babuyan memories, part 4a: losing sight of the mainland and finding the natural charms of camiguin norte

"One does not discover new lands without consenting

 to lose sight of the shore for a very long time."   

-- André Gide

during that early april morning when our group of eight -- kat, mati, bren, bryan, jb, sherelle, yanyan, and i -- boarded a motorized banca (locally called lampitaw) in sta. ana, cagayan to brave the big waves of the babuyan channel, we got what we hoped for: indications of good weather and favorable wave conditions.

the captain (kuya totoy), along with two assistants (jayjay and zombie), ably steered our boat towards our island destination in the babuyanes. the dual-engined boat effortlessly got us away from the northeastern edge of mainland luzon and across the channel.

after a good while of seeing only shades of blue (blue waves against blue sky) and some white (white clouds) around us, a breathtaking sight of camiguin norte, our island destination, welcomed us on the other side -- as if we entered another dimension.

as seen from my seat on the boat: camiguin norte island

as my eyes feasted on the vegetated mountain slopes and rugged edges of camiguin norte, i was reminded of other daunting boatrides survived in batanes, zambales, and palawan and i was thrilled to have reached another place, another paradise in MY country -- the philippines.

glimpses of camiguin norte island, 40km or so away from the mainland

destination: camiguin norte
camiguin norte is one of the five major islands comprising the babuyan islands, an archipelago of 24+ volcanic-coralline islands situated between the balintang channel and the babuyan channel of the luzon strait.

map of babuyan islands from http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/babuyanislands.htm

map of camiguin norte island
image source: http://www.scribd.com/doc/32556780/Varanid-Lizards
(i provided the labels in red)

camiguin norte of the babuyanes, not to be confused with camiguin island of mindanao, is a 22-km long volcanic island dominated by mount camiguin (also known as camiguin de babuyanes and locally referred to as dakkel nga balay, which means big house), a 712-meter high forest-covered stratovolcano located on the southern tip and considered by the philippine institute of volcanology and seismology (PHIVOLCS) as one of the 22 active volcanoes in the country. the island is part of the municipality of calayan which, despite the considerable isolation from the mainland, is under the political territory of cagayan province.

if camiguin norte's geological features are not enough to give away her volcanic nature, the undeniable strong smell of sulfur along the southwestern  shore and the smoke and heat emanating from a nearby semi-undersea hot spring are additional tell-tale signs.

notice that smoke? the smell of sulfur prevails in this area. this is one spot in camiguin norte island where you see a tell-tale sign of the presence of volcanoes

experiencing unpredictability in unfamiliar territory
i'd like to believe that all of us in our group of eight really knew what we said yes to in addition to taking the chance of seeing whales and dolphins in our country's northern seas. the trip is not for everyone, not just for anyone. it is only for the ones who are willing to yield to what's difficult to shake off -- the potent combo of the lure of the remote and the call of adventure.

we took the challenge of crossing the babuyan channel  and spending time in the babuyanes despite knowing that the area is a playground of the winds and that the possibility of being stranded is high due to the unpredictability of the weather and sea conditions even during philippine summer months, when the seas are expected to be calm.

the babuyan area's notoriety for unpredictability revealed itself to us soon after we reached the aquatic territory of camiguin norte. while the sky remained clear allowing the sun to shine on us and our boat as we traversed the babuyan channel, we suddenly found ourselves under a very cloudy zone and got welcomed by drizzle when we reached the island's southwestern side.

suddenly gloomy camiguin norte: experiencing unpredictability and still seeing beauty

under the gloomy sky, camiguin norte and the nearby islets on her western side still looked enthralling. towering above all, mount camiguin was imposing yet gave the impression of being coy, her peak hidden by a large mass of clouds. the caves, coves, cliffs, multi-colored rock formations, and the forest-covered slopes bore no signs of human abuse nor degradation and looked very pristine and inviting.

glimpses of camiguin norte's natural charms

when we cast our eyes away from these and looked to our left, pinon island easily commanded our attention. at first, pinon appeared as a mound of green rising just a little above the waves. when we got closer, it was easy to recognize her as an islet gifted with features that reminded us of batanes' valugan boulder beach because of the countless smooth rocks lining the shore where waves crashed angrily and zambales' capones island because of her vegetated elevated portions and the way the rocks were scattered on the lower portions. plus, she also has a good stretch of white sand. her beauty beckoned to us but the prevailing wind and wave conditions made further approaching her very daunting.

pinon island: an islet just off camiguin norte

beyond pinon and around 4 kilometers or so away is another island -- pamoctan (pamuktan in ilocano). our boatmen told us that she's really a beautiful island and we could stop over there. weary from the long boatride across the channel and badly wanting to walk again on land, we all agreed for our boat to dock in pamoctan so we could as well have our then soon-due lunch on her beach.

at first, since we were approaching her from the south, pamoctan looked like an island version of a misplaced and deformed chocolate hill. as we approached her on her southeastern side, her two-peaked terrain became obvious -- a charming tandem of a mama hill on the northern side and a baby hill on the southern side.  she's quite a picture of a lumpy pretty island and the babuyanes must have really wanted to show her off to us -- the clouds let up and allowed the sunshine in as our boat approached her shore.

approaching pamoctan island

according to online resources, pamoctan is actually a lava dome and is recognized  as one of the three volcanic centers in the southern part of camiguin norte. she is a landmark to navigators and is known as the island that lies in the middle of the entrance to the anchorage they refer to as port san pio quinto -- in ordinary speak, pamoctan is the island guarding the southwestern cove of camiguin norte.

personally, i consider pamoctan as my la isla bonita of the north -- the northern counterpart of tawi-tawi's sangasiapu island, my la isla bonita of the south.

the white coralline beach of pamoctan island, my la isla bonita of the north

very clear seawater and a glimpse of pamoctan island's underwater charm

more than her charming lumpy look and her white coralline beach, pamoctan really endeared herself to me when i saw the marine life she keeps around her -- corals and fishes -- so healthy, so colorful, so diverse, so attention-grabbing, and so close to the shore. even from the boat, the corals were visible because the seawater was so clear!  i was really more than thrilled. the natural underwater garden one could clearly see even from above the water surface is beyond awesome!!!

