Pilipinas

Oh, Balabac! After long hours spent on reading guide after guide, daydreaming about those pristine white sand beaches and super clear turquoise waters, I had finally reached the most distant municipality in the province of Palawan.

I have been traveling solo to distant places for quite some time but whenever I do, there is a part of me that still gets anxious. The fear of the unknown always lingers at the back of my mind but I normally overcome it with ease however, the road to Balabac was the one trip that got me so edgy. As soon as I got out of Puerto Princesa Airport, I hopped on a tricycle going to San Jose Terminal to catch a van bound for Rio Tuba.

My Bataraza, Palawan experience did not just stop in discovering Lalatuan Falls because apparently, it has one more awesome site waiting for me that day and that is Kapangyan Falls.

Tucked in the forests of Barangay Malihud in Bataraza, the southernmost municipality of mainland Palawan are two of its precious wonders, Kapangyan Falls and Lalatuan Falls. However, there were very little information about Kapangyan Falls and Lalatuan Falls online that’s why finding an article about the hidden gems of Bataraza was a huge step forward in making my DIY solo side trip to Bataraza possible.

The more I gaze at the awe-inspiring photographs of the waterfalls of South Cebu over the internet, the more it had captivated me. To catch a glimpse of the stunning cascades scattered all over the Queen City was one of the reasons why I journeyed to her territory. So to carry out my mission, I travelled solo on DIY for a span of two days in four towns and got myself acquainted with eleven breathtaking (literally and figuratively) waterfalls of South Cebu.

A colleague of mine have asked me if where will be my next destination.  When I told him that I will be heading to Cebu next, he then enthusiastically said that it would be a lot of fun especially when I try Kawasan Canyoneering in Badian.  At the back of my mind, I was trying to recall if I have already encountered what he said, but I was clueless.  Back then, I had the slightest idea of what canyoneering was all about but the huge smile on his face piqued my curiosity and gave me the impression that it seemed very exciting.

Fifteen minutes off the coast of Bancogon in Oslob rests Bluewater Sumilon Island, a tiny landmass measuring at only twenty-four hectares.  To most tourists, the parcel of land is quite renowned for its shifting white sandbar.  However, the privately-owned island is more than just the sandbar and to discern more of what it is truly about, I spent the rest of my first day in Oslob on a day tour in Bluewater Sumilon Island. 

Day 1 of my DIY Cebu City Tour on a jeep and habal-habal was a huge defeat. Before retiring to bed, I pondered on what I did wrong that day. I went back to the drawing board and worked on a different approach. It was a new day the following day. The debacle that I’ve encountered didn’t stop me from making an effort to start anew.

An hour had passed then finally, “Welcome to Mactan-Cebu International Airport”, was announced over the airline’s PA system…At last, I was in Cebu. As I got out of the airport, I was thinking whether to take the taxi which was readily available right in front of me, or to look for the MyBus terminal or jeepney stop to get to where will I be staying while in Cebu. I was inclined to take the bus or the jeep however, I didn’t exactly know yet where the hotel was. So, after weighing each pros and cons, it was more practical to take a taxi at that time even if it was costly.

My grip on to the side of the boat tightened as the huge waves tossed us up in the air. Our boat was like jumping over a hurdle while forging through the swells that were about a meter high. Even with a life jacket on, I was a bit concerned and my imagination ran wild. Will our small boat be able to make it to Carabao Island without capsizing? All thanks to our young but skillful boat men, my paranoia was wiped out about 45 minutes later when we arrived safely in Carabao Island. However, it wasn’t quite the Carabao Island that we were expecting it to be.