Sunday, May 31, 2015

El Nido - Part 3: More Awesome Islands

My El Nido posts are divided into 4 parts. I just stopped in 4, although there are still so many pictures to show. I am sure you will also enjoy this part, just like your appreciation for the first two. The part 4 will be to a different island but instead of the usual beaches, snorkelling or swimming it was going ito a cave, so watch for it.

Part 1-El Nido Dream Fulfilled
Part 2
Part 4

The last picture i left for Part 2 was going to the outside gate from the Big Lagoon. And below is that gate, showing the narrow and shallow passage out. Some islands are also visible from this point.

 You will notice the differential color of the water, the deeper blue indicates the greater depth than the turquoise colored portions.

These bonsai-like plants on top of the cliffs are already old, trying hard to grow their roots on crevices to reach little soil particles and some nutrients for sustenance. The term persistence could have been created for this type of lives.


The boat at the right is ours, a typical outrigger

 And from the Big Lagoon we went to the last island of our island hopping trip, the Siete Comandos Island. A legend says it is named from 7 soldiers who were stranded in this island, and another says it is the name of a boat that got stranded in this island for 3 months till their boat got repaired. Whatever the truth is, this island got the widest sandy shoreline. A lot of snorkellers and swimmers come here to enjoy. It also has a store that sells food, drinks and snacks. At night there is also a pub or bar that caters to the tourists. There are also nipa huts that can be hired for shade and table for eating.

The fine sand make this wide shore. Lots of tourists come here to swim. With that very beautiful background of several lovely islands and this very fine sand, it is like paradise.

 Look at the boats that come to and from the Siete Comandos to bring tourists. There is sometimes traffic on the small landing side.

View to the right from the 7 Comandos are these islands, they are a bit far but have lovely characters of their own and beautiful.

From here we left directly to our hotel in town, which is actually just near.


map of the El Nido Island HoppingTour





Thursday, May 21, 2015

El Nido: Part 2

I am very sorry for not having posted soonest. I forgot i promised i will be posting the succeeding episode for El Nido. I have been working, working while travelling, travelling and working, only travelling, absent from work and...overstressed from them all. Now i am back, posting hopefully a lot for my two blogposts.

Now here comes the promised continuation. We booked for Tour B and C, which has the maybe more difficult passages and has about 5-6 islands. However, sometimes there are unforeseen circumstances like big waves so we forego some and got some near ones included in Tour A. We didn't bother to be fixed, as long as we are going to islands.

This is smaller than our boat, however excitement didn't remind me to take a photo of our own boat! That can be understandable and forgiven, huh!

 Will anybody not get excited with these horizons, seemingly so near yet in reality is a little bit far. Waters seem to be very friendly, yet in some straights and passages there are also big waves. Colors of the waters signify their depths. The turqoise-looking one at the middle means there is a sandbar almost near the surface, and the sudden deep blue adjacent to it means there is a sudden deep plunge. That can be dangerous for snorkellers, as there might be fast currents on those areas.

The cliffs on this island are so vertical and high. The birds or swallows reside on those cliffs and make nests on the limestone holes. The nests are gathered to make the birds' nest soup! Have you tasted that soup? Gatherers risk their lives climbing those cliffs for the much sought birds nest, much appropriately called Nido Soup. Ah that can probably give them the Intellectual Property Rights for Geographic Indication. I should maybe ask the IPO if that is possible. 

Islands have their individual characteristics. This island has a wider beach to explore, so we also did the almost mandatory jumpshot. I can still jump, can't you see. I am the one with the hat and the lifevest. Only one guy was with us. Who says weight prevents anyone from doing the jumpshot! 


 Above is not an island included in the tour, as there will be no shallow waters to move the boat in. It looks harsh to people but it is a very beautiful sight while onboard. Nobody talks, just "wow", "ohhh", "ganda"-Tagalog word for beautiful or spectacular!

 This island is very easy to remember, the Snake Island, because of the circuitous shape of that sandbar connecting two islands. During low tide it serves as a bridge for people and animals to transfer to the island we are now on. In fact there is a dog that comes here during low tide to eat the food given by tourists, and then return to its owner in that big island at low tide. What a very resourceful dog. There are residents and houses in that island beyond the sandbar.

 This is another view at the top of the look-out at the Snake Island.

In one of the islands we did this also almost mandatory swimming and snorkelling. There are corals and fishes that we found below which are also interesting. 

This is not an island but like a passage or a long cove with tall ranges of mountains on both sides. This is called the Big Lagoon, an almost mandatory place to visit in El Nido. There was also a Small Lagoon on the way to this, but we opted not to go there because of the big waves on the way in.

This Big Lagoon looks mysterious at the entrance. It also reminds me of my just recent experience to the Milford Sound Cruise in Queenstown, New Zealand. It is just that travelling this one is narrow and short compared to Milford Sound. The greenish-blue or turquoise water reveals it is not very deep.  All of us kept on clicking our cameras, cell phones, and whatever we have. It is a different world, one word that describes it is "awesome".

The cliffs here, like in Milford Sound, have distinct characteristics from the one beside it. One  is barren showing the limestone cliffs, as above, while the next cliff (below) has more dense vegetation.


 Above is already on the way out, look at the small shallow passage. This time everybody starts talking because we are already on the way home.

This is our group minus the 5 including me, who are at my back taking photos. 

This time i will be promising again for the next post. I hope you will not be waiting that long as the first one. Enjoy your travels too! 



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