(to be continued)

off the beaten path: the baliscar island adventure and the walo-walo encounters

"The healthy being craves an occasional wildness, a jolt from normality,
a sharpening of the edge of appetite...
a brief excursion from his way of life."

--Robert MacIver

reminiscing "destination: baliscar lighthouse"

i assumed it was going to be a walk in the park. i did not end up being disappointed. it turned out to be a walk in the park, yes, but with exciting twists and overlapping multiple phases of adrenaline rush. definitely, it was a more than the usual walk in the park and one for the adventure chronicles!

it happened two years ago but it still feels like it was just yesterday because the details of the experience remain fresh in my memory. it was a sunday in march and it was the second day of the pinas flashpackers' "beachbumming" weekend in mauban, quezon of lamon bay. the open-close quotes are there for good reason -- it was far from the beachbumming trip we expected it to be and we experienced more than what we were ever prepared for.

once upon a sunday morning in march
i remember getting up early that day. we were in villa cleofas, a resort in cagbalete island facing the pacific. facing the pacific means facing east and facing east implies good vantage for watching sunrise, and i'm quite a fan of sunrise -- by now, you get the picture. i had an obviously good reason for getting up early.

it was quite a cloudy morning when i and some of my travel buddies set out to the white sand beach to catch the sunrise. sunlight seemed to struggle and barely won its early morning battle against thick clouds.

03.14.10 sunrise picture | trivia: 03.14 is pi day and is also albert einstein's birthday in mm/dd format :D

i cheered for sunlight and prayed for the clouds to give way. again, i had good reason.

the weather condition for the morning and for the rest of the day had to be favorable because we were scheduled to go to the lighthouse, atop baliscar island somewhere further to the east. we were told that the island was a 30-minute boatride away from where we were and the trip was only gonna push through if the waves were not too rough.

while we were on the beach until the time we had breakfast, it was a waiting game but watching the sky and looking out the sea gave us good enough indications that seeing the lighthouse was gonna be a go.

it was still gloomy when we set out sometime after breakfast. by then, the tide level had gone so low that we first had to walk a long, long way from the beach to ankle-deep then knee-deep seawater to get to the boat, m/b st. anthony, which was already anchored further out -- where the water was deep enough for the waves to no longer dangerously tossle and eventually force the boat to run aground. 

a picture of my travel buddies which i took while we were walking towards the boat

the distance between where the water was only knee-deep and where the boat was waiting required us to either swim or wade through relatively strong waves that came at semi-tolerable intervals. another option made available to us was to board a small boat to facilitate our transfer to m/b st. anthony.

the small boat was of such unusual shape that "it reminded me of a triangular banyera (big basin)" is the way to describe it now. hehe. it looked cute and could be easily dismissed as a toy boat for the small boys (and small girls) but, at the same time, it seemed built for stability despite the waves. the boatmen and their helping hands convinced us to take a short ride on board the small boat since it's the best option for us (we can avoid getting wet among other things) and for them (no need for them to divide their attention assisting and looking after a lot of us walking, swimming, and/or struggling our way to the big boat). we were 17 in our group alone and the other group which was making the trip to baliscar with us had a headcount of around 20. go figure!

one adventure after another
walking from the beach to where we could already board the small boats (there were two of them) was an adventure in itself. for a good stretch, walking was just as simple as walking on white sand with ankle-deep water. then, there were already seaweeds, creatures like sea cucumbers, sea stars and anemones, and rocks which we needed to walk around, step on, walk through, or jump away from to avoid getting unnecessarily tangled, scratched, imbalanced, and, in the case with sea urchins, being punctured by their spikes. walking while trying to see the underwater path particularly got tricky when somebody else already disturbed the seabed and caused grains of sand to turn the water turbid. what if there were sea snakes? ewww.

riding the small boat was another adventure. we had to properly mind the rhythm defined by the waves and accordingly time the act of swinging our legs to board the boat or we risked being hit, thrown off-balance, and getting bruises. i was being careful but one of my knees still got bruised!

we had to go in batches since the small boats could only accommodate so much. however, we still ended up being like sardines packed in a limited container. hahaha. the helping hands -- most of them were kids still but strong swimmers and familiar with the sea -- guided the small boats towards m/b st. anthony.

the first to approach m/b st. anthony was our small boat. as in the case with boarding, we also had to properly mind the swell of the waves and time the act of making our way out of the small boat before rushing a safe climb onto the big boat via outriggers.

at the risk of breaking our necks or being beheaded by the bamboo katig
there was pandemonium when we realized that m/b st. anthony's bamboo outriggers (common local term: katig) spelled danger for us  -- one ill-timed movement of our small boat relative to the motion of the waves made us face the risk of bumping our heads and/or breaking our necks (or, worse, being beheaded, tsk tsk) if we didn't duck in time or if we failed to watch out for the others on board. hehe. no joke.

