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28 www.oystermarine.com Philippines - Our gate to South Asia continued “The wind influenced our route and one day we ended up in Sibuyan. This little village is overlooked by tourism. ” On our dive through the tunnel we watched different reef sharks sleeping. Nevertheless, our absolute high point was to spot seahorses! Luckily our diving guide had trained eyes because we would have missed these small animals hiding in ferns. Seahorses belong to the most remarkable species of the deep. Biologically they are normal fish in a special packaging. Everybody likes seahorses. A quite unusual fascination with these sea animals with their horse heads grips most people. They are gorgeous to watch! Sibuyan The wind influenced our route and one day we ended up in Sibuyan. This little village is overlooked by tourism and even by Manila – which tends to overlook retirement payments and other governmental responsibilities. The island has 50,000 inhabitants and no more than 50 to 100 western tourists visit a year. In every respect the remote 2,058 metre high, egg shaped Mt. Guiting-Guiting controls the climate of the place. Guiting-Guiting magically draws all clouds from the wide surroundings. Accordingly, measured with other islands, the territory is rich in water and has one of the best preserved primeval forests of the Philippines. Another reason for the thick virgin forest is the streams and waterfalls that are abound along the abrupt flanks of the mountain. Instead of hiking up Mt Guiting-Guiting we travelled on a tricycle around the island. Tricycles are light coloured motorcycles with painted side cars. Here on Sibuyan these are the only motorized vehicles and the main transportation. Most of the time these vehicles are loaded with many adventurous Filipinos and their luggage and domestic animals. On our small tour of Sibuyan we discovered two German settlements, passed the fresh produce market, colourful colonial style terraced houses and beautiful virgin forest – we had a lovely relaxing time. Boracay One of the best known destinations in the Philippines is Boracay. The small seven kilometre long island lies north of Panay. Everything here happens at the ‘white beach’ one of the nicest palm tree lined beaches in the Philippines: sunbathing, relaxing, outdoor massaging, shopping for souvenirs, eating, drinking and even diving tours. A contrast to the beauty and cleanliness of the white beach was life behind the beach. Everything looked to be under construction or at least refurbishment. Power supply lines were hanging loose from house to house. Dogs, rats and other small animals searched for food in shops or in commercial waste. The weird architectural activity led us to suppose that a recent typhoon or tsunami had swept the place. But our belief was wrong... the locals were constructing and extending buildings due to the increasing number of visitors. Back on the beach we felt like we were in another world.
Coron On arrival in Coron we left the province of Visayas. Coron Island is part of the Calamian Group and offers similar beauty to the neighbouring world-renowned Palawan, for its vertical limestone formations - although the Corons’ are more concentrated and on a much smaller scale. The entrance to our anchorage was very adventurous. Between precipitously sloped limestone rocks and water varying in different blue to turquoise colours, we found just enough water to get Moana into the small space. We were in the midst of a stony upright surrounding! Due to the limestone bottom the anchor would not dig in, so Moana was held only by the weight of anchor and chain. At that time of the year, the weather conditions were moderate so we had no concerns. The place was idyllic, impressive and quiet and we enjoyed the very clear and clean water in this Philippine fjord! "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, keep nothing but memories, kill nothing but time" a sign said before we climbed up the stairs to Kayangan Lake. After a rise and a descent we reached the clear freshwater lake with its three arms nestled into the limestone of Coron Island. The steep, sharp-edged rock walls are reflected in the clear plain water. We paddled along the shore of this lake that lays 80 metres above sea level. We experienced the scenery of Kayangan as sole visitors, the silence was only interrupted by the humming of our kayak pilot. Back at sea level we found out that this lake and its surroundings still belong to the Tagbanuas tribe and therefore is custom ground. All income goes directly to the Tagbanuas. Even with some income these people live a very simple life. Their houses are built directly on shore, on stilts and have no flowing water or electricity. They gain additional income by collecting swallows’ nests. The soup made in Chinese restaurants from these nests is a delicacy. To prepare one soup requires about 300 nests! The nest contains a protein which is the main ingredient of the soup. Of course, to collect the nest is not easy. The swallows build their nests in inaccessible caves on vertical face walls. But Tagbanuas set up a bamboo construction and climb up into the heights of the cave to get their prize. Back in Europe any health and safety man would have a stroke from this vibrating, unsecure construction without any safety measures. What an indescribable endeavour to get some pesos. > ABOVE FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Beautiful limestone formations of Coron Fishing boats of Boracays’ white beach Diving in Malapascua The local children in Sibuyan Our transport in Sibuyan OWNER REPORT www.oystermarine.com 29
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