89. Adventures in the Philippines

Adventures in the Philippines - from 27/01/2019 to 28/02/2019
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- When I landed in the Philippines, I expected to come across beautiful islands surrounded by beautiful beaches. That's right, with in addition to the beautiful diving spots scattered throughout the country.
- In this article, there are the most beautiful photos of the places I visited:
Fort Santiago in Manila
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- This citadel, built in the 16th century by the Spanish colons, is now an important historical site in the city of Manila. A museum explains the last days of José Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines a hundred years ago. Rizal was imprisoned in this fort before his execution.
Manila
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- The capital architecture is a mix of the genres between skyscrapers, housing estates, business towers, popular houses, historic districts,...
The bamboo bikes
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- To those of you who thought that our Iron City Bike were ecological, I think the Filipinos have found something more natural!
Tingloy Island
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- I followed Maeh, a Filipino Couchsurfer, and we went to Tingloy Island. The island is prized during the weekends for its calm and its rather preserved nature (compared to Manila, the megalopolis). Unfortunately the rain came with us, so we had to avoid the drops.
Masasa Beach
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- On the other side of Tingloy, this beach is a good spot for snorkeling. I was really excited to see so many marine life in one place. The presence of jellyfish didn't scare me and I came out of it very happy.
- I had no idea that this was a very poor sealife scenary compared to what I was going to discover...
Tingloy Rice Fields
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- One last picture in front of a beautiful sunset, before we hit the road again.
The Taal volcano
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- Taal is a volcano in a lake, which itself has a lake in its crater.
- In photo, our boat to reach the Taal volcano on the island with the Mount Binintiang Malaki.
Taal Crater
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- Let's bring one picture in front of Crater Lake. Although I got suggestion to swim, I was not even tempted. Anyone smelling the sulfur odor from geysers on the other side of the lake, would have done the same.
Sablayan market
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- Sablayan is a fishing town with a large sandy beach. The market is huge and full of various fish including some protected species. The town is the starting point for excursions to the two islands of Pandan and also to the Apo reef. To reach the southern island of Pandan, there is a way to take a long zip line of three hundred meters and swim back. Or you can use a boat, which is the main mean of navigation in the place.
The beach-side district
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- I stayed at the Sablayan Paraiso Beach Resort, a very nice guesthouse run by a French expatriate, where the meals are copious, delicious and at good prices. My hostel is lost on a peninsula, so far from the city that I have to cross the neighborhoods to get to the market. Even the walk is an attraction. On the way, I get caught by fishermen sipping a beer. Just after this meeting, some children asked me to give them a blessing.
Sunset on the beach of Sablayan
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- I'll never be fed up of Philippine sunsets.
Apo Reef
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- The main attraction of Sablayan was its proximity to Apo Reef. This reef is considered the second largest reef in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. However, you have to be a certificated diver to go there, which was not the case for me. According to the stories of Theo and Marine, the coral is beautiful and colourful. I've got some pictures to show you.
The wild beach of Pandan Island
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- I chose to go to the northern island of Pandan instead, which is also a scuba diving spot, but also a snorkelling spot. And I made my first dive with the two-meters-highed sea turtles (apparently, I was not the first dive for them). I could easily observe some corals and nice fishes also. There is a possibility to eat and stay on the island for as long as you like. The atmosphere is very relaxed there.
- While travelling around the island with another traveller, we arrived to the "wild beach" which is rather well named, because the current is so strong, that we could not swim there.
Coron, the place where diving inside wrecks
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- Coron is the northernmost part of the Palawan Archipelago. It is a group of islands that sheltered the Japanese fleet during the Second World War. When the Americans began to attack the ships in Manila by plane, they came to hide near the islands. Some ships did not escape to American bombs and that is why about 20 wrecks can be explored around Coron.
- Here I am ready for my PADI Open Water certification.
Coron and its dive sites
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- Coron is the perfect place to appreciate the ocean. There are many spots where you can snorkel, like this coral garden.
Ocam-Ocam Beach
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- By renting a motorbike, I was able to reach the beautiful beach of Ocam-Ocam, hidden at the other end of the island.
The Black Island
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- Ocam-Ocam beach is also the starting point for the Black Island. The island gets its name from the huge black cliffs that overlook it. Inside there are some caves that are not very interesting in my point of view. On the other hand, large corals can be appreciated underwater, with their hordes of fishes, which inhabit them.
A kayak to reach Coron Island
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- Well, the city of Coron is not located on Coron island but on Busuanga Island. To reach Coron Island, located opposite the town of Coron, you need a boat. For more independence, I rented a kayak and I paddled that day about twenty kilometers in the middle of the island.
Ready to dive
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- In spite of the sunburn, I do not regret this solution at all, which allowed me to take my time to observe ...
Coral garden
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- I dived at Balinsasayaw reef and also at the Coral Garden.
Green Lagoon
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- A lagoon just for myself... and a little fishing family to take a picture of me.
The twin lagoons
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- Where I'm driving a bunch of Taiwanese people who clearly weren't moving on their pedal boats...
The arrival in front of Kayangan Lake
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- The view is breathtaking