the bamboo outriggers

sometimes, in my head, i can still hear our collective girly shrieks caused by the momentary panic. we were all females on that boat and if you were there and shared that short ride with us, you'd realize it was really a spontaneous reaction to something very risky and very real -- a heart-pounding moment that thrill rides in themeparks could not duplicate.

the other small boat: filled to the brim but still afloat
in the foreground are 5 bamboo outriggers of m/b st. anthony

those who boarded the other small boat were saved from our ordeal since their helping hands and those of us who were already on board m/b st. anthony already learned  a better way to conduct the transfer from the small boat to the big boat. eventually, everyone of us who signed up for the baliscar island trip got on board m/b st. anthony and our journey to baslicar island began.

destination: baliscar island

cagbalete, bonsai, and baliscar islands in lamon bay.
image source: wikimapia. i provided the arrows and readable names

the engine of m/b anthony roared to life and the captain steered the boat to the direction that would take us to the island. by then, the clouds had cleared out, giving way to the sun and granting us a cool blue summer sky as we went further away from cagbalete and out to the sea. the boat rode the waves and defined an aqua path on super blue waters.

soon enough, baliscar island was in sight.

baliscar island from a distance

baliscar island is actually a rocky islet -- a very small rocky island. from a distance, it looks like a flat piece of rock in the middle of the sea with the lighthouse as the only thing that is prominently jutting out of it. it is easy to imagine that seafarers will definitely not miss the lighthouse, especially at night.

the baliscar challenge: jagged rocks and waves

as we got nearer and saw baliscar up close, i began to wonder how we were going to get to the top of the very rocky island. the boat circled the island once and we all saw that there was no port nor beach in sight and the waves incessantly lapped the perimeter, angrily lashing at sharp, rough rocks. more than that, the portion of the water where our boat remained afloat, a good distance away from the island, was far from being shallow -- the water was dark blue!

the boatmen announced we could already go to the island. a lot of people on board had that questioning look on their faces -- they sported the "big how" look.

i remember having this conversation with marl, one of the gals in our group:

marl (who turned to me and asked me, ): "pupunta ba tayo? bababa nga tayo?" (are we going there? are we really going down?)

me: "pag sinabi nila kuya na ok bumaba, yes! andito na tayo (baliscar). that (pointing to the lighthouse) is what we came here for." (if the boatmen will say it's ok to go down, yes! we're already here...)

so from the boat, our group went to baliscar island. how? the answer is another risky adventure which we didn't prepare for. 

picture this.

one of the boatmen jumped overboard and swam dragging a rope towards the island. we watched as he swam past the strong sea current and reached baliscar; he secured the end of the rope that he was holding to one of the big rocks there and gave the OK signal for others to cross. the helping hands positioned themselves along the long stretch of rope and beckoned for us to get moving and start THE crossing.

we grabbed the life vests and quickly donned them. i checked my dry bag, secured the straps of my ever reliable outdoor sandals and took hold of my snorkel and mask. one after the other, we made our way to the outriggers and jumped to the water -- cold, blue, with waves.

baliscar island, a rocky island destination where faint-hearted people need not go
one way to describe the crossing: not for the weak. another way to describe the crossing: dangerous.

the water was deep. between our boat and rocky baliscar island was an expanse of sea with strong current. closer to the island, the water was shallow but the waves were unforgiving and ready to drag and smash anything and anyone against jagged rocks. the only readily available lifeline was the stretch of rope. to do the crossing, one needed to willingly take the risks and face the unfamiliar. we did.

our group of 17 atop baliscar island

these pictures of our group -- headcount: 17! -- with the baliscar lighthouse in the background only mean one thing: all of us were able to cross and we were able to find our way to the top of baliscar island! yey!

the lighthouse of baliscar island

we were really not prepared for our baliscar island adventure. apart from the lighthouse and that it was 30 minutes away from the shores of cagbalete, we did not know anything else about it. the lack of proper unloading site, the crossing, the totally rocky surface, the rough climb -- all these made up for a very adrenaline-pumped surprise adventure.

getting to the top of the island was definitely NOT a walk in the park but we initially thought it was gonna be one. we thought getting past the sea current and  avoiding the crashing waves were the only things we needed to do and the rest of the way was gonna be a piece of cake. wrong! maling akala. totally.

proofs of our cluelessness? some of the girls wore bikini and loose knitted tops (beachbumming mindset!). some left their slippers behind. i still had the derring do to bring along my tripod -- well, two of the guys took turns in holding it for me (but still!). imagine those and try to match them with the risks that stared at us: drowning, being swept away, being smacked against rough rocks, falling off the rocks, snakes... yes, snakes!!!

baliscar may look like every bit of a barren island from afar but it is not totally barren. some plants grow on it and it is home to birds and snakes -- another detail which we overlooked and downplayed until the sight of snakes was right in front of us.

upon reaching the rocks of baliscar, there was no way for us but up. the boatmen guided us as we climbed the sharp rocks. we listened to verbal instructions of where we needed to place our hands and feet and how to position our bodies to avoid falling. they calmly told us to watch out for the snakes.

