Since my first trip to the paradise that is Calaguas
Islands, I always had the itch to go back.
The fine white sand beach and the serenity that I failed to find in
other getaways. So when I heard that my
old friend Danes is going on a week-long trip with Byahe Adventours for the
holy week, I knew I had to find a way to join the party! It is unfortunate though, that because of
formula: BPO employee+ holidays= work! work! work!- That I will not be able to
enjoy a week-long celebration in the island.
But still, I would be able to join them on the weekends- and that’s
exactly what I planned to do.
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| The bangka from the river port will take us to the island |
Just like before, Byahe Adventours took care of the ride to
Daet, Camarines Norte and the boat ride to the island. An 8-hour ride from Cubao to Daet and another
2-hour boat ride to the island- and it
was all worth it. Just like before, the
fact that I left the metro has already given me a certain calming feeling
knowing that I am away from busy highways and crowded streets and malls. We reached the port early morning, just as the
sun was rising. The boat ride again gave
me that anticipation to lay my eyes on the island I have been missing for
almost the past month. Then, the waiting
stops when we finally approach the island.
The boatmen drop their steel anchor to slow the boat down to a steady
stop against the white sand. And just
like that, I almost felt like coming home.
Like the heavens’ gates opening, the soft rays of the sun showered the
island and looked like a golden Eden.
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| Panoramic view of the campsite |
This time we brought our own tent, although Byahe Adventours
provides tents we figured to bring one along with us for privacy. After setting up our tent, we were all eager
to get to the water. We ran towards the
clear ocean like we were attacking it, hoping to conquer it and make it our
own. We rushed towards it laughing and
in bliss as if cheering battle cries! It
almost felt like nothing could stop us, not even if they released the kraken! We spent the whole morning just marinating in
the sea and baked under the sun until Chef Janjie called for lunch. What could be better than sitting down under
the coconut shade indulging on freshly gourmet island-cooked meal with
friends? Buffet! Bon a petite!
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| Fresh as fresh can be |
Just like the last time, you have the opportunity to take
the afternoon learning poi dancing or skim boarding. After a couple of attempts on the board,
which didn’t go to well for me, we decided to try something else. We took a walk around the island, crossing
fields of local residents, and took pictures. We went up-hill to catch a
glimpse of the sun just before it sets on the horizon. This marks the end of the day and the
beginning of another night-long celebration!
It was just after the critical days of the holy week so you can tell,
everyone was up for one hell-of-a party!
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| Professional Photos taken by...professional photographers |
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| Fire Poi in the background! |
We head back to camp just in time for dinner. Everyone is looking forward for tonight’s
events. We have cocktail-mixing, fire
poi exhibition, and a long night of socials!
The cocktail-mixing was particularly special to some of our friends who
successfully created their own unique concoctions! Danes was able to debut his then-created
Leme-quila! A mixture of lemon and melon
extracts on tequila which brought out a fruity-island cocktail with a punch. The night went on, and so did the party. It is absolute; nothing beats beach parties-
correction: nothing beats Calaguas beach parties!
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| Mix your own, and down it! |
What is the best thing about waking up the next morning
after a long night of partying? No hang
overs! That’s exactly what I always wake
up to in the island. We are scheduled to
leave the island after lunch, and I already miss it. I know that I will be looking forward to
coming back to this beautiful place, the warm people behind each successful
trip, the good food prepared on-site.
But before leaving this paradise, I had to make sure to leave a mark and
make this trip far beyond anything else I have done. By destiny, someone came up with a great
idea. The friends from Byahe Adventours
decided to take island hopping! If you
think there’s nothing special about it, then you are highly mistaken. We decided to take a trip to one of the near
islands and back- swimming. Yep, we are
going to swim to near Balag-bag Island which is about 500-600 meters away. That would be like a 4-5 minute walk,
something like walking from SM Megamall’s building A to B end to end- give and
take a couple of meters.
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| The island on the left is Balag-bag |
For precaution, we took life vests as we are not
professional swimmers. This is not for
the faint of hearts either, if you get stuck in the middle of the sea then try
not freaking out. Try not thinking of
“what’s under me?” or “how deep could this be?” or my favorite “ouch! I think I
got stung! There’s jellyfish here! Damn it!”.
As we take the few minutes on the water, it hit me- it really is harder
than it seems. I try to push myself, the
waves going against us. Each paddle of
my arm seems to be futile, I have been paddling and kicking for the past 5
minutes but it seemed to be an eternity.
I can’t believe it, but my lungs are starting to give in- I have to
catch my breath. I lie floating to take
a rest, the others are doing better. I
decide to keep going, keeping a watchful eye on the others and my girlfriend
who decided to take the ordeal with me and I have to say, she’s doing much
better than I am. After 10 more minutes,
we finally get half-way to the island. I
am running low on strength, the others are almost at the shores of Balag-bag
Island. I hear them cheer their morale
up, and I do the same. A few more
agonizing minutes and I finally made it to the rocky part of the island, I
didn’t have much vigor left so I was unable to get to the sandy shore. To fully leave a mark on this trip, we had to
get a-top the hill of Balag-bag. With my
almost no energy, I fueled myself with motivation to get to the top and finally
claim what is mine by heart. On top of Balag-bag, I stand a winner.
We took a couple of minutes to catch our breath, try to
regain our strength, rest and enjoy the view and feel good of what we just
did. We took 20 minutes to get to the
island, pusher ourselves to the limit, and succeeded. We concurred ourselves. Then it hit me, we need to get back! Suddenly everything looked like it’s just
beginning- we haven’t made a mark yet!
There is something better than swimming to another island – swim to an
island and back! With little regained
from resting, we again push our bodies to the limits, in sarcastic humor, “it’s
just another 20 minute swim anyway!”.
This time, the swim back feels easier than expected, I’m not sure if
it’s because maybe the wave is helping us to the shore, or maybe our muscles
have adapted to the water, or if our sudden vigor is caused by rushing
adrenaline triggered by a sudden realization that we have bested ourselves and
that we should keep this up. With the
final burst of energy, we find ourselves on the shore, sand on our faces-
almost powerless to lift our bodies from the ground. We take a couple of deep breaths and yell,
“Is that it? What’s next?” as we all laugh and slowly stand up to get back to
camp.
Back at the camp, still overwhelmed with the
fulfilling-agonizing undertaking, we gobbled on our lunch with smiles on our
faces. After dinner, we head back to the
boats. Slowly as we drift away from the
island, and the boatmen start the engines, I bid goodbye to this beautiful
refuge for people looking for adventures, looking for answers, looking for
themselves- “I will see you soon.”
Calaguas Island, you are full of surprises.
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| Leaving the island, exhausted but fulfilled again. |
beautiful photos
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