- Arriving last at closing time, I was able to swim alone in the big attraction of the island: the Kayangan Lake. I was simply alone with these fish with long thin noses: needlefish.
- And also another boat suggested me to carry back my boat: that was nice!
Sunset on Mount Tapyas
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- The best way to watch a sunset over the Coron Islands is at the top of the Mount Tapyas.
El Nido, a tour of the islands
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- Almost all travellers from the Philippines pass through Palawan and El Nido. This is not surprising when you consider the number of paradise islands in the surrounding area. Island group tours are organized every day to explore lagoons, hidden beaches or to dive in the coral gardens.
Helicopter Island
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- This island, whose name was given to it because of its shape, is a good spot to relax and snorkel.
An improvised tour of Cadlao Island
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- Touring the islands is fun, but I've never been too excited about it. I decided to reach the island of Cadlao, by kayak. But this time, I've motivated another traveller Adriana with me: what a joy to have a deserted beach just for ourselves!
El Nido, the city centre around the beach
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- The city is currently experiencing a real boom because of tourism. Residents are even forced to move further and further away from the centre to find affordable rents. The city centre is becoming pedestrian in the evenings. It is located a stone's throw from the beach. Of course the atmosphere of the city is very relaxed in the bars/restaurants along the beach.
Nacpan, the immense beach of El Nido
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- Twenty kilometers north of El Nido, this splendid beach is the meeting place for expatriates and other foreigners. Life in this village is very calm and restful. It was an ideal spot to settle here with Ryan, my host from Couchsurfing.
Swim to Bulog Island
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- Near the beach of Nacpan, there are four islets. Ryan and I wanted to explore them, so we swam to the first one and then, we constitute a new canoeing team to see the rest!
Las Cabanas, for its sunset
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- Five kilometres from El Nido, the beach of Las Cabanas is a good base for water activities such as paddle or jet-skiing, or even zip-lining. And for the needs of tourism, the area around this beach is filling up with shops, restaurants, resorts...
- The clear view to the west also allows you to admire a beautiful sunset.
Malapascua, a diving paradise
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- This island is located in the Visayas archipelago, north of the island of Cebu. It is known as the only place in the world where you are guaranteed to see thresher sharks. It is a non-dangerous species of shark, whose very long tail forms a kind of Z (see photo). They live at two hundred to six hundred meters deep and every morning, they come on a plateau at a depth of thirty meters to be cleaned by other fish, in front of the eyes of about fifty divers.
Traditional life in Malapascua
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- Like all the islands of the Philippines, life is centered around fishing. In addition to boat and net builders, there are also locals who are busy at the market, in a few fields and passionately bet their money on cockfights.
Dried fish
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- On the island, many fishing victuals dry in the villages or along the beaches.
Kalanggaman Island
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- Surrounded by two extraordinary dive sites, this island is so magnificent, I thought it was better than my dream expectation.
Sunset
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- Still on the island of Malapascua, I got lost during my exploration and discovered "People in the sea". In addition to the tourist industry, its hotels and diving clubs, there are associations for the protection of marine diversity such as "People in the sea". Armed with a few volunteers, they dive to preserve corals and their habitat, cleaning the bottom of waste (human or not) or educating fishermen to avoid dumping in the open sea.
- The evening was very nice and ended, once again in the Philippines, with a beautiful sunset.
Dauin, exploration in the heart of the fishing village
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- With Laure, we walked along the beach in Dauin and gave a hand to some children who were pumping water to bring it back to their families.
A diodon, or hedgehog fish...
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- When they feel in danger, diodons inflate very quickly to frighten their aggressor by accumulating air or water in their oesophagus until they take on a spherical shape.
- Diodons accumulate a toxin, called tetrodotoxin, in all their organs, which makes them deadly venomous. In diodons, the poison is especially concentrated in the tips of the quills, especially in females during the breeding season. This toxin is therefore an additional weapon to deter potential predators.
- Tetrodotoxin is synthesized by bacteria ingested by fish together with algae with which they live in association. Fish are insensitive to it. This toxin is destroyed only after several hours of boiling at high temperatures, so even cooked fish remain potentially toxic to humans, who then show the first symptoms of poisoning within an hour.
- The latter was the victim of the Dauin fishermen's net. He remained bloated for several hours, even when mortally wounded.
Livestock market
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- What about buying some cattle at the market? I have listed some prices for those interested: we have a piglet at 10€, a buffalo bull at 570€, the biggest white humpback bull (on the picture) at 700€, otherwise for a three year old white bull, the price is 500€ and for a heifer it's 300€. It's up to you to negotiate well!
A picture to sum up a journey
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- The Philippines is an archipelago of very diverse islands, where man has taken over from nature. During my journey, I could deplore the few birds in a place that really looks like an ornithological paradise.
- Hammock, hut, fishing, beach, fine sand, ocean, the island world is indeed exotic. Nevertheless, the jetlag is brutal (see my state), the culture has become very Americanized and their beautiful beaches have cleaner equivalent in Europe. This is why I recommend to tourists interested in the country, to take the time (several months) to really enjoy this pace of life.
- If there's one good reason that can justify a trip to the Philippines, in my opinion, it's diving. There is a hidden world, very colorful, not yet too impacted by the human footprint. Precisely, Philippines diving spots will be the subject of my next article!

89. Adventures in the Philippines

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