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Published: October 27th 2006
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The Beach at Bitaug, Rizal
... surrounded by 170-foot tall, heavily vegetated, gray cliffs We checked out of Villa Ernesto at General Luna, Siargao as early as 4:00am. The van brought us to the Port of Del Carmen to take our 5:30am Leonida Ferry Ride. (Again many thanks to Ate Eunor and her connections.) We left for Surigao City, mainland Surigao.
Please don’t sneeze or I’ll fall
Eloi and I noticed how “personalized” traveling is, here in Siargao. Since they do not have elaborate ladders or bridges that passengers walk on from the docking area into the ferry boat, they have made an improvised bridge. Two people simply hold a long
kawayan or bamboo stick on each end -- one on board the boat, and the other on the docking area. As soon as it was my turn to walk through the “bridge”, I prayed neither of these two people sneezes and accidentally loses grip of the
kawayan, or else I will simply fall into the sea!
The Mangroves of Del Carmen
As we moved out of Siargao Island, I noticed that we were passing through an immense stretch of mangroves. (I’m glad they maintain this. This is very important to keep the island’s marine life healthy.) It took almost
an hour navigating through a maze of mangroves. It was an enormous chain of mangroves that it was already sunrise when we have finally cruised on open water!
At 7:30am, we docked at the port of Surigao City and we simply walked to Eunor’s house. Yes, it’s that close! Her family prepared breakfast for us and we are very, very thankful for that.
Ate Eunor and I brought my officemates to the city bus terminal at 9:00am so they could catch the non-stop bus for Butuan. They boarded the bus and left, while the two of us were looking forward to another beach-scapade at what they call, “The Beach”.
The Beach at Bitaug, Rizal
At 11:30am, we hired a big boat from the Surigao City port.
After 2 hours of huge waves, we finally found ourselves approaching 170-foot tall, heavily vegetated, gray cliffs. As we got closer and closer, we enjoyed the welcoming sight of a short stretch of white sand. They named this after the movie, “The Beach”. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I guess it’s because it was an unexpected sight amongst gray rock formations that surround it. I have also
noticed that its sand was finer than those in Guyam, Dako, and Naked Islands of Siargao. (I took a sample for my friend in Manila. She collects sand as a hobby.)
There’s this rock that they say isn’t visible from the shore on a high tide. But since it was low tide, it was right there, bare, and sticking out like a sore thumb. I looked for something interesting in its crevices and I found one mud crab clinging onto it, while feeding on the splashes of the water. I walked further to the beach’s narrower shores and I marveled at the beauty of this remote island. It does not have electricity at this part of the island.
It had handsome turquoise waters, only -- slapping us hard to the sandy shore!! The weather was not cooperating with us, but we still managed to have fun. The waves were so strong that one of my fins slipped off as soon as I entered the water through the shore! I couldn’t see anything through my mask. The water was blurry because of the sand floating around due to the sea’s crazy waves. I swam into the deep and lied
on my back. I pretended I was lying on a giant water bed. Ahh… feels great!
Missing Kinilaw na Nokus
Back in Siargao, we were too pampered and “civilized” that we had lunch in appropriate mess halls. This time, we ate by the beach using our bare hands! This is the kind of beach-eating I’ve been wanting to have. It reminds me of the first time I’ve been to Surigao eight years ago. One thing is lacking, though, the local delicacy -
kinilaw na nokus or raw squid in vinegar.
The locals told me that it has been two years since they stopped having
kinilaw na nokus. Fishermen used to get a lot of these from the sea and preserve them as
buyad, or dried squid. It rained hard one day and all their
buyad got spoiled. They decided to throw these back to the sea. Alas, the sea has seemed to be displeased, and such squid no longer visits the waters of Surigao.
Bigger waves on the way back
The “captain” of the boat told us we have to be on board at 3:30pm. The weather is getting worse and we have to leave
“The Beach” soon. Huhu! So soon... huhu…
True enough, the waves were way larger than I have ever experienced (i.e. relative to the size of our boat. The waves I experienced going to Camiguin were even larger.) One of us has started throwing up thirty minutes into the ride. We had to move to the middle of the boat for balance. I never felt scared nor sea sick before, but the roaring waves made me worry. Honestly, there came a point when I prayed hard and asked for His safe hands. Somehow I was relieved there was a huge ship nearby. If ever our boat literally topples over, at least that ship could provide rafts that would rescue us.
Thank goodness for our skillful “captain”. He managed to bring us to the city port safely. We were dripping wet, though. Big waves have been clashing into our boat and we were forever being splashed with sea water. No wonder the Lanzones I was eating all throughout our boat time, tasted hmm... salty.
As we were nearing the city port, the “captain” casually told us we have encountered waves that were coming from opposite directions. He said he
has seen a lot of these in his lifetime and he knew we were, at some point, in the middle of a forming whirlpool. Whoah! At that instant, my mind flashed back to stories my cousins told me about passenger boats that were never seen again. I am very, very thankful we did not get to be part of that statistic. Now, the question is: Will I ever ride a boat again?
Ofcourse, I will.
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