Fireflies & an affordable private island.

---

Happy Easter from the Philippines everyone!
After having a hospital operation postponed for the 2nd time, I decided there was no point sitting at home worrying so instead I managed to squeeze in a quick backpacking trip to the Philippines and what a chilled place to be - a million miles away from the worry. However, visiting the Philippines in Holy Week is a bit like going to Wembley on Cup Final day so it was a top priority to try and escape the crowds and discover the tropical seclusion expected from island hopping. It would also help me recharge my batteries for the potentially dark days ahead. The resultant journey was lengthy to say the least - not helped at all by Cathay Pacific texting me on the day of our outbound flight from London to say that our flight to Hong Kong would be delayed by 15 hours! Yes, you read it correctly, 15 hours!!! Our meticulously planned and very tight 2 week schedule was already in tatters and we hadn't even left SW19. There was no way we would make our 3rd flight to Palawan with this sort of delay. With a frantic flurry of fingers I dialled customer services chanting rapidly "please don't let it be a bot, please don't let it be a bot" under my breath like a mantra. When the phone was finally answered I could have kissed the receiver so relieved was I to find a human being on the line. In a babble of barely coherent utterances I explained the problem.
"Oh, but your agent has accepted the changes on your behalf", said the operative.
"Bloody Travelup - should have booked directly with the airline", I fumed to myself. As calmly as I could I explained that this agent had NOT contacted me and that we had a connecting flight that we would definitely miss with this delay. As this 3rd flight was a completely different booking with a separate airline it wasn't looking hopeful. However, at this point something really bizarre happened. The Customer Services rep suddenly announced that the flight was back on schedule and the entire 15 hour delay was now history. I gaped silently at the receiver whilst my heartbeat slowly regularised. What was that all about? I still don't know to this day what on earth went on and when we did finally board I discovered that that the same thing had happened to the guy sitting behind me. Was this an attempt to bounce people off a very full flight? Who knows? So, anyway, a 13 hr flight to Hong Kong, a 2 hr flight to Manila (where we overnighted) followed by a 3rd flight mid- morning (testing the limits of jet-lag!) took us to Palawan. Now everyone, and I mean EVERYONE on the forums was talking up El Nido and all the direct flights there were fully booked so rather than fight the Easter crowds (not to mention the 7 hr minivan journey to get there from Puerto Princesa our arrival airport) we decided to head off somewhere quieter and chose Port Barton. Now having just flown in we were faced with a dilemma. Did we press on directly to Port Barton or pause for the afternoon and grab the 6am minivan the next day. We decided on the latter as it would give us the chance to see the fireflies which Puerto Princesa was known for. After a bit of negotiation, designed primarily to avoid being in a crowded boat led by a guide with a megaphone, we set off for Kitu-Kito. We arrived at the busy river-side restaurant aware that the ticket price included a buffet dinner. This was actually pretty good but - top tip here - eat before the boat trip as others have complained on the TA forum that the buffet can run out of popular dishes if you leave it too late. After eating and being obliged to watch a rather dull presentation about fireflies we were beckoned towards a canoe in which a guide prepared to paddle us up river into the night. Although the canoes seat 6 we were lucky to get ours to ourselves (though it transpired that this was due to the fact that they didn't have change and owed us $4. Our receipt when we finally disembarked accounted for this by stating 'private tour') Anyway, one good thing about this was that our guide had no excuse for any noisy theatrics. The silent slip slopping of the paddles in the water was exactly what we wanted and we were grateful that our guide quickly paddled past another canoe full of carousing locals gustily singing Happy Birthday to one of their number. Despite there being virtually a full moon, which everyone says makes it hard to notice the fireflies, we didn't find it an issue and were soon gliding past trees festooned with these living fairy lights. Although it would have been great if they'd taken to the wing (we were mesmerised by one in Indonesia last year that marked its erratic flight path with intermittent light flashes ) we were simply glad to see them in such numbers. Sadly, the photos I took did not manage to pick out the tiny fireflies - sorry folks - but at least I have the memories.
The following day at 6am we were collected by minivan (hotel pick-up - Yay !) and bussed to Port Barton. Despite fellow travellers warning us that these minivans were straight out of Wacky Races, we weren't unduly alarmed by the speed or manner of driving and the closest thing we saw to a sniggering Mutley was a mangy stray dog that hung about our van at our mid-point stop and that definitely wasn't sniggering - it looked rather sad, actually. Once at Port Barton we were expecting to pay an 'Environmental fee' as lots of websites state, but there was nobody around to pay and no obvious office in which to pay it so we ambled down to take breakfast at a cool beach front bar. I can't remember if the bar was playing reggae music at the time but it was that sort of place - so chilled! At last we'd escaped airports and mini van depots. This was what it was all about. After breakfast we went strolling along the beach itself - and what a beach it was. A beautiful crescent shaped beach fringed with palm trees and bancas pulled up onto the sand - very picturesque! Eventually, it was time for our transfer, the 45 min boat trip to Cacnipa Island. This was an adventure in itself as the sea was quite choppy. By this stage we really felt like we were travelling off the beaten path in a small boat weaving amongst the tiny islands that make up this archipelago. Finally we arrived at Cacnipa island which is home to only 2 resorts both of which offer affordable, if a little basic, chalet accommodation and by basic I mean no hot water (not a problem as it was so darned hot) and no electricity to charge up phones etc until the evening when the generator comes on for 3 hours. Fortunately, the chalets had solar panels which stored enough electricity to keep the fan going through the night (no aircon here!) and, boy, did you need it as Easter is one of the hottest times of the year.
The resort itself is set in a beautiful landscaped garden and the private beach is to die for: the only other people on it are your fellow hotel guests. We lounged in hammocks by day and ate fresh 'catch of the day' fish by night and and not a soul was in sight: bellissimo! However, trouble was brewing in this paradise as the eccentric owner was prone to interrupt evening meals by approaching guests at the table and rambling on in broken English on various disconnected topics. This became a bit annoying after a while especially as it ruined any attempt at an intimate sunset dinner for two. Yet this wasn't the worst of it, as I will recount later.

