 | |
 | |
The Youtube file:
The Webshot albums
Silliman University Farm and Marine Lab - Sep. 3, 2008
A.Y. Reyes Zoological and Botanical Garden
Orange-yellow buildings.
They're probably the first structures to catch anyone's eye when on the boat approaching Apo Island.
Once you get off the boat and pay your fees at the registration office, they're not in plain sight though and you wonder how to get there.
The locals would point you to go leftward if you're facing the registration office and walk past the cliffs, which by the way would have water dripping down its rocky face all day if it had been raining the previous night. You eventually find yourself in some sort of sand pocket and think you've reached a dead end.
Look closely at one corner and you'll find a passage hewn out of the rocks.
Go through that passage and you'll find yourself in a cove where Apo Island Beach Resort is.
The resort is well known to, and caters mostly to divers. In fact, diving fees could be found at the back cover of their menu.
They serve food on shaded tables along the beach where you can watch the sea while you eat. The servings are enough for one person. The food tastes good but the menu isn't extraordinary. The choice of cold drinks are limited since electricity is still not always available.
The Baluarte, or the large formation of rocks jutting out to the sky, gives the cove partial shelter, and that is why guests at the resort have an awesome view of this magnificent landmark.
The sand is white but not fine. The shore slopes slowly to the sea, inviting one to first wade into the water, and then take a swim.
The birds called Maya would be hopping along the shore, and there's this dog who decided to accompany me while I walked around taking pictures.
Apo Island, is not only a resort area and diving spot. It is also home to a community that is slowly coming to terms with living on a "protected area" and a tourist spot.
The influx of divers raring to discover Apo Island's marine life has given the locals different opportunities to make a living.
The stretch of beach facing Dauin proper is lined with boats that ferry people from Apo Island to the mainland and vice versa. Tourists could rent one for a round trip arrangement, and depending on the size of the boat, the fee could be anywhere between PHP1,500 and PHP3,000 - the more people share the boat, the cheaper it would be per person.
As all tourists to the island will land on this beach, this is where the ambulant vendors of T-shirts with "Apo Island" designs hang around. The t-shirts cost arount PHP200. It could be higher or lower, depending on your haggling skills.
Acutely aware by now of what marine loving tourists would need had they come unprepared, locals rent out life vests, footwear fit for the rocky beach of the sanctuary, and if the tourist is looking for specific kinds of marine life like the sea turtle or the jack fish, he or she can hire a local to show him/her where to snorkel for around PHP150 - 200.
Some locals, in exchange for buying their wares, would gladly guide you around the island at no extra cost. You can trust them to look after your bags as they consider it detrimental to the island's reputation (and eventually bad for tourism) if a visitor would get robbed during his/her stay there.
Most tourists to Apo Island are divers and usually stay on the rented boats if they are out of the water. They would probably set foot on the island only to eat at one of the two resorts. Bee and I were not diving but snorkeling, so we actually get to go through Apo Village to get from the shore we landed on to the marine sanctuary. Since I backed out of snorkeling due to the sharp rocks, I ended up taking more interest on what's on the island.
The small town chapel is the first thing you see once you get past the registration office. The absence of a priest's living quarters and the distance of the parish from the city allows the priest to only come around once a month. A lay minister takes over on most Sundays (presumably holding paraliturgical celebrations).
Here and there are stalls selling vegetables to the locals or trinkets to the tourists - and none of those products are probably grown or made on the island.
Electricity is not always available, and for potable water, the locals have to either collect rainfall or import water from the mainland. Our guide said that according to the older folk, there used to be potable water from small inlets, but said sources have disappeared with the denudation that happened before the island became a protected area in 1994.
The current mangrove trees show their youth as they quite thin ... they were planted only recently. The original trees were cut down for timber.
Tilapia live within the waters where the mangrove trees are planted, but the locals only catch them for food if weather does not permit them to fish in the open sea. They don't like the Tilapia as it feeds in murky waters.
Near the Marine Sanctuary, but before the path leaves the mangrove trees, are small cottages that I believe could be rented by tourists who want to stay overnight on the island. I am not sure however if these cottages are maintained by the local government or owned by individuals.
The Municipality of Dauin holds its Kinaiyahan or Mother Nature Festival every September 10, and Apo Village makes it a point to participate every year. The festivities start as early as September 6 and the village folk were loading the drums and props they would be using on their fishing boats.
Watching their community spirit at work uplifts one's mood.