"andyan lang po sila. ingat lang." (they're just there. just be careful.)

when i looked towards where they said the snakes were lounging, my eyes almost left their sockets. mannnnnnnnn... very close to us, shaded from the harsh summer sun, was a nest of walo-walo -- very, very venomous sea snakes but the boatmen told us about their presence as if they were just ants nearby.

there was no time to complain or panic or go hysterical or simply faint. it wasn't the place nor the time. when you've just crossed the sea and survived the waves that tried to eat you while the sun tried to blind you, you're determined as ever to continue your efforts for survival. we focused on completing our real deal rock climbing adventure -- getting scratches on our arms and legs in the process -- and, finally, got to the top of baliscar island. yes!!!

one of the sights at the top of baliscar island is this gaping hole facing the pacific ocean

the island top was as rough as the jutting rocks that we climbed. with the image of the snakes still fresh in our minds, we were ever careful in going about. we did not walk too far from where we came from and did not anymore get too close to the lighthouse. plus, the sun was beating down on us mercilessly. we had no reason to stay too long so, after we took enough pictures, we began descending.

going back to where we came from

the rough way down

one after another, we carefully made our way down the rough rocks, earning more scratches on our arms and legs, exerting our muscles some more. we were too focused on reaching the rope and crossing the sea again to get back to the boat in no time,  we couldn't be bothered anymore by the walo-walo snakes -- nevermind that there's actually a nest (or nests, who knows?) of them there.

surviving the waves that tried to drag the unsuspecting towards the rocks

crossing the way back to the boat was relatively easy and more enjoyable

having done the sea crossing once, the way back to m/b st. anthony was a whole lot more fun. as we neared the boat, our queue lingered along the rope just so we could have our pictures taken. hehe. 

during our trip back to cagbalete, there was a temporary commotion as most of us rushed to the front of the boat to take a look at something huge, something dark, something moving, something very near... a whale! it was totally unexpected and we were all taken by surprise. among our group, only one of us -- tiff -- managed to get a picture of it.

the shoreline of cagbalete island was already within sight but still too far from us when we were told that we had to already leave the boat. it was around noontime and water had further receded so much so that not only more of the seabed directly facing cagbalete island was exposed, a lot of nearby bonsai island was also already exposed and drying up. it was easy to see that there was no way the boat could go nearer to the shore without running aground or being pushed by the waves against the rocks in the shallower portions.

just when we thought we already had our fair share of survival-at-sea challenges that morning, we had to go through another crossing -- from the boat to the rough shores of bonsai island. as before, the boatmen laid out the rope and guided us to the outriggers of the boat and we jumped to the sea -- cold, blue, with strong waves. again.

as soon as i regained use of my legs and feet and was assured i could keep my camera dry, i took pictures of my travel buddies who were still in the middle of our pahabol crossing adventure.

how we got to bonsai island from the boat

bonsai island
bonsai island is about one kilometer away from cagbalete island and it is located just in front of villa cleofas. it is an islet that got its name because of two clusters of bonsai mangrove trees that, according to stories, are at least one hundred years old-- century old bonsai, they are called and they dominate this islet of mostly flat rock surface that reminds one of a cracked-here-and-there helipad. during high tide, the entire surface is submerged in water and only the top branches of the clusters of bonsai mangrove trees can be seen.

walking on bonsai island

since it was low tide, we had freedom to explore and enjoy bonsai island. the noon sun gave us good light and allowed us to take good pictures.

destination: bonsai island | hello world, this is not an indoor studio shot.

we were naturally drawn to the bonsai clusters and had our pictures taken with it, mostly as part of our background. one of the girls, tiff, went into one of the clusters (the one farther from cagbalete) and -- good thing she looked before taking another step -- discovered a nest of snakes  there. yup, snakes. sea snakes! again.

the bonsai clusters that gave bonsai island her peculiar name

the nest of snakes
they were of the same color and appearance as those snakes we saw in baliscar -- the very, very venomous walo-walo!

the nest of walo-walo snakes that we saw in one of the bonsai clusters in bonsai island

it used to be that the only sea snake that i knew of was the tangkig -- which, i was told, is relatively harmless that, if somebody got bitten by it, the worst that could ever happen to that person was a week-long fever -- perhaps out of a psychological (rather than a physical) affliction.

i learned of the walo-walo sea snake during a trip in caramoan, camarines sur in november 2009. i first saw something like it floating in the middle of the sea on our way to sapitang lahi island. when we got to sapitang lahi, a group of girls who were taking turns posing for photographs along the shoreline started shrieking and moving away from where they were standing. it turned out, they saw a snake, slithering. two locals -- boatmen, i suppose -- came to their rescue and managed to put the snake inside an empty plastic bottle.

walo-walo sea snake in a bottle | sapitang lahi, caramoan, camarines sur

i got the chance to take a photo of that bottle with the snake inside it. since it looked nothing like the sea snake that i was familiar with,  i got curious about it and asked questions.

walo-walo sea snake in a bottle, freed | sapitang lahi, caramoan, camarines sur

getting to know the walo-walo
according to a seafaring local, the walo-walo is very deadly and got its name because it will only take eight (the filipino term for eight is walo) seconds for the snake's venom to take the life of the bitten. whether this eight-second figure is true or not, there's only one thing i can say for sure -- when you see a snake like this, be on the safe side: just avoid getting bitten!

why? because the walo-walo is the banded sea krait (genus: laticauda), common in tropical waters and mangrove swamps. this particular snake's venom is known to be stronger than the cobra's, "packs a punch ten times more toxic than a rattlesnake's," and "ranks among the most toxic in the world."

it works to our human advantage that banded sea kraits, like most sea snakes, are very docile and rarely aggressive. add to that, they have such small mouths and their fangs are at the back of their mouth so when they strike to bite -- which, according to internet sources, happens very rarely -- the only body parts at risk are those that are small enough like fingertips, small toes, appendages between digits, and edges of the ears when underwater.  moreover, the only known occasions when they do eject venom are feeding and under great duress.

i leave it to you to learn more about the walo-walo. there are places in the philippines, like the island of pulo laum in olutanga of zamboanga, sibugay that serve as sanctuary for walo-walo sea snakes.

