Monday, May 12, 2008 Extreme adventure in Mindanao By Froilan Gallardo
I HAVE always been in love with Mindanao and its people. There is no place where the beauty of ethnic diversity is merged in one melting pot. Mindanao is so intriguing that people from Visayas and Luzon do not fully understand these southern islands.
Thanks to my job, I have been to places in Mindanao where few people - even Mindanaoans - have ventured. There is so much beauty to our island despite our peace and order problems. There are some pockets in the island that offer something for the brave travelers. Here is my list of destinations and things to do in Mindanao. (Because of space considerations, we will publish them in batches.)
The hundred islands of Maluso, Basilan island province
One hundred islands of pure white sand. Very isolated and uninhabited unlike its namesake in Pangasinan. It is certainly no tourist trap. Only 10 minutes pumpboat ride from Maluso municipality in Basilan, pumpboat rates are cheap. About P500 for a day trip.
Unfortunately, there are bands of Abu Sayyaf rebels in the vicinity but who cares about them. If not for those rebels, I would not have stumbled on this place. This is the ultimate travel adventure and not for those with weak hearts. The reward is a hundred islands of paradise. Note: While going to Maluso, take a dip at the Basilan Channel when you reach Isabela City, the capital of Basilan province. Its pristine blue water was the first thing that caught my eye when I first set foot on the island in 2000. It's unpolluted even though the channel cuts across the city. You can kiss Macajalar Bay goodbye after seeing Basilan Channel. Contact their friendly provincial tourism office to provide you with guides and armed police escorts to the islands.
San Miguel Island, 20 kilometers from Brunei
Actually San Miguel Island is part of Mapun Island, the northernmost municipality of Tawi-Tawi province. I discovered this small island - around ten hectares of white sand - in 2004 when I pursued the story of Filipino workers being deported from Sabah. Going to San Miguel Island is not cheap. I remembered I paid the fishing boat P2,000 to get me to the small island. Travel time is around four hours but once you get there all the sea sickness will simply vanish.
San Miguel Island is the paradise on earth. Imagine yourself walking alone on an island full of sea gulls. I spotted several sea hawks there too. Yes, San Miguel is where the sea gulls come to sleep for the night. The island is uninhabited. The birds come around five in the afternoon.
You think the birds are already fantastic, wait till darkness sets in. You will hear hundreds of sea turtles coming to shore. Yes, the island is where the turtles come to breed and lay their eggs.
Come morning, you will be roused by the wailing of the whales. Seven huge humpback whales were playing not more than 100 meters from where I slept. I just stood there and watched them forgetting to drink my coffee, my morning ritual. I could see their tails coming out from the water, making a big splash as they slide back in.
Don't forget to bring your digital camera like I did. I was too excited to go to the island that I forgot to bring my Nikon. I had only my Sony FX1 video camera with me. Although I shot around five DV cassettes, I still don't have the perfect photo of the island. Forget the advertisement about video cameras able to take perfect still photos. A video camera is always for video while a still camera gives you memorable shots.
Do not worry about lodging. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources maintains a bunk for its employees who come twice a year. It is the only manmade structure among the small trees on the island. The door of the bunk is always unlocked. Be a Robin Crusoe for once in your life. I stayed for two nights and two days on the island.
Bonggao, Tawi-tawi island province
If anyone told you not to go to Bonggao municipality, capital town of Tawi-tawi province, don't listen. Either that somebody is ignorant or a PT (pretending to be a traveler). Bonggao is a very peaceful town. This I learned when I went there in 2004 to cover an elementary school on tilts and where the teachers bring their blackboards on their backs to teach the children on the seashore. But that is another story.
Bonggao is an ukay-ukay paradise where t-shirts of well-known brands sell at ten pesos each. I bought a pair of Adidas jogging shorts for P50. A North Face backpack would cost you P90. There is a whole section at the town market selling ukay-ukay.
Walk around Chinese Pier, the town's main wharf. It is so picturesque. With hundreds of wooden boats, Chinese Pier looks like Hong Kong wharf in the 1930s. There are rows of old warehouses that buy and sell every product from the nearby islands.
Lobsters are being sold at P150 each. A small can of seashells for P70. Traders don't sell fish by the kilo. Instead, they sell the fish strung in rattan twigs. Five big kitang fish is sold at P80. All of these are available at the Chinese Pier.
I bought a lobster and a can of seashells and brought them back to the hotel where I stayed. I paid P50 for the cook to grill the lobster and seashells. It was my best dinner in my life.
Hotel in Bonggao is not five-star quality but it is clean and comes with all amenities like a private toilet. It even has a cable TV showing five channels including BBC, CNN and HBO. The town is wired to the Internet and has about five Internet cafes.
You can go to Bonggao via Zamboanga City. Take the daily flights of Sea Air, that small airline with small but dependable German-made Dornier planes. Plane tickets cost around P2,500 one way.
Once you are on the island, travel by pedicabs, it's the only means of transportation around the island.
Santa Cruz Island off Zamboanga City
This small island literally has pink sand. I do not know where it came from but pink sand dots the entire coastline of the island. Local people told me it is the combination of the tidal currents of the Celebes Sea and Visayas Sea hurtling into each other and creating small whirlpools off Zamboanga City that created this magnificent pink sand island.
Santa Cruz Island is less than an hour away by pumpboat from the port of Zamboanga. It costs around P500. I was luckier. I was able to visit the island courtesy of a friend, a US military officer, who let me ride in one of their fast patrol boats.
On Santa Cruz Island, be sure you will not stray to the northern islet, which the Armed Forces of the Philippines use to test fire its 105mm howitzers. You can hear the loud boom as the howitzer fires a round from Camp Navarro just across the island.
Come to Zamboanga around October because the city comes alive during the celebration of their fiesta, Nuestra Senora la Virgen del Pilar.
Zamboanga celebrates their fiesta with a colorful mardigras that put to shame Davao's Kadayawan and Bukidnon's Kaamulan festivals. Their performers use guitars and bandolinos instead of drums. If you are tired of hearing the same festival beat, try the mardigras in Zamboanga.
