I woke up late on June 13 '08 due to a crash review of photography basics, a habit I developed since I re-embraced this hobby. I was worried that I might not be able to catch the last pump boat (motorized outrigger boat) trip from the Maya wharf to Malapascua. I sent a barrage of text messages to friends who are more familiar with the area. I was able to confirm that there are boat trips until 6PM.
The bus I rode left the terminal at 11AM. When the bus took on a faster speed, I was alerted of a wafting pungent smell in the air. After several minutes of observation, I was able to pinpoint that the smell was coming from the exposed armpit of a teenager in front of me. Since the bus is full, I had no choice but to endure the malaise and to cover my bulbous nose for the rest of the journey. I was on the verge of telling her she has body odor but something happened that made me think otherwise. I concluded she had no idea of how bad her armpit reeked.
She was holding a brown bandana which she occasionally used to wipe her sweaty axilla. And then we passed though a dusty road. To my surprise she used the same bandana to cover her face!
The reeking ended when she finally alighted in the town of Bogo.
Off to Malapascua
I arrived in Maya at about 3:15PM. I paid for the boat ticket and I was told that there is a scheduled boat trip in about 15 minutes. However, after seeing that there were only 4 passengers including myself, a senior member of the boat crew decided to cancel the trip. I ended up taking the 4PM trip.
The 30-minute boat trip was quiet and uneventful. When I arrived at the island, I headed directly to Ging-ging's Restaurant, an outrageously cheap restaurant in the island. I made reservations for dinner at 7PM. The place is plain and ordinary and the meals are way cheaper than the other restaurants. The catch however is that orders have to made ahead. The food is generally okay and I would recommend their sizzlers list.
I decided to again stay at Daño Beach Resort. I find the room package better than the other middle-class resorts. The fan room package includes 24 hours electricity (depending on season) and breakfast for 2 persons, all for PhP1000. However, I found out that the owner was off to a vacation away from the island and their restaurant was closed. My spirit was not dampened by this "misfortune" since I was able to negotiate for a far lower rate. The amount I was able to scrounge paid for my dinner and lunch the next day.
After unpacking my things, I took my camera and tripod and headed towards the western part of the island the locals call "baryo". The sun was about to set.
I am not always a fan of taking sunset pictures with the big orange orb. I prefer the low lights after the sun has settled low into the horizon, which allows me to take pictures in long exposures.
After dinner, I stayed in the porch of my rented cottage and did nothing but to listen to squeaking bats, monotonous crickets, occasional bird chirps, cat meows and dog barks in far distance and the soothing lapping sound of the waves to the shoreline. To my surprise, I was very sleepy by 9PM.
Early Morning Wandering
I woke up very early the next day and found a well-lighted surrounding. My hopes of taking low light shots just before sunrise vanished, although it was just about 5AM. I decided to start tarrying within the island.
I packed my gears and compass and headed north. After taking many wrong turns and asking for directions, I was finally headed to my target: the Malapascua Lighthouse. (Several times, some locals offered to bring me there through motorcycle for free. I respectfully turned down their kind offer, explaining that I prefer to walk and burn some fats.)The lighthouse is in the northwestern tip of the island. I followed well-worn roads that crossed tall cogon fields. Several times, I was swept by fear that I might be robbed by gunpoint without anyone ever noticing. Because of this, I was not able to take a single shot of those fields I passed.
The locals told me that I need to continue heading north and that the road to the lighthouse is marked by a concrete pathway leading up a hill. The hill beyond this one is where the lighthouse is situated.
The pathway actually crosses a well-forested hill. The road passes though a cell site In its highest point. And to my delight, there were many birds basking in the morning sun in the trusses of the tower. My 300mm lens is quite limiting, as I wanted to take close-ups of the birds, but it nevertheless came in handy.
The pathway also descended to some very scenic beach scenes in the northwestern part of the island.
After about an hour and a half of walking, I entered into a fishing community. The top of the lighthouse is now visible. I again asked for directions on the road to the lighthouse. I was told that I had to literally climb the hill. Fortunately, the well-worn path is an easy climb. Finally, I saw the lighthouse majestically standing before me.
When I reached the foot of the lighthouse, I saw two little girls playing. And when the opportunity striked for a composition that would provide scale, I took a picture.
And I took another one....
After about 30 minutes in the lighthouse base, I decided to descend and go to back to Daño. Along the way, most of the birds are already active. The bird calls were loud and many. I started stalking a green bird that I saw moving from one "kamansi" tree to another. Below is a heavily cropped shot (using 300mm lens) of what turned out to be a collared kingfisher, after several minutes of just sitting low underneath some coconuts. By this time, I was really wishing for a more powerful lens.
When I reached Daño, the sun was already high. I took a shot of the beach and rested until lunch time. I then headed to Ging-ging's and took my lunch. The 2PM trip from Malapascua to Maya was also uneventful. The unfinished maledictions of the previous Friday the 13th caught up with me in Medellin.
Chain-smoking Grandma and Belting Bus Diva
We were not able to make it to the 2:30PM bus trip in Maya. We waited for another hour or so for the next bus trip. There were only less than 20 passengers in the bus from Maya. However it started to get full as it passed by several designated bus stops.
When the bus reached Medellin, an elderly lady together with her grandchild and daughter took the seat right in front of mine. Another lady sat beside me.
Then the curses started their toll. The elderly lady started to smoke, one stick after the other until we reached Mandaue. Again I had to cover my poor bulbous nose.
The bus' radio was tuned in to an afternoon AM radio program playing songs from the 70's, 80's and early 90's. I am amazed by the musical repertoire of the lady sitting beside me. She sang with almost every song being played. What's amazing is, she was singing in full off-key voice oblivious to the havoc she is inflicting on my ears (and I guess to everyone else's).
I originally planned to go to SM and immediately have my pictures developed, but with these two afflictions at hand, I decided to disembark in the popular "pocherohan" in Mandaue Highway.
What To Do In Malapascua Aside From Diving
With the two visits I made to Malapascua, I could say that it offers more than diving and trying out one's luck in seeing the shy thresher sharks of the area.
What's another activity worth doing in Malapascua?
Rest and do nothing.
Malapascua offers an unhurried and relaxed getaway from the city. No pollution, loud music, television and blasting car horns.
For aspiring bird photographers, the diversity of its fauna is amazing with many different birds challenging the power of one's lenses and stalking patience.
Despite being quite inferior still to the sands of Boracay, all of these with the warm smiles of it's local inhabitants, Malapascua brings the bar of tourism to a different level against the commercialism of Boracay.