the kilometer-long walk to cagbalete island from bonsai island

none of us in our group of 17 got bitten by any of the many walo-walo snakes which we saw in the islets of baliscar and bonsai in lamon bay.

having experienced what we experienced and having encountered what we encountered, it is now easy to understand why there are write ups that say stepping on baliscar is not all possible. i'm telling you that IT IS POSSIBLE and it is possible to enjoy the whole deal as well. however, you have to be prepared and very careful.

one of my travel buddies collectively referred to the back-to-back-to-back adventures that we experienced that day as buwis-buhay. i say, thrill-seekers' delight. reserve buwis-buhay for the suicidal. we are thrill-seekers. (--,)

babuyan memories, part 3: post travel thoughts on summer rains and such things

"somewhere out there beneath the pale moonlight..."
-- lyrics, somewhere out there

transformed skies, early morning rain, moonset, and rushing waves | memories of the rained on and awakened

somewhere out there -- in the babuyanes -- lies that beach where we once slept while the stars and the full moon kept their watch. i remember spreading my sleeping bag in full view of the big sky and it was comfortable, felt right. i remember sleeping, my spirit at home and calmed after humming songs and watching the stars to my heart’s content.

the beach in naguilian

the beach is in barangay naguilian in the southwestern cove of camiguin norte island, a volcanic island bounded all around by the deep blue sea & her waves and accessible mainly to those who take time to leave the comfort zones to dare cross the babuyan channel.

we -- kat, mati, bren, sherelle, bryan, yanyan, jb, and i, with our three boatmen -- left our comfort zones. we dared, we crossed the babuyan channel. we got to camiguin norte island and we got to the beach in naguilian. we got rewarded with tranquil ambience, a beautiful sunset, and a pretty night sky with full moon and stars -- my senses feasted on all these.

i usually don't sleep early. however, i do observe exceptions and that friday night, when the moon was full and bright, was one of those.

things felt right. after having our dinner -- with some sand getting on our food, hehe -- there was nothing much for us to do anymore but to gather around the campfire, to give in to good vibes, relaxing vibes. think of nighttime society minus scary stories. think of night life minus booze and minus boisterous behavior. think of light from the campfire dancing off our faces, us aglow with orange light. think of the full moon keeping watch and the stars not wanting to be outdone. think of the night wind blowing just right and the waves hitting the shore making a lulling symphony. think of all those, put them together, and you could see what that friday night was like -- untainted, unstrained, a time to just embrace all the good, if not perfect, in.

maybe it was just between 8 to 9 o'clock in the evening when i spread my sleeping blanket next to yanyan. we -- yanyan, sherelle, and i -- were supposed to sleep inside yanyan's tent but sleeping directly under the night sky was more inviting so we stayed outside, close to the campfire but not too close. sherelle, yanyan, i and then space, space, the fire.

at around 11:30 that night, i woke up. probably, it was because of the campfire. somewhere in my sleep, i remembered kat's instruction that we put out the fire before we go to sleep. i looked at the fire and it was still very much alive. sherelle, who was also awake that time, and i partnered in putting the fire out. then, i went back to being cocooned in my sleeping bag, went back all the way to dreamland.

at around 1:30am, i woke up again. i heard kat, who was two or three meters away from the rest of us girls, calling out my name. then, the word 'ambon'. drizzle. i took out my left hand. i felt no raindrop. i looked at the sky and saw that it was close to overcast, the clouds trying to mask the full moon and the moonlight. so i continued to hold out my hand and, yup, raindrops. small ones, dropping in intervals that made them almost unnoticeable. yanyan and sherelle stirred and awoke; we decided to go inside the tent. kat decided to just remain where she was.

i passed by mati's sleeping form between bren's tent (with bren inside) and yanyan's tent; i mumbled 'ambon, ulan' to him, he acknowledged what he already knew and simply went back hiding in his sleeping bag. beyond yanyan's tent, was jb's tent and outside it, i saw a sleeping form but, without my eyeglasses and my eyes lazily half shut, i couldn't tell if it was jb or bryan who decided to sleep out there. i had half a mind to inform whoever it was of the raindrops but i was feeling too sleepy to walk any further just to mumble 'ambon, ulan' some more; besides, the person stirred so i figured he'd probably have the sense to transfer should more raindrops continue to fall. i went inside yanyan's tent, settled myself between sherelle and yanyan, and slept BUT...

sleep became elusive. at around 2:30am, i decided to go out and went back to our sleeping area next to the campfire. i had a feeling that time that i won't be able to sleep anymore. just as well. one of the boatmen probably stirred the fire back to life when we went to the tent so, with that fire needing tending while the rest continued to sleep, my senses had something to do beyond idling. i switched from sitting to lying to sitting to lying to sitting, half awake, half asleep, watching the fire and our camp, half awake, half asleep, trying to court sleep (i don't count sheep), watching the clouds growing heavier and darker as they moved and changed patterns.

at 3am, it rained cats and dogs (and elephants and giraffes, i must add); we barely had time to secure our stuff from out in the open to the small waiting shed, where we made them all fit, where we scrambled for shelter from the sky's seemingly all-out shower of many, many big tears. i remember shivering and feeling cold despite wearing my waterproof jacket. i remember thinking, "very interesting philippine summer season. this."

it took a good while before the rain started to let up. at 4:55am, we were rewarded with the sight of the moon... setting. the clouds were still dark and heavy overhead but the horizon was clear -- the moon looking like a perfect ball of orange light, the sight unhindered by clouds and mists.

the full moon setting on a saturday | very, very early in the morning

by 6:30am, there was good morning light and the pictures i took gave the impression that it didn't rain heavily just a few hours before.

