Tag Archives: Palawan

Exploring the Sulu Sea: One for the Bucket List

19 Thursday May 2011

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MBCA Isla Hinugtan

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

                                                                                                                                           – Mark Twain

Taking a break from the island farming and organic stuff, I recently joined an adventure trip organized by one of my closest friends to explore this remote part of the Philippines called the Sulu Sea. My Italian friend, who has lived in Boracay for 30 years, is a passionate sailor and explorer. We were sailing buddies from my Boracay days and shared this passion for the sea, among other things in life. On a recent visit to our farm in Negros, we “talked” about a possible trip on his boat for a “few” days, while looking at maps of this place on the internet. We were set to explore the Cuyo Islands, a cluster of around 42 isles with rich marine life, beautiful beaches and quite a bit of history. Ironically, I have been going to North Cuyo for years now tending to a farm in an isolated white sand gem of an island called Pamalican, otherwise known around the world as Amanpulo. Naturally, I always flew to this island from Manila as it was the only way to get there. Or so I thought.

Sunset in Hinugtan

I had never been out at sea for over a day and had never lived on a small boat before, although I was never short of invites. When I lived in Boracay, I was working a  project and could not spare the 4 days one would need for a dive safari. This trip was to be one for the bucket list. Something I’ve always wanted to do but never did before. It turned out to be an awesome five-day experience, something we will still be talking about for years to come.

Day 1

Hinugtan Beach

I reported to our breakfast assembly promptly at 8am, still dazed from the previous night’s party with some island friends for my birthday. I had spent my birthday travelling 9 hours to Boracay from Bacolod to make this trip and it was great to end it with an unplanned gathering of my island family. Our first day turned out to be the shortest boat ride we were to do for the whole trip. We ended up in Hinugtan Beach, my friend’s private beach 45 minutes by boat from Boracay, the boat needed some last minute repairs so we had to stay the night. I was not going to complain, It was a great day  to catch up on my sleep which was the first thing I did when we got there. It was also nice to see the new structures they have built. It is now open for day trips to tourists from the island. And we had this place to ourselves for a whole day, preparing for the long trip early next day. A farmer, a painter, a restaurateur/sailor, an engineer, a mechanic, a cook, a captain and 2 boat helpers. We had an excellent mix of people for this one.

First Class Section

Day 2

Hitting the sea at the break of dawn, we rode the North East winds straight into the direction of Cuyo Island. This was an island I had heard much of, and what I heard was that there was nothing there but good cashew nuts and the best windsurfing spots this side of paradise. What I knew was that it was 12 hours by boat from the nearest port and that didn’t encourage me at all. Not until this trip, at least. It was a 9 hour boat trip that day which brought us to a small island called Cocoro just northeast of Cuyo Island. There were 2 fishing boats and 3 houses with little kids running around the

sunset in Cocoro Island

beach. We decided to dock in this seemingly quiet island for the night, checked out the isolated beach and the curious lava rocks on the farthest end. As the sun set, we started seeing bright lights around the horizon. Fishing boats with nets attracting schools of fish on a moonless night. Then there were fishing boats coming in and out of the area all night, with blinking red and green lights. Think rave party without music and just engines pumping. The highlight of the day was Paolo seeing whale sharks out in the open sea, when i was dozing off at first class.

Cocoro Island, Palawan

Day 3

The plan of the trip was really to trip on the plan. By then, I had realized this was a trip of pure serendipity. We were guided by Google Earth, Windfinder, GPS and nautical maps but the sun really determined our course. We had decided we would not travel at night so at 2 hours to sunset, we

Cuyo Island, Palawan

would search for an island to drop anchor and explore the place, then stay the night. The plan for this day was to go to a beach resort in a place called Quijano in Cuyo Island. As we neared the island , however, we discovered why there was good windsurfing here and naturally, no place to dock. We detoured and went to the town of Cuyo for provisions, gas and water. At this point the plan had changed in the middle of the sea already. Over dinner, my friend Paolo tells me he’s read on the internet about another island called Manamoc in North Cuyo, about 5 hours from the town. He says it was written in this article that this was one of the most beautiful islands in that side of this area. I said I had been to Manamoc a number of times already, it was the island next to Amanpulo. As a consultant for Amanpulo, I worked on their solid waste management system  and did a  seminar in Manamoc once. In fact, I knew most of the people in Manamoc as most of them worked in Amanpulo. I was also familiar with these islands, called the Quiniluban Group, as we had done some environmental impact assessments on some of these neighboring islands. I told him of this huge stretch of white beach in Manamoc where I had been, we were headed there in no time.