Apo Island is part of Dauin and not Dumaguete City. You get there by taking a boat from Malapatay beach. The first thing you do upon setting foot on the island is pay the entrance fee (PHP100 for non-Dauin residents) and other charges that will apply to the activity/ies you plan to do on the island. The fees go to the maintenance of the island.
Apo Island has been a protected area since 1994 and its marine life has benefited from this. It is now a popular dive site, and for non-divers like me, one can always snorkel.
One treks across the island from the landing site to the part that faces the sea in order to get to the marine sanctuary. Once you see a path through mangrove trees, you know you are almost there.
One signpost clearly points the way to where snorkelers should start. There are small "huts" nearby that visitors could rent and use if they want a place to eat or just sit and enjoy the sea. As it was a Friday and there are few visitors, we get to stash our things in one of the huts with a local volunteering to look after them. Some students from the island's school were in one of the other huts, practicing a number they are going to present at the coming fiesta (Sunday).
Visitors are advised to stay near the beach. Ideally, one should not wander farther than the boat in this picture. Note how rocky the beach is.
The authorities decided to build a cement path going down the beach into the water ... which sounds like a good idea if one wants to avoid the sharp rocks ... unfortunately, I found that I prefer to step on the rough rocks than on the slippery cement ramp.
The fear of slipping and getting hurt by the rocks made me back out of snorkeling. Even Bee had trouble getting into the water. Once she managed that one, she was snorkeling and swimming as far as she could manage.
I decided to stay put on terra firma and take pictures instead.
According to Bee, the fish she saw at Apo Island were bigger than those in the Dauin Marine Sanctuary, but she found the fish in the latter place to be more colorful.
You could not find the pawikan, or sea turtles, in Dauin Marine Sanctuary, though. The pawikan lay their eggs on Apo Island, and locals could point you to areas where you could find one or two swimming around.
Things have been going so fine this day that there has to be a glitch somewhere.
We asked Harold to recommend restaurants in Dumaguete City. One of his recommendations was Boston Cafe. Bee and I decided to eat there this evening. Bee called Harold on the phone and was given directions how to get there. While they were talking, Harold would interchange Boston Market with Boston Cafe.
The cafe was supposed to be walking distance from the hostel, and one of the Boston Cafe flyers we found pegged on the corkboard (people could peg flyers and calling cards on the corkboard to advertise services and establishments) even had a map of the place ... it was at the corner of Hibbard Avenue and E.J. Blanco, and along Piapi. Bee and I stopped by the front desk to once more ask directions.
I didn't mind walking but Bee would rather take a tricycle, so we did. The driver didn't speak Tagalog or English and worst, didn't know where Boston Cafe was. He was driving in what we thought was the opposite direction so we told him to stop and we flagged down another tricycle driver to ask him if he knew where Boston Cafe was and if he could tell our driver how to get us there. We still ended up lost so we told the driver to drop us off at the Mercury Drug Store.
Bee was already stressed out but I still managed to keep cool even when it started to rain hard. We decided to ask directions from the people in the drugstore. One of the customers spoke perfect taglish (he he he - I never thought I would be joyful to hear someone speak taglish) and she immediately recognized the name as she associated the cafe with pizzas. She told us to tell the driver to park in front of Foodnet, a place every tricycle driver in Dumaguete is familiar with. We thanked her profusely as she stepped out of the drugstore with her kid in tow.
We waited for the rainfall to turn into somewhere near a drizzle (but not quite) before stepping out and flagging down another tricycle with instructions to drive us to Boston Cafe which is in front of Foodnet. As we stepped out of the tryke, there was no doubt that we were in front of Boston Cafe, but the spa and Bamboo Wall that Harold said were landmarks to look for were nowhere in sight.
Boston Cafe looks like a country inn from the outside that I was a bit surprised to find out from the menu that it served Italian food like pizza and pasta.
The chairs had big backrests but didn't look sturdy that Bee requested to be given a different, stronger chair. The waitress obliged and pulled a heavier wooden chair from the outside.
While we were looking over the menu, I couldn't help but ask the waitress if Boston Cafe had a another outlet. She said that they have a branch along Piapi.
Bingo! 
We were in Boston Cafe's main branch ... Harold was giving us directions to another outlet which is why we couldn't see any of the landmarks he gave us. The waitress then said that the branch is actually called Basil Tree. It was at this point that I got annoyed with Harold and his directions. It's hard to find a place if you have the wrong name to start with. To clarify things: Boston Cafe USED to be called Boston Market, its branch along Hibbarb Ave. is called Basil Street.
Anyway, I jokingly pointed out to Bee that the moral of the story is: the next time someone says a place is walking distance, we walk.