the waiting shed and the stuff we kept safe from the downpour

the waves had gotten bigger and stronger though, so much so that i was reminded of the morning waves in calaguas and i couldn't resist welcoming them as they rushed to shore, eventually breaking, creating beautiful foam. despite having been rained on and awakened way too early, it was still a good morning that greeted me on a saturday.

the saturday morning waves: bigger, stronger

we were supposed to cross the babuyan channel again (and go back to luzon mainland) that day BUT unfavorable wind patterns intervened. we got stranded in babuyan.

stranded again?! hehe. =)

experiencing more of batanes: stranded in itbayat, stranded in batanes

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly
find out how far one can go."
-- T.S. Elliott

lure of the home of the winds, lure of the north

batanes is at the top of my list of dream destinations in the philippines and it's been there at that top spot since i was 12 -- since, uh, years ago when i didn't know yet how or when i was gonna get there. i just knew then that it's the place to be!

when i finally experienced batanes for real in february 2010,  i found it so perfectly wonderful -- over and above my best expectations, making me hunger for more and even more -- that i made it my personal goal to invest in visiting batanes every succeeding year of my travel life.

kat and mati -- the travel buddies i had for my first ever journey to batanes -- were also as taken by the place as i was and made a similar commitment: visit every year, experience more and more of batanes, year after year. bound by the same batanes dream, we came  to call our trio of pinas flashpackers as the batanes flashpackers.

in may 2011, our friends tony, onad, shella, and helen joined us on our second trip to batanes. having toured most of batan and sabtang islands in 2010, we allotted more time for experiencing itbayat island -- the largest of the three inhabited islands of batanes and the northernmost inhabited island of the philippines.

our group of seven in itbayat island

of the three islands -- itbayat, batan, and sabtang -- itbayat is deemed the least accessible. by boat (locally called falowa), it is about 3 to 4 hours away (depending on the boat speed, waves, and the wind conditions) from basco, the provincial capital; by six-seater small plane, it is just about 10 minutes away.

choosing the mode of transportation to get there is mainly up to two things: one, one's resources; two, the kind of thrill (and bragging rights!) being sought. at P450 per person, the falowa ride is way cheaper compared to the plane option, which will cost ~P1300 per person, assuming the full seating capacity is met. they say you haven't really been to itbayat if you haven't experienced a falowa ride being continuously rocked and lapped by the unforgiving waves of batanes. the plane ride can also potentially churn one's insides and tax one's heart to the point of rupture -- batanes is home of the winds and being in a small plane intensifies the feeling of daring the air. :D so, you see, choosing between traveling by boat and traveling by plane to get to itbayat is really a choose-your-own-adventure slash choose-your-own-thrill deal.

for our group of seven, the falowa ride was the logical choice. a good call on our part, it was. on our way to itbayat, the sea was abnormally calm -- the water surface even looked glassy -- and the trip was easy on the senses. the vomit bags i brought with me were left unused and none of our energies were unnecessarily drained. little did i know that it was a manifestation of calm before the storm :D

we spent two adventure-packed days in itbayat -- survived the waves, got to chinapoliran port where we half-jumped our way out of the ever-moving-here-and-there docked falowa, hitched a ride on the patrol car of the local police, toured the itbayat municipal proper, went hiking to the ancient burial grounds, got awed by the sight of the cliffs and di'nem island, entered torongan cave, walked the streets of barrio raele, visited the itbayat airport (more like an airstrip), trekked to paganaman port (there, i bathed in batanes' share of the south china sea), settled in the itbayat municipal guest house -- our hometel, walked around the municipality of ibayat some more and interacted with the locals (we entered traditional houses and we even got an invitation to attend a wedding reception. nice!), checked out PAG-ASA's weather monitoring station up the hill, went spelunking in northern sarokan cave, got rained on and muddied but still went up mt. karaboboan with its 360-dgree viewdeck (and stayed there until just before total darkness set in, completely turning day to night). we were to leave itbayat and return to basco the morning after. BUT...

bebeng happened. we woke up to an advisory from our contacts that PAG-ASA already classified batanes under signal no. 1 due to typhoon "bebeng" -- the coast guard disallowed sea travels and the air transportation office was also strict with the flights. we were 'officially' stranded.

“To explore the unknown and the familiar, distant and near, and to record in details with the eyes of a child, any beauty, horror, irony, traces of utopia or Hell.”

-- Dan Eldon

vivid memories of being stranded in the northernmost province of the philippines: the good ones, the ugh, and the in-betweens

storm signal no. 1 in batanes
it could have just been another summer morning with slightly stronger winds in beautiful batanes. maybe. if only there wasn't a storm signal raised over the entire batanes group of islands and if only it wasn't the month of may, a known summer month in the philippines. but bebeng was a freak tropical storm. it entered the philippine area of responsibility during the early part of may.

seriously, a storm in early may? a tropical storm in summer? what really weird times! and, of all times, it really had to happen while we were there in batanes, between the south china sea and the pacific ocean, there in northernmost itbayat -- 40 kilometers from basco, more than 860 kilometers away from manila, more than 280 kilometers away from the mainland with aparri, cagayan as the reference point, and just a little over 200 kilometers from the southernmost tip of taiwan. yup, yup, we were that far and away when we got stranded. :D

some of the locals told us that it was only the second time that a storm signal was raised in the area of batanes at the height of summer and the first one was already a few years ago.

with storm signal no. 1 flag already up and travel advisories against traveling already relayed, there was nothing for us "stranded seven" -- kat, mati, onad, tony, helen, shella, and me -- to do but to come to terms with being stranded and wait for our next opportunity to be out of itbayat island.

