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Published: January 16th 2007
Wednesday January 12th Together with Oliver, Juliane, and Mike, I left my private paradise of Coco Loco Island today and headed out for the bus station in Roxas for a four hour bus journey to
El Nido. Once we stepped foot off the boat in Roxas, a man appeared and offered us a private min-van to El Nido for the bargain price of five-thousand pesos. We eagerly accepted his offer, knowing that riding in a minivan would be like taking a limousine compared to the hot, sweaty and jam packed busses running up and down the dirt island roads. This time, the universe had conspired to make things a little bit easier on all of us and we were thankful for that.
Arriving in El Nido, we all decided to stay at a place called
the Alternative which was a unique change from all of my other accommodations thus far. As the name suggests, the Alternative is a different type of place; offering a menu of vegetarian and raw foods, holistic therapies and detoxification treatments in addition to the very basic accommodations. The building is an eclectic mix of bamboo, tile floors and thick polished drift wood supporting the
structure and eagles nest-like perches jutting out from upstairs. The nests have been a great place to read a book or lie back on cushions and just gaze out at the turquoise waters and the sheer limestone cliffs abutting the town. The menu here has also been amazing, with great ginger tea, fresh fruit shakes, steamed fishes and delectable veggies galore.
January 13th - 15th The allure of El Nido lies not so much in the town itself which is fairly uninspiring, but in the beautiful islands, limestone formations and hidden beaches scattered throughout this area of the South China Sea, geographically known as the Bacuit Archipelago. All of this is easily explored from Palawans Northern most town of El Nido. Friday morning the four of us arranged our first guided island hopping tour here, motoring out to sea for the one of the highlights - the small and big lagoons of Miniloc Island. These are two of the most photographed sights in all of Palawan and it’s easy to see why. At the small lagoon, our boat slowly motored into a shallow reef area where we dropped anchor and our kayaks into the water. From the boat
we slowly paddled through a small opening in the rock wall and into a hidden world of calm green water surrounded by sheer jungle-clad limestone walls. The big lagoon was very similar and also had fingers which led into a shallow mangrove swamp, whre we beached our kayaks and explored a small isthmus of jungle covered sand wedged between two limestone outcroppings. After lunch on another remote private beach, our guide skillfully motored our wooden dinghy across a vast channel of choppy seas to some more snorkeling beaches and coves. The crossing was part of the tour they don’t tell you about in advance. When we reached the other side after a one hour crossing, we were thoroughly waterlogged by the incessant sea spray. We were so chilled by the cool breeze that jumping back into the sea felt like taking a warm bath. Snorkeling off shore, we swam through a massive swarm of jellyfish everywhere which made snorkeling a little bit uncomfortable. They weren’t big enough to inflict serious harm, but I still felt little stings, like pin pricks all over my body. Unable to escape the jumble of Jellyfish,we all decided to cut the snorkeling short but not
before I managed to find a pretty cool looking shell which I’ve proudly displayed here.
Saturday was a day to get acquainted with El Nido, have a massage and take full advantage of the healthy indulgences offered up by the Alternative. It was also a day to reflect on whether to brave the seas again for more islands hopping. Oliver, Juliane and Mike all decided on scuba diving to fill their Sunday while I joined an Italian couple for more island hopping pleasures on the high seas. We set out on a similar balsa wood type vessel under clear sunny skies and I though for sure we were in for a much drier day than last time - wrong! - More on that later, but lets get to the highlights of the day. We first arrived at Matinloc Island which snakes along some eight kilometers and together with Tapiutan Island forms the narrow Tapiutan straight. Along the sheer limestone walls around the islands are some of the best snorkeling. On the back side of Matinloc, we motored up to a limestone wall and dropped anchor in the deep choppy sea. Our guide pointed to a small opening in the
Secret Beach
Brave thee death defying keyhole slot and thy shall be rewarded with your own private beach.wall and said, “That’s the secret beach”. We grabbed our snorkels, jumped into the water and swam towards the hole, our guide helping us to time the waves just right so that we would not end up being smashed into the jagged rock wall. After some dog paddling in front and trying not to get sucked into the hole, the water receded and I made a mad dash to swim through the small slot. A wave followed close behind, punched through the hole and swept me safely into a shallow lagoon. Inside was a small crescent shaped beach dominated by huge limestone and jungle growth. The pinkish tan sand was grainy and felt like a handful of bird seed. The name was befitting as the feeling here was truly like being in a secret place,…our own secret beach. My sissy guidebook had the following to say about this spot -
“The adventurous will surely want to check out tiny Secret Beach, which can only be entered by swimming through a keyhole slot in the western wall of Matinloc. But be warned, the entrance is lined with extremely jagged rocks and coral - do not even think of swimming through with any waves around as an accident could be fatal”.
