Our Little Corner

The map of the Philippines above left has a small red dot on it, enlarged at the right. The red dot is Mabini, Batangas, my hometown in Southern Luzon. It is like a tongue, almost a peninsula surrounded by water. And that is my little corner of the world, where I get most of the tropical garden photos posted in my posts. I have also written in my previous posts that our area is facing east, overlooking the Batangas Bay. It is reached from Metro Manila in 3-4 hours depending on circumstances, meaning 3h by private car and 4h by public transports. 


Decades before, travels allowed commuters the full view of an extended shoreline, but developments deprived that privilege these days. So whenever i had a few days to spare, it is always a treat to go to the shore or to the mountain, a few beach scenes i will post here. 

 Above is a typical calm day 

Different types of shorelines are found in this east side. Some coves are rockies, others have boulders, and most are stones like the above. 

very clear waters on calm days

 These waters provided local residents with food and some livelihood. During low tides on calm days, the water allows gleaming of shells and fishing. 

Colored rocks and stones are very obvious characteristics of these shores. It is apparent that parent materials are rich in minerals rich in iron or sulfur that gives the rusty, red, yellow, orange colors, depending on the concentration on the rocks. Other minerals are surely present on these rocks, however i don't know any research done yet on our areas. Samples of these rocks are shown below.

Bottom right corner of the above photo also shows a rock which depicts volcanic eruption in the past. Some natural stones were embedded in the molten lava and now eroded again by other natural conditions. A rock composed of other rocks is called composite rock (LOL).

boulders from the red rockwall

The above spot is called Pulang Bato (local term) in Malimatoc I, Mabini, Batangas or Red Rocks from the color of the rock wall above it. Just 30ft below this spot is the home of the endangered and rare golden scorpion fish (Rhinopias frondosa). Many scuba divers visiting Anilao, at the west side of the peninsula, come to this spot for the elusive golden scorpion fish, which is known to be nesting there. Red Rocks is also considered nudibranchs hotspot. For a more thorough discussion and photos of scorpionfish and nudibranchs in this area please visit the post by Jayvee Hernandez. 

 The mineral deposits in the rocks also make the waters of the same color, especially after a heavy rain. It might look muddy, but it actually is imparted by the dissolved minerals and elements in the water. Batangas International Port is at the other side of the bay at the horizon.

Sometimes, big waves also visit this shore, but i haven't done any photo shoot yet during typhoons. Mild waves like the above are typical during regular days.

Colored stones very visible in the above photo