from flashpacking (backpacking with style) mode, we switched to survival mode -- day 1 of being stranded and the days that followed were spent avoiding boredom in between monitoring weather updates and travel advisories and looking for travel options.

survival by taking things in stride: doing the usual | biking, walking around, and playing house
day 1 was a fine day to be stranded. even with the storm signal already up in batanes (of course, including itbayat), there was actually no compelling sign of a typhoon being already in the area. the sun was up, the sky was still a beautiful blue with wisps of clouds. there was no rain. other than there was just something different with the wind, everything seemed like a normal summer day.

so instead of staying in and succumbing to nothing while waiting for the storm signal to be lifted up, we went out of our guest house and said hi to the sun and, at times, engaged in small talks with the people outside. we borrowed the mountain bike of kuya roger (our guide in itbayat) and took turns riding it around and around the municipal plaza, just in front of the house.

biking during storm signal no. 1 in batanes | around the itbayat municipal plaza

that afternoon, some of us walked to paganaman port. there, i finally saw a manifestation of the storm coming -- choppy water, which looked inviting and glassy just two days prior. with angry waves lapping at the cliffs and rocks, it was hard to believe that it was the same body of water i bathed and swam in during our first day in itbayat.

paganaman's share of south china sea:
looking glassy in good weather (left),
choppy in stormy weather (right).

the rains came that night and, when we woke up to day 2, raindrops were still falling and the sky was overcast.

from the inside looking out: outside the guest house at 6:10AM of day 2

the choppy water as seen from paganaman port on day 3 | storm signal no. 1

the afternoon sky and the choppy water as seen from paganaman port on day 3 | storm signal no. 1

our 2-day/2-night planned stay in itbayat got extended by 3 days/3 nights -- that's a total of 5 full days/5 nights spent in itbayat! over the next days after the planned stay, playing house saved us from boredom & starvation and made us productive despite the setback in our travel schedule. giving in to domestic activities helped us in keeping our wits: doing laundry by hand, frequenting the sari-sari stores to buy supplies and food ingredients (until we could already map where to go to buy this or that at best price), engaging in culinary adventures (with kat as the cook, onad as the able assistant, and the rest of us as the 'construction workers' who ate with gusto), dishwashing & cleaning the house, and sewing (my fave pair of travel pants got torn by some nail & required stitches).

cut off from our usual sources of comfort, we still managed to live well during our days of being stranded (although we also witnessed some moments of funny desperation, hahaha).

where we stayed: the municipal guest house of itbayat

on the sixth morning, we got great news -- that the falowas were already allowed to cross the sea again! the waves rocked the falowa that much all through our 2.5-hour ride to basco and i had to use two vomit bags, haha. on that particular day (and it was just another ordinary day in itbayat and in basco), the waves were really unforgiving -- a few seconds on board the boat proved to be already nauseating.

the scene outside our basco-bound falowa as seen from the inside

looking back on our experience (wow, almost one year ago already!), the top things that i am thankful to God for are:

the opportunity for immersion
we experienced a tropical storm in batanes -- a freak storm in summer at that -- and we had a taste of what it is like to stay put where you are, make do with what you have, and to survive like the ivatans do every time a storm signal is up in batanes. heeding the storm signal is important even if you're seeing sunshine and clear skies.

the people of batanes
they are really great people. they are helpful. they are hospitable. interacting with them especially during our extended stay was really a blessing.

we learned their way of life a bit more, having woken up for several straight days to the same church bell that they get to hear every 5am in the morning, watched the kids' softball practice sessions at the municipal plaza, and having seen them go about their lives storm or no storm.

our guides, jacklord labrador (in basco) and roger doplito (for the itbayat leg), looked after us and kept us posted of developments.

knowing my travel buddies even more
because we got stranded in batanes together, i saw our group dynamics and how we are individually when we are put in situations beyond our control. (it's particularly amusing when the quirks get magnified, haha.) 

our being stranded in batanes affirmed my agreement with this line: "if you want to get to know someone, take a trip with them." i realized (and it's good to know) that when we are forced to go back-to-the-basics, we can still live with each other and become one another's keeper.

experiencing more, learning more
sure, being stranded is inconvenient -- there are supposedly daily grinds to deal with elsewhere, jobs to mind/bosses and clients to appease, loved ones who worry and who need to be assured, lost income opportunities, appointments which aren't supposed to be missed, the list goes on. however, the worst of times can also be the best of times to grab opportunities and to end up having more than the usual, going beyond what's planned.

we got stranded and had our stay extended beyond our will -- first, in itbayat because of the storm and, second, in basco because of insane rebooking options given by SEAIR (that airline!) to most of its stranded passengers in batanes that time.

while waiting for things to turn around, i was able to:
(1) experience taking the public land transportation there: jeepney ride from abad street to ivana/mahatao junction plus a tricycle ride to diura fishing village
(2) walk beyond diura fishing village under the heat of the sun and to the fountain of youth (racuaydi nakavajayan), a fresh spring water source.

the infinity pool of racuaydi nakavajayan and the pacific ocean

the water flows to an infinity pool, which was strategically placed to provide an illusion that it's part of the pacific ocean.

now, the ugh part!
we learned that our 10th of may basco-manila SEAIR flight got cancelled due to typhoon bebeng. a flight cancellation due to bad weather -- very understandable; something we accepted. what's not understandable: SEAIR left it up to us to contact them to ask for the status of our flight and even forcibly rebooked our basco-manila flight to 17th of may. this, despite the fact that they were already able to resume their manila-basco and basco-manila flights by 11th of may. "forcibly rebooked" as in SEAIR did not give us any better rebooking option and was being unmindful of our schedule.