We ordered a pizza because the lady in the drugstore seemed to think the pizzas here tasted good. We also ordered pasta and salad.
It's a good thing we ordered pasta and salad. They used the right mix of herbs and spices on those dishes. The pizza was a disappointment. I only ate one slice and Bee didn't even finish the slice she took. It's like eating 3M pizza.
According to Bee, the dough wasn't good to start with and they didn't use mozarella cheese. I had a problem with the toppings, but she was right, it starts with the dough. We ended up asking the waitress to pack the rest of the pizza so that we could take it back to the hostel and give it to the lady at the front desk. We figured the staff would like the pizza since they recommended the restaurant.
Bee had earlier asked the waitress where we could eat dessert as the Boston Cafe menu didn't have dessert. She recommended eating at nearby Sans Rival. Unfortunately, Bee and I were too full for dessert when we finished our pasta and salad. Sans Rival Pastry Shop of Dumaguete is actually well known.
Near the entrance of Balinsasayao Nature Park is a body of water that, although smaller than Lakes Balinsasayao and Danao, is no less beautiful.
Kabalin-an pond has a charm of its own with the trees growing out of the waters giving it an enchanted look.
Around the pond are small huts and picnic tables that visitors can rent.
Boulders litter the place and some have odd formations. Bee, who is proving to have more imagination than I do, calls this the rhinoceros:
This one she calls the turtle.
There is a small wharf at the edge of the pond, as one can take a boat ride around Kabalin-an.
Colorful flowers could be found growing around the place and as Bee was having fun taking pictures of them, I decided to take pictures as well.
The sun was setting as we left the Nature Park, and I think our trip back to the city was faster than our trip up the mountain. Apart from gravity, I am guessing another reason is that Mang Danny wanted to be out of the mountain road before dark as the way is not lighted at night and may be dangerous.
It was sunny, instead of the rain one of the other guests at Harold's predicted, so Bee and I were able to spend the rest of the afternoon at Balinsasayao Nature Park.
The Nature Park is the gateway to the Twin Lakes - two small, but deep crater lakes situated between four mountains and separated by a narrow mountain ridge. Lake Balinsasayao, which is near the mountain that bears the same name, is the bigger of the two. The other lake is called Danao, a word which actually means "lake" in the local dialect.
We went through the Sibulan access road in going up to the nature park and it is tricky. I advise getting a driver who knows where the road turns, and have a vehicle that can withstand a bumpy ride. The road is paved and cemented in some places but gravelly in other places. One wonders who decided which part of the road gets cemented. If I observed it correctly, the parts of the road that turns around the hills and mountains are the cemented parts. I guess I should be thankful there is even a road that vehicles can pass. A decade or so ago, one had to trek up the mountains to get to the lakes, and that could take two days.
Upon reaching the Nature Park entrance, one pays an entrance fee per head. At this part of the mountains, getting a cellphone signal is a hit or miss thing... sometimes you get a bar or two, most times you get no signal at all.
To go to Balinsasayao Lake, one goes farther up but vehicles are only allowed up to a certain point. From there on, a boatman or boatwoman will greet you and lead you down a stone staircase going to the lake. You pay a separate fee for the boat ride, by the way.
Bee hates walking and hates stairs the most, which is why she wasn't pleased with having to go down the stone steps. You go down farther than you went up from the park entrance.
Veni, vidi, vici. I came, I saw, I conquered.
Bee in what I dub her conquistador pose as she took a short break at the part of the steps where one finally gets a glimpse of the lake.
At the perimeter of the lake are shaded picnic tables where one could eat. Moored at the edge of the lake and near the stone steps are the boats.
Our boatwoman told us to wear lifevests before assisting us into the boat we rented. Correction - the boatwoman assisted Bee and had no inkling by the way I clambered on board that I feared going into big bodies of water. I think she thought I wouldn't have a problem getting in a boat as I had no problem going down the stone steps. Bee would later comment how poles apart we are in that she loves the water but hate climbing, while I fear the any body of water larger than a small swimming pool but negotiated the stone steps like a mountain cat. Ofcourse, I think using the term mountain cat is exaggerating things as I would probably lag behind and give up earlier than a person with a fitter body.
A typical boat ride should first take you across the Balinsasayao lake to the mountain ridge. This is where you climb out of the boat and go up another set of steps to the elevated hut/tower/cottage (whatever you want to call it).
This watchtower of sorts happens to be on the mountain ridge that separates the two lakes, and therefore gives one a view of both Lake Balinsasayao and Lake Danao.
