Matnog Island Tour
HOORAY we now start our second day in Sorsogon!
Our second day involved A LOT of swimming in contrast to our first day where we were moving around non-stop.
Today, we shall C H I L L
Donsol Eco Tour provided us with a private van who picked us up at Balay Buhay at 7am, just as we came back from our sunrise kayaking in Bulusan Lake. From there, we travelled for 40 minutes going to Matnog (with the driver's complete playlist of Air Supply which we took advantage of and turned the whole ride into a soppy karaoke session).
At some point, you would see a long line of trucks still bound for Samar and Tacloban where they're still sending relief goods. Upon arriving Matnog (and spread around Masbate as well), you will see some buildings donated by the ABS-CBN foundation like elementary schools and barangay centers. We have also come to learn that the tour guides in Matnog were also trained by the ABS-CBN foundation. I felt like I need to include this bit because it feels good to see that someone's actually doing something, something that doesn't look like charity but genuine help that people in that area recognize and owe their livelihood to.
Upon arriving Matnog, we registered at their local government tourism office where we also met our tour guide. This is actually the reason why it's better to book a package tour way beforehand so you could avoid the hassle of arrangements and maybe ask your tour guide arrange it for you in advance.
Once we were registered, our driver parked the van near the jumpoff point where he would wait for us to come back later that afternoon. We hopped onto a boat Donsol Eco Tour arranged for us by the request to give us the boat that doesn't make much noise, plus it's a lot faster compared to other boats! (Do try to give the same request as well)
We rode the boat for about 20 minutes to the scenery of a lot of mountains, palm trees, and the bluest and clearest water I have ever seen. Mind you, the blue+clear combo aren't separate entities. There are bodies of water that look really black when you go far enough (reminiscent of the time I rode the Fly Fish in Boracay) but in Matnog, it remains to be this clear kind of blue all the way and that's probably my favorite thing about Matnog.
The first island we hopped onto is Tikling Island with water so clear we took a gazillion underwater photos.
And this is how the beach looks like, it's very basic actually so it really is just meant for swimming. I actually wonder if the absence of corals were caused by dynamite fishing that plagued Sorsogon for years when there weren't government assigned marshalls roving the open seas.
Oh, and we met a baby wild boar! His fur felt like human hair, so soft, so freaky.
We didn't stay on the island for long 'cause the waves were getting stronger so we needed to get to the next destination.
I dare say, it'll be really hard to separate the sky from the sea here. Ladies and gentlelads, I give you Subic Beach.
Subic Beach served as a kind of rest stop for us where we ate our packed brunch at a cottage and you could purchase fresh squids they're selling and make paluto. You could also rent a karaoke machine (I think they only have one) for P100 an hour if you love singing in public places (I swear every cottage can hear AND see you).
At 12:30pm, we went to our next destination. The next one is what we really booked our tour for, and it was magical.
But as is any kind of entrance to magic kingdoms, you need to pass through a travailous (is this even a word?) course.
Upon entering the cave, you need to swim and cling onto the rope tightly because of the strong waves. Stay away from the rocks 'cause the waves could smack you there.
Here is a really cool bottom view (literally; bottom not mine hehehe) as we were entering the cave.
And then, once you get through the cave, you see this.
These photos totally underrate the beauty of this cave and how otherworldly the experience is.
Plus, I didn't call this cave magical kingdom for nothing. See all those smooth rocks that come in all shapes and sizes? They say you stack 'em up like blocks and make a wish. And there are a lot of cool creative "rock statues" living there now (go on, scroll down!)
.. Like this one! My guess is, whoever built this wished to spend their whole lives together. Or maybe they really just have an eye for creative rocks.
Shanen went for an all-white theme, a rock for each of her loved one. The last rock though, won't stay on top. Hehehehehe.
As for me and my good friend Vien who helped me find good looking rocks, which I forgot to wish on by the way, we went for a story. I was actually going for a kind of Berlin Art Parasites kind of drama. So here's how my drama goes:
The girl (white rocks) falls in love with a guy (black rocks). As in all kinds of love, the girl becomes more than who she is (hence the single black rock). It makes her feel good and it makes her run away. She becomes both more and less. More of brave, less of vulnerable. More guarded, less trusting. More of everything, less of nothing.
And then, because of this probably sad and probably happy story, I went all Godzilla on it.
Kidding.
Finally, we arrive at our last stop fro the day. A beach trip would not be complete without interaction with the fishies so we went to Juag Marine Sanctuary where you could feed all kinds of fish you could find. You will actually be able to find Mameng there who's a really large endangered fish.
The entrance to the marine sanctuary is free because it just started out as a hobby slash advocacy of the owner then the local government took notice of its tourism potential so they included it in their list of tourist spots.
If you do decide to go to Juag Marine Sanctuary, the tour guide told us that they actually let you swim and interact with the fish if there are only a few tourists so as to not disturb the fishes too much. Also, do not put on sunblock just in case there are a few tourists and they let you swim because sunblock actually poisons the poor fishies.
And that wraps it up for our Matnog Island tour, everything arranged by Donsol Eco Tour (http://www.donsolecotour.com/) from the private transfers to our transfer to Ticao Island Resort where we would be spending two beautiful nights there. Read about it in my next blog entry!