brief history of the place. We saw one giraffe feeding, a number of zebras and hordes of the rare Calamian deer, native to this islands, some animals in enclosures like the Palawan crocodile, Malay civet(musang), few monkeys, native porcupines and a few birds flying about. It was a hot day, indeed it feels like walking in the hot african bush, it was underwhelming for me having been to numerous safaris in Africa but a first for Till.
Getting back to the road trying to get back to Coron town, the worst road ever, up and down mountains, gravel and rocks scatter on the unpaved road, several times I have to get off the bike, poor Till,he had a hard time driving, we took our time, getting lost and confused on some intersections, luckily a passing truck pointed us to the right direction, a few areas have fences that we have to open and shut as we pass by, cattles are being raised here thus the fences. Bums sore, exhausted, dehydrated and irritated we finally made it to San Jose town 2 hours later and found a nice eatery near the pier of Maribacan village, Vicky's restaurant whipped up a storm for us in short notice, the fried fish was delicious! Suffice to say we eventually made it to Coron , paved roads for the most part after getting past the Busuanga airport helped us to make it to town by 3pm. Tired and hungry we rested and had a great massage in the eve then chilled at Cueba and off to bed.
The next morning I felt like I have been run over by a freight
train, to Till's amusement, I could barely walk and my knees buckle when I stand, I was a bit worried, not knowing what happened to me and as the day progressed I got worse, hobbling around town, for sure I have dengue fever I surmised, most of my bones hurts, moving a limb is a struggle, also I just been through 2 days of hell riding on the back of a motorbike on the worst road I ever encountered in a long time! Whatever it was I slept it off taking paracetamol to get me to sleep. Well sleep was a struggle the whole night I felt pain and could not get comfortable.
We checked out in the morning and had breakfast at the SeaDive restaurant while waiting for our boat to El Nido. I could barely walk, both my feet are sore, Till have to help me carry my big pack. We found out that the boat we booked, the 60 ft. long 2 propeller engine "Ride the Joe" is not here! Princess Welia is leaving and the booking agent told us no problem we can transfer. We were not happy but we have no choice we have
Okum Okum beach
we slept the night here to leave today! Like Filipino time, we did not leave at 9, half hour later, after "coast guard" inspection and thorough counting of passengers we are off. I took 2 motion sickness tablets from Till, I was incomprehensible in no time, I could barely even open my mouth, I passed out right away on the boat, again to Till's amusement!
The trip initially was fine, calm seas, gorgeous weather, then 2 hours later we suddenly halted! it took awhile to realize what was going on, the boat staff does not give info, I have to ask for it, I was told one of the rotor blades broke and we have to run on half impulse all the way to El Nido, about 8 to 9 more hours! I asked them if they can fix it in one of the islands around, they told me it's too difficult and cumbersome, they'll fix it in El Nido. I was too groggy to argue, I passed out after that, woke up 2 hours later to find out we are nearing an island, somehow they realized we are really too slow and decided to fix the rotor after all. This took another 2
hours before we went on, Meanwhile I was struggling mightily, I felt like all my bones were broken,my bum, sore from 8 hours of sitting.
Finally moving we were welcomed by giant waves as we reached open seas, we would have been in peril had they not fixed the rotor. The rolling waves continued on for couple hours and calmed down as we neared the mainland. past 8pm we finally arrived at El Nido to my relief. The worst journey of my trip so far, 11 hours of agony, from body pains and the long wait, hello El Nido..
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Josevich
Josevich
do
you should go see a doctor. and you shouldve before getting on that boat