Fort Cuyo

Cuyo is a such an interesting island itself. With just about over 20,000 people, it is one of the oldest, most remote and unexploited islands in the country. Home to a fort, which shelters a church and a convent in its high stone walls, constructed during the Spanish period to protect its population from Moro pirates, Cuyo has one of the most ancient forts in the Philippines. Fort Cuyo was constructed and finished in 1680, to protect this town from Moro pirates. The original complex of stone and mortar was a square with four bastions. The present complex, which occupies 1 ha, is a solid rectangular edifice with walls 10 m high and 2 m thick. It has a tall belfry and watchtowers; its canons, which face the sea, are now fired only during town celebrations. It is considered as one of the most ancient and unique forts in the Philippines. Unique in the sense that you can find the church, the convent and the Perpetual Adoration chapel all within the fort. In 1762 one of the British ships that invaded Manila fired at the Cuyo fort but it was not damaged at all. Another fort was started at Lucbuan seven kilometres away on the east side of Cuyo island, but it was never finished. . More than that, the people are genuinely  warm and friendly. In 2005, I hired a woman from Cuyo as our assistant in a project I managed in Boracay. She was one of the most hard-working people I’ve worked with. She also happened to be the neighbor of the tricycle driver so I visited her house. I introduced myself to her mother as she was not around and got a whole sack of bananas and cassava from their own farm as a gift! The woman I hired now teaches at the local university and taking a master’s degree in education. I did see her again for a brief moment just before we departed, naturally catching her by surprise with my presence there.

Sunset in Agutaya Island

After fresh water showers, some good food and new provisions, we ended the day with sunset in Agutaya Island. another beach with a few people and no name.

Day 4

This was going to be an exciting day for everyone. We were headed for Manamoc Island, would do a short stop in Amanpulo and dock in neighbouring Tayay island for the night, just before the long haul back to Boracay. The Manamoc sand bar is indeed one of the most beautiful I have seen. Coming up at low tide, guests of Amanpulo would do picnics here for the afternoon, a speed boat taking them there and a beach umbrella set up together with mats and a picnic basket. We spent some hours exploring the empty stretch of white sand beach as one of our garden workers in Amanpulo, a fisherman on his day off, delivered 3 kilos of red snapper right where we were on the sandbank.

Manamoc Island sand bar

After the red snapper became lunch on board, we were off to Amanpulo. Perhaps one of the most exclusive resorts in the Philippines, they do not allow people to tour their property unless you were guests. By this whole stroke of serendipity, I was a “consultant” and knew the manager personally.

We were allowed to visit but with sunset closing in, soon had to leave for yet another island to dock for the night. You can read more about Amanpulo in other sections of this blog. Our day ended in a tiny  gap with a natural harbor  in between the islands of Concepcion and Tayay, a small uninhabited sandbank. Some fishermen friends contacted by the Amanpulo crew, guided us in and gladly bought some ice for us. You really don’t know how valuable that is until you’ve been out at sea for four days. We were even lucky enough, it was the town fiesta and music was pumping all night. Not that I even noticed after such a long day, but it was good to wake up at 5am  to the Black Eyed Peas’ “I’ve got a feeling….” before the long haul home.

Amanpulo

Day 5

Leaving little Tayay Island for the trip back to Boracay, this was supposed to be our last day at sea. We had the wind forecasted down for the day and the waves were supposed to be smaller. It became

Tayay Island

an 11 hour trip and we did not even reach Boracay! We were going against the wind and just could not go against nature. This time, we probably went for 6 hours with no sight of land. As what seemed to be a boring trip dragged on, we got the best treat of the journey. A family of over 30 dolphins swimming and playing with our boat for over 30 minutes. By now, I was imagining islands over the horizon and dreaming of cheeseburgers when I would doze off. We ended up in the island of Sibay, Antique at sunset to spend another night at sea. No cheeseburgers there at all. Thank God for pasta!

Day 6

The thrill of a voyage is just as intense at departure as it is upon arrival. Never have I been so happy to see Boracay again. Five and a half days at sea, 10 islands and hundreds of kilometers. One awesome voyage. A shower never felt so good in my whole life. One for the books. Check it on the bucket list.

As I parted with my friend Paolo, he gave me a good hug and bid me a safe trip home. I was off to Bacolod the next day and again scheduled for another trip 5 days later. Of all places, back to Amanpulo again to do some work. Sounds a little bit crazy but believe me, it is so much fun! I’ll even do it again!

“We shall not cease from exploration and the end of our exploring will be to arrive where we started….and know the place for the first time.”

                                                                                                              – T. S. Eliott

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Sangat Island : Jungle Farming in Coron

28 Friday Jan 2011

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Coron Bay

Up in Northern Palawan is the Calamianes Group of Islands – 3 large islands with hundreds of mostly uninhabited outlying islands. Busuanga is the main island where the airport is located and where you find the rapidly growing town of Coron. There is also the island of Culion, which had traditionally been the trading center of the area in the early years. This is where the National Leprosarium Colony is located and they continue to have the best available medical facilties to this day. Then there is Coron Island, another large limestone island with inland lagoons, deserted beaches and beautiful dive spots.This is all part of the last frontier of Philippine tourism, Palawan.