I was up with the dawn the next morning mainly to capture the main photo on this blog entry but also to take an early morning swim. The sea was as calm as a mill pond so conditions couldn't have been better. The time was 5.42am and sitting on the beach watching the sun rise was the owner himself.
"Don't forget your island-hopping trip today," he called out as I walked down to the sea. I waved and smiled a reply anxous not to miss my dawn swim by becoming drawn into anymore of his stories. It was the first time the sea had been this calm so I was really hoping I would spot my first turtle. Alas, the turtle never appeared but it still felt great cutting through the crystal clear water at sun rise. After breakfast we set off on what turned out to be one of the best days of the fortnight and all for free simply because I'd helped the owner out with his fridge (see next blog) I really got a sense of being deep within an archipelago on this trip as the boat weaved its way past various islands before making stops at the Starfish island sand-bar (see photo), 2 colourful coral snorkelling reefs and 2 tiny island stops, one of which I was able to swim completely around. (In hindsight this was a bit risky as, at the head of the island, I had to contend with quite a strong current. Luckily I am quite a strong swimmer but had there been any small whirlpools as we saw around Komodo in Indonesia last year, then you wouldn't be reading this blog!) Our trip also included a turtle watching bay where we snorkelled above a large turtle as it swam out to the deep. They are such graceful beautiful creatures and happily quite plentiful in the Philippines. The water everywhere was crystal clear and the coral so colourful that I could happily have stayed and left the land of the motor car behind forever. It just seemed like the ultimate clean green way to live.
Anyway, part of the deal for our free trip was that we would pull into a neighbouring island where Cherry, who came on the boat trip with us, would buy some fresh fish for dinner. Here we were definitely off the tourist path in a real fisherman's community and we found the whole experience fascinating. It was amazing to see the buckets of fresh fish of all shapes, sizes and colours that they'd caught that day. If only the waters back home teemed with aquatic life to the same extent!
Whilst here amongst the fishermen, Cherry very kindly suggested I buy our own fish for dinner which she would cook for us and simply charge us a token cooking fee rather than the full menu price. Way to go, Cherry! What a great time we were having. In fact, we were so taken with Cacnipa that we decided to stay a 4th night before departing early on day 5 to catch our midday flight back to Manila. Little did we realise how things would quickly unravel.... (see next blog entry)

Indie

---