After a great day of snorkeling and secret beaches, we headed back towards El Nido across an exposed channel which may as well have been called “kick your ass” channel. I knew we were in for something when the guide told us to store our belonging under the deck and handed each of us a rain slicker. Strangely enough there was not a life vest in sight. Starting out from the safety of the Tapiutan Straight we entered the channel into water that could best be compared to watching an ant float inside a toilet bowl being hammered with a plunger. Now this would have all been fine and dandy in a larger vessel but keep in mind we were traversing on one of those floating matchsticks. Four to five foot rolling swells passed under us and on several occasions water washed clear over our heads, drenching us all. A whistling wind picked up and if that wasnt bad enough, it also started raining. It felt as if someone was throwing a bucket of water in our face, every minute for almost an hour. Now I understand why water is
Sunset in El Nido
View from Alternative used as a torture device. Things got a little dicey when the motor died on us midway through the crossing. I thought I would lighten things up a little bit for the Italians by saying, “Hey guys, doesn’t this feel like we’re in that movie called White Squall?” They didn’t speak English very well and I thought the humor would be lost on them so I refrained. Fortunately, our captain tinkered around long enough to get the rig going again and we eventually made it back into El Nido harbor. After the jagged rock adventure and tricky boat ride, I’m glad to report to everyone that I’m alive and well and heading home from my grand adventure on Wednesday!
Later that evening I reconvened with the gang for some cards and drinks on the balcony of the Alternative. I taught my travel mates the American drinking game of President; otherwise know as “asshole”. They all caught on quickly - Mike taking full advantage of his presidential powers to make me schlep down the street to buy beers. Oliver used his position to order everyone over to the local Karaoke bar. I picked out our song “Drive” by the Cars
Lunchtime
Getting ready to dig into our freshly grilled fish,..on our own private beach. and we all made a feeble attempt at singing in unison. The machine scored our rendition an 85 and all the locals were scoring 96's and 97's so I think we really did suck. Mike commented that I had a deep, dreamy voice like Barry White….Hmmm, I don’t think so pal, but thanks for the complement anyway!! Still, his comment made me ponder the idea of hitting the karaoke again the following night to try out Barry’s “Can't get enough of your love, babe”, but alas our group would disband in the morning. My moment in the spotlight would have to wait for another day.
Oliver and Juliete left to continue their adventures and then back to Germany. I spent the day relaxing around the Alternative while Mike went out for diving and returned with 2nd degree sun burns later in day thanks in part to their dive boat breaking down under the blaring sun for three hours until a rescue crew could be organize to save them. While Mike was out roasting like a chicken on the China Sea, I was typing out this entry on my laptop and minding my own business a the Alternative. The manager
Merlyn, who I had by now become friends with, invited me to join her and her sister for their friends baby Christening; an invitation I readily accepted. We took a tricycle out into the countryside and I attended the Christening inside a small church located down a dirt trail in a village field. About forty friends and family joined under the small tin roof church and Pastor Ed recited verse and gave blessings to the baby boy. Afterwards, we all walked down the trail to the road and caught tricycles further out in the countryside to their family home where a giant pot luck lunch was served. The village elder, a frail eighty five year old Mother Theresa-like woman blessed the food by softly singing a lovely song as everyone looked on. I had realized that no one was capturing this special day with a camera, so I took the liberty of photographing the Christening and the Lunch with the intention of sending prints back to El Nido for them….my good deed for the day.
If there has been one inalienable truth which traveling has brought into clear focus for me it is this: The universe will always conspire
to bring positive things to us as long as we are open to receiving positive experiences, sensitive and aware enough to recognize the signs, and have the wisdom and fearlessness to follow what is our true destiny. This is not always readily apparent, and sometimes these opportunities & experiences present themselves in the veiled form of a calamity or hardship which might discourage even the most optimistic souls. We often resist adversity and challenge with all of our might, heading quickly in another direction. But, if you allow things to happen as they should, there is always a silver lining to be gleaned, experiences to cherish, and lessons to be learned from accepting our chosen paths, rather than fighting against them. I think back to my arrival in Puerto Princessa, Palawan - getting to the “bus station” and trying to figure out how on earth I was going to survive a four hour journey across the island on a Jeepney, or if I would survive at all. I tried everything in my power to avoid it, polling everyone who would listen to see if there was another way, perhaps a shared car, a van pool, and air conditioned bus, anything
but that Jeepney. I could have afforded fifty-dollars for my own private car to Sabang instead of the ominous looking clunker, but something was telling me not to shell out the cash, but rather to go in the direction all signs were pointing me to. Out of that Jeepney journey I tried so hard to resist, formed one of my more memorable traveling troupes thus far - ten days spent in the company of Oliver, Juliane and Mike.
In the end, my time in El Nido was bittersweet. I had met good friends and I thoroughly enjoyed the stunning scenery here, but was also keenly aware that this represented the end of a journey for me - an adventure of over two months of amazing experiences, new friends and exploration of fascinating culture. When I started my trip, I had a life list of places to see. As I traveled, and met people and shared stories, I learned about so many new places around the world, some I had never heard of. My list has now about twice as long as when I started. I return home tomorrow evening with many great memories, fresh prespectives and a burning desire
to explore some more. South American sounds interesting...who wants to join me?
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mikel
non-member comment
el nido
thx for all ur blogs. i luv el nido, stayed at the resort in miniloc island. when i was there.