Coron Pier

Coron brings about images of white sand beaches, world-class diving and awesome limestone cliffs. In fact, it is far from that, much in the same way as Caticlan is to Boracay. It was a small fishing town until the backpackers and divers discovered it in the 80’s. It is also surrounded by other large islands that make a little bay where ships would hide in bad weather. It also has a small port where passenger ships would pass on the way to Puerto Princesa, unload cargo and the few tourists that chose the rough way down to these islands. The attraction of Coron was, and still is, its world class diving sites. It is also one of the world’s ten top dive sites, largely due to the wrecks left in the aftermath of the Japanese retreat in World War II. People from around the world come to dive the waters around the Calamianes, swearing by its excellent wrecks and impeccable biodiversity. It is poised to become a major tourist destination of the Philippines and making a name for itself in the tourist world map.

My first visit to Coron was a trip to Sangat Island Dive Resort ( www.sangat.ph ), one of the more

Sangat Island Dive Resort

popular dive resorts in that area. Interestingly, like most Filipinos, I had never heard of this island resort before. It was first mentioned to me by a friend who happened to know the owner.  Having made a few farms already, I was fairly known around certain circles as the island farmer. Could I

Sangat Island

possibly make an organic farm in this island of 700 hectares, made up of mostly of limestone with a few hectares of jungle scattered around it? It meant carving a farm out of some forested areas surrounded by mangroves, to which the only access was through the sea. This was, quite literally, island farming. We found a reliable water source about 4 months later, in a cliff about 200 meters above the farm which was surrounded by limestone cliffs everywhere. We were also carving our farm out of this little jungle by clearing foliage, cutting branches and cleaning the area. From these clearings we made our vegetable plots, using the fertile clayish soil of the island. The Nightcrawlers came soon after that and we also started making our own liquid  fertilizers from kitchen waste. In an island of dive enthusiasts, I stuck out as an object of curiousity.  I was gathering sea weeds on the beach and moving them towards the farm. I was chopping fruit scraps, fish guts and seaweed for fermentation into natural fertilizers. While most of these were by now second nature to me, everyone in the island kept asking me about this “thing” I was doing. This thing called island farming.

Vegetable Plots from Cleared Forest Area

Sangat Island is an ecotourism destination. Started in the mid 80’s by a British treasure diver that had decided to marry a local lass, this resort was the closest to most of the wrecks in Coron Bay. It was, surprisingly, quite popular with foreign divers. People from all over the world practically came to the Philippines to go to this island and dive the wrecks around it. It is very native setting one sees in Sangat, houses are made of bamboo and topped with nipa roofing. In the evening, the staff would put mosquito nets on the beds to protect their guests. Electric power was only available from six in the evening till seven in the morning. There were clean bathrooms, a huge ceiling fan over the beds and not much else. No music system, no television and no power in daytime. The resort did have an internet point, the clubhouse where people would converge to avail of the solar powered batteries that charged phones, laptops and cameras while the generator kept silent. The feel of Sangat Island is very family-oriented. Everyone ate at set times of the day, sharing a common family style buffet setting at every meal. The employees were very friendly and casual, it would make anybody feel at home.

composting with nightcrawler worms

Just half a year of work in the jungle, we’ve carved out a little farm for the resort, producing a good percentage of vegetables it consumes. We’re slowly moving towards lettuce and high-value crops. We’re also looking at catching rain water to sustain the farm. Our little worms are doing wonders, producing fertilizer for us. The kitchen waste is also fermented to liquid stuff we feed our plants. Slowly but surely, working for a sustainable environment in the island.

In mid-December 2010, I was on my way to Coron from Sangat Island on the early morning boat that

vegetable plots

would bring tourists to town, to be picked up by a van that would bring us to Busuanga airport and back to civilization. While clicking on my camera during the trip, I noticed a big box of vegetables riding with us and got a big surprise. In it were cucumbers and lots of okra. “Why are we bringing vegetables to town?”, I asked the boatmen. “We need to sell them sir, we have too much of these we can’t consume all of it anymore!” was the reply. I gave them a big smile while I wanted to give my back a little pat for a job well done. Jungle farming in an island has its own simple rewards.