boo, SEAIR. when our original flight schedule was may 10 and you resumed flights on may 11, did you really think it it was sensible to rebook your passengers to a may 17 flight? seriously, a one week gap?! the arrangement you made for us was very convenient for you but what for us? the convenience which that move provided your part was drowned by the inconvenience that you forced us further into -- unfavorable weather conditions made us stranded in itbayat;  the unfavorable rebooking option you gave us made us stranded in basco. i admire the level of consideration you afforded us and i'm, of course, being sarcastic. we're not the only ones -- you also had other passengers who experienced the bad because of your brand of customer service.

i already ranted about this matter a year ago and i do not wish to again go through the negative process of being pissed at SEAIR for what happened. we're NEVER flying SEAIR again, anyway. somehow there'll be a way for us to be back in batanes, just not with SEAIR.

i'm ending this post here. after the jump, you can read my compiled rants on SEAIR, in chronological order. you can also check the web for more complaints about them.

p.s. representatives and defenders of SEAIR, should you find your way here, please do not bother asking me to take down this portion of my post just to save your name -- i have a copy of the formal complaint against SEAIR which our group filed and submitted to the civil aeronautics board (CAB) as well as a copy of SEAIR's unsatisfactory reply; i might end up resending them to you to remind you of our experience and all the inconvenience we had to go through. i suggest that you focus your efforts on improving your customer service.


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thanks but no thanks, SEAIR

.o0 (thank you, SEAIR, your customer service badly needs major improvement. i’ll see you in my blog soon and you’ll be reminded how powerful a tool blogging can be. thank you for forcibly rebooking us to may 17 when our orig basco-to-manila flight sked was may 10. thank you for not bothering to contact anyone from our travel party to inform us that our flight got cancelled; never mind the fact that your we ‘cannot-be-reached’ excuse is so lame because even my mobile phone did not lose its 3G connection -- yes, the mobile network signal remained & still remains to be that good. thank you for allow|ing us to be stranded here in batanes without checking on how we are. thank you for leaving it up to us to call you to check how you are. thank you for making it clear what ‘most reliable service’ means -- i didn’t know until now that it is equivalent to NG as in no good. thank you for not being helpful at all. fly us back to manila before this week ends; it’s the least you can do, no buts, no ifs.) -- the acerbic may 12, 2011 note i posted in facebook | basco, batanes

 

world-class mag-bigay ng rebooking ‘option’ ang SEAIR. harharhar, kung tao lang si ‘option’ mabibigti yun for sure sa matinding kahihiyan. just in case SEAIR opts to continue to miss the point, let me set this straight: we deserve better treatment from them. their seats are expensive and we are not so-so customers.

tsk, just a few months ago, for my love for batanes i was willing to be SEAIR’s customer for life. with the treatment we are getting from that airline now, i take that back. i love batanes (but SEAIR? weh!). i love batanes period. ooops. p.s. SEAIR should not make that an excuse to keep me stranded here ’til may 17. i love batanes in a healthy kind of loving way. 

you may ask, how about SEAIR? my answer: can you please tell them to invest on sense of urgency and customer service upgrade pronto? there. their expensive prices and level of service suffer a mismatch. -- may 12, 2011. posted in facebook | basco, batanes

maganda naman ang weather. SEAIR resumed their Manila-Basco/Basco-Manila flights on May 11. so di ba, unfair ang May 17 ‘option’ (hindi talaga siya totoong option kasi they forcibly rebooked us to that date. napaka-ekis na move on their part.) -- may 12, 2011. posted in facebook | basco, batanes

naku, wag nila kami tinitipid. wag kami ang magsuffer kung gusto nila magkuripot, customers kaming binayaran ang expensive services nila kaya mag-step up sila. we’re definitely the wrong people to let down. -- may 13, 2011. posted in facebook | basco, batanes

on the bright side, very helpful ang local guide namin na si kuya jack, siya na gumagawa ng paraan para may makasakay kami ng planes on or before sunday. he’s really going out of his way to help us out of this situation, something SEAIR is not doing. siya pa mismo tumatawag sa amin; as for SEAIR, kung di namin (or through our representatives in manila) sila tatawagan, we won’t hear from them. no exag there, yan talaga ang situation, pinababayaan lang kami. helpful din ang mga locals na nag-g-give way para kami muna ang makabyahe. grateful ako sa mga ivatans. baka nga mag-via tuguegarao na lang siguro kami, another airline. -- may 13, 2011. posted in facebook | basco, batanes

since di naman nila (SEAIR) kami tinutulungan, kami na lang gagawa ng paraan para makauwi na kami; di kami ewan para hintayin pa ang may17 --  may 13, 2011. posted in facebook, basco, batanes

i’m glad to be back in manila ahead of the may17 rebooking that SEAIR shoved our way. we do not owe it to that airline’s efforts since they did not bother to contact us anyway. i’m grateful for the people of batanes because they're the ones who facilitated for our flight out to be sooner than later, they stepped up to make up for SEAIR’s negligence where our situation is concerned. SEAIR owes the people of batanes big time; that airline has no right claiming to be the country’s premier leisure airline if their ‘brand’ of customer service is a big insult to the standards of quality. --  may 14, 2011 (10:47am). posted in facebook | manila

it’s may 17 today and SEAIR is still ignoring our posts -- no reply, no effort to follow-through or something. they remained consistent on being indifferent and refusing to care. -- may 17, 2011. posted in facebook | batangas

 i still ♥ batanes!