I missed going up to that watchtower as Bee was not keen on climbing up and down another set of steps. I didn't push Bee to do more climbing in much the same way that she didn't push me to swim far from shore in Dauin. Besides it was her birthday. We asked the boatwoman to just paddle us around the lake.
A forest growing on the mountainsides surround the lake. It is estimated that more than a hundred species of trees and more than a hundred species of birds could be found there. I saw a couple of very tall trees stretching out from the lower rocks and reaching a height of twice that (or more) of the trees growing on the upper rocks above it. I think those were Almagica trees - the tallest kind of tree to be found in the Philippines.
We took pictures of the scenery as the boatwoman paddled across the calm waters. The only sounds to be heard were our hushed voices, the dipping of the paddle in the water, the clicks from our cameras, and the chirping of birds.
In the 1980s, cutting of the trees threatened to lower the water level of the lakes. These days, with the trees protected within the Nature Park, water could sometimes rise so high that a few picnic tables are submerged in the lake.
Bee wanted to take a dip in the lake but the boatwoman told her she could not. I think someone drowned in the lake not long ago and the locals realized it was difficult to pull out someone from the depths of the lake. Bee had to be contented with dipping her feet in the water, which the boatwoman allowed.
I jokingly, but half-seriously told Bee that if she does anything to tip the boat and put us in the water (which she just might do to have an excuse to take a swim), I wouldn't forgive her.
We got back to where the boats were moored just before sunset. Mang Danny told us on the way to the Park that some boatmen/boatwomen don't like going into the lake after sunset because they believe in the presence of the supernatural.
Since her camera was still in the dry box being carried by the boatwoman, Bee grabbed my camera and took the picture below after we got out of the boat. I must admit, it is a postcard worthy picture.
The sun would be setting in a few hours as we climbed back up the stone steps to where the van we rented was parked. I lagged behind Bee, deciding to take a few more shots of the lake before leaving it.
Next stop after snorkeling at the Dauin Marine Sanctuary would be Twin Lakes. That would mean going to Sibulan, located north of Dumaguete. Dauin is south of Dumaguete. You're probably thinking: we had to pick a site on the opposite pole of the city? We didn't really have a map of the area so we were not able to plan our trips geographically.
When Bee and I finally got hungry, we asked Mang Danny for a good place to eat for lunch. We were already in Sibulan so he suggested we stop by Jo's by the Sea. It is a relatively new resort/restaurant located at the foot of a property with a 35-foot statue of the Virgin Mary in its large garden/grotto. That property belongs to Josephine Ng, who is also the owner of the Jo's chain of restaurants (the restaurants bear her name).
After putting on a t-shirt over our bathing suits, we walked into the sea-side restaurant.
Jo's offers a majestic view of the sea, and since it was a weekday and not that many people are in the restaurant, Bee and I took one of the fishing boat-inspired tables that is usually reserved for groups of eight. Not only is the table unique and colorful, it is nearest to the sea.
The tables nearer to the counter were smaller and also looked like small bancas, but they weren't near the sea.
Next to the counter was a long washstand where four people could wash their hands at the same time. I find it quaint that they put a lot of thought into the design of their washstands. The Silliman Avenue restaurant had faucets fashioned like bamboo poles and sinks that look like giant clams. This restaurant had big jars on top of the faucets, giving the illusion that the water came from the jars instead of the visible pipes. Once again, I found detergent bars on the soap dishes.
Their restroom is relatively clean though far from the restrooms one is used to find in decent Metro Manila restaurants/fastfood chains.
Chicken barbeque is the restaurant's specialty, so we automatically ordered one barbeque each.
Bee added prawns, sinigang na bangus, and grilled squid to our order. It was Bee's birthday so I told her I was paying for this lunch as a treat. The prawns, squid and chicken tasted great. The bangus (milkfish) however wasn't fresh and we didn't finish it as I was getting an allergic reaction. I usually start to feel itchy at the lips and tongue after eating seafood that isn't fresh ... this would be the first time that I got it after eating bangus. I don't think the restaurant has a proper freezer.
We watched fishermen doing their job as we ate lunch. First they laid out their nets, then they started pounding the water with a long piece of wood to startle the fish and drive them towards the nets. Finally, they pulled out the nets that had captured some fish.
In the middle of the place was a chicken coop. I am beginning to think that every Jo's restaurant have pet chickens on display.
Nearby is a children's playground and a snack bar. Only kids are allowed on the swings. 
A path between the playground and the restaurant leads down to the shore. We went there to take some pictures.
Bee wanted to take a swim but it was not allowed.