Pamalican: Lessons in Island Farming

27 Monday Dec 2010

Posted by in Organic Farming

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Pamalican Island , photo credits to Amanpulo

Pamalican is a private island, set among the North Cuyo Islands, 360km south-west of Manila. Lying along the trading routes from Southern China to Borneo, the Sulu archipelago and the Spice Islands, the Cuyo Islands have been known to sailors and traders since pre-Spanish days.  Literally in the middle of nowhere, the people of these 40 islands live mostly by fishing and seaweed cultivation. The jewel of these islands is Pamalican Island. An island of of just over 60 hectares, it is surrounded by pristine white beaches and coral reefs.  Beyond are sandbanks and a channel where whales, dolphins  and sea cows have been glimpsed. On one end of the island, baby sharks would swim in knee deep water at sunset.  Here, on this little island paradise, is  a  resort quite famous around the world and simply as known as, Amanpulo.

windsurf hut

On this sunny day in July 2008, I was on a 19 seat Dornier 288 with s few tourists, loads of cargo and a few employees coming back from holiday. We were headed for Amanpulo and  I was coming on the personal invite of the General Manager who was looking for an organic farmer and had surprisingly found me through a friend who worked there. This was the trip of a lifetime. Amanpulo was arguably the most expensive island resort in the Philippines and was known to attract Hollywood celebrities and even royalty. And here I was, headed for this island as a guest. I felt like  I had won the lotto that day.

beach club

By then, I was already living in the farm and had a fair knowledge of the basics of organic farming.  Everything I knew was learned from first-hand experience in the farm. I knew nothing about farming in coastal areas, much more in a tropical island. It really did not matter now, I was on my way to Amanpulo and the mission was to explore the possibility of starting an organic farm. In a tropical island, in the middle of nowhere, in Palawan. I was both excited and nervous.

Amanpulo is, simply put, pure class. You take a private plane and land in the island’s private airport. Upon arrival, you are assigned your own golf cart for use during your stay. Guests are billeted in 40 private casitas scattered around the island, some of them with their own beach front area. There are 7 other private villas with its own pool and a beach front area. They have 4 restaurants, a gym, a spa, tennis courts, a library and all the water sports equipment you could want. Even a floating bar. At sunset, guests would rent the pontoon boat that was designed to accomodate a small cocktail party. It is also a nature reserve, where you would randomly see monitor lizards crossing the road and yellow-breasted orioles outside your window. Guests could request for private barbecue dinners on the beach front with their own private cook and waiter looking after their every need. The staff were all waving at you as you passed them and greeting you at every place you went. They were also required to know each of the guest’s names. It truly felt like the friendliest place on earth. This, I was later told, was the Aman experience.

amanpulo sunset

To my surprise, they had a little farm in the island. They grew a few vegetables, some herbs and ornamental plants. I was even more amazed to discover the island did not have any top soil. It was

amanpulo main beach

largely a huge sand bank and had only some wild growing plants around the island. They had started the garden from some clay soil that had been left from the construction of the resort many years ago. It was functional, but far from the guest attraction they wanted to create. We brought African Nightcrawler Worms to the island and started a vermicomposting facililty. We  shredded kitchen and garden waste to feed the worms. We gathered the waste sea weeds from the beach and used it as composting material. We rehabilitated the farm and created our own soil from compost, vermicompost and clay. A year later, we built greenhouses and started to grow salad greens.  We also started making our own liquid fertilizers from kitchen waste. I wasn’t long before we started to see surprising results. In a farm without top soil not even 100 meters from the beach, we were now growing lettuce and arugula. And we were doing it by recycling kitchen and garden waste through composting and fermentation. We now had a productive organic island farm.

amanpulo greenhouses

I’ve been consulting for Amanpulo  for almost three years now.  Today, our organic garden  produces vegetables and herbs for its various outlets. It has now become a guest attraction  as well, often featured by journalists writing about the island. The resort now offers a tour of  the organic farm as an option for children’s activities.  Guests are served freshly harvested salads from the garden at most of its outlets.

garden-to-plate salad

Manamoc High School students

The farm produces almost a ton of compost from its facilities each month and has become a self sustainable operation that supplies the main kitchen and its outlets with high-value vegetables,  as well as the employee dining facilities.  We have since expanded and still learning the intricacies of island farming as we move on. We now catch rain water and use it too maintain the garden.  In 2009, we started sharing this technology to high school students in the neighboring island of Manamoc. We brought a select group to Amanpulo for a day tour which included lectures, hands-on learning experiences and a some recreation time at the employee beach. They have since started their vermicomposting area and a small organic garden in their school premises.

organic arugula

In small and big ways, we strive to continue reducing the worldwide carbon footprint with each step we take.  We are also producing healthy food products for guests and even employees.  Amanpulo became the start of a new phase of my organic farming career. I have since built other farms in other places, still using the same things we did in Pamalican many years ago. I still visit Amanpulo,  it it is still a joy to come back to this first farm I had built. To see what has become of my earliest work. My earliest lessons, in the art and the science of island farming.

kitchen staff harvesting produce