Mangroves at Sutukil/OWT and WWW

I was in Cebu last week and when in Mactan Island and craving for some fresh seafood, we usually go to Sutukil.  Sutukil is a wet market and restaurant row---we shopped at the wet market first then have the seafood cooked at the restaurant for a fee, of course.  Because most of the customers here are tourists, the prices are more expensive compared to other seafood restaurants in Cebu.

Sutukil is a few meters away from the Lapu-Lapu Shrine, overlooking a mangrove forest; about half a kilometer away from Mactan Shangri-la Hotel.

The mangrove forest at Sutukil looks healthier now than the last time I was here.  I'm glad they cleaned up and installed bamboo fences to protect the mangrove area from garbage coming from the coast.

Mangroves provide nursery grounds for fish and other marine life; food source and shelter for other animals, from crocodiles to snakes, monkeys to bats.  They're brilliant adapters--each mangrove has an ultra-filtration system to keep much of the salt out and a complex root system that allows it to survive in the intertidal zone.  Mangroves are also land-builders...their interlocking roots stop river-borne sediments from coursing out to sea, their trunks and branches serve as a palisade that diminishes the erosive power of waves.  Source: NGM

Sutukil is an acronym for 3 methods of cooking popular in Cebu---Sugba (grill), Tola, Tinola (soup) and Kilaw, Kinilaw (ceviche).

At the intersection of land and sea, mangrove forests support a wealth of life, from starfish to people, and may be more important to the health of the planet than we ever realized. 

~ Kennedy Warne, Forests of the Tide

 

Linking to: 

 Our World Tuesday

Watery World Wednesday

NF Waters

Blues...Across the Universe

Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup,
They slither wildly as they slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my open mind,
Possessing and caressing me.
Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes,
They call me on and on across the universe,
Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box
They tumble blindly as they make their way
Across the universe
Sounds of laughter shades of love are
Ringing through my open ears inciting and inviting me
Limitless undying love which shines around me like a
Million suns, and calls me on and on
Across the universe...

~ John Lennon

 

Join us @ Our World Tuesday
 Water World-Wednesday

NF Waters

Nature heals/Water World & NF Waters

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.  There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature---the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter. ~ Rachel Carson

Linking to Water World-Wednesday and NF Waters

Persistence/Water World Wednesday

People are always blaming their circumstance for what they are.  I don't believe in circumstance.  The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them.  ~ G.B. Shaw

Mangroves in Atwayan Beach, Coron Island

Linking to Water World Wednesday and NF Waters

Be gentle with yourself/Watery World-Wednesday

 Speak quietly to yourself and promise there will be better days. Whisper gently to yourself and provide assurance that you really are extending your best effort.  Console your bruised and tender spirit with reminders of many other successes.  Offer comfort in practical and tangible ways--as if you were encouraging your dearest friend.  Recognize that on certain days the greatest grace is that the day is over and you get to close your eyes.  Tomorrow comes more brightly...

~ Mary Ann Radmacher

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Driftwood/Water World - Wednesday

Humility is the only true wisdom by which we prepare our minds for all the possible changes of  life. ~  George Arliss

Linking to Watery World-Wednesday and NF Waters

Bare tree/Watery World Wednesday & NF Waters

like an old woman's boney fingers

the tree's bare branches stretch out

in gnarled twists

swollen and knotty with time...

~ by Hank Kalet

Linking to Watery World Wednesday and NF Waters

Ambition/Watery World-Wednesday

We pay the price for everything we get or take in this world; and although ambitions are well worth having, they are not to be cheaply won, but exact their dues of work and self-denial, anxiety and discouragement. ~ Lucy Maud Montgomery

Linking to Watery World Wednesday

and NF Waters

Distance/Watery World-Wednesday

We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started. ~ Henry Ward Beecher

Linking to Watery World Wednesday and NF Waters

Calamianes: At day's end/Water World Wednesday

Going back to Busuanga Island after a day of island hopping and snorkeling.  We were tired but happy, and looking forward to another exciting day. 

Linking to Kim's  Water World - Wednesday

and NF Waters

Journey/Watery World-Wednesday

Like you, they are headed to the same place and no matter what they may appear like to you, they have taken the perfect form for their journey.  How strong our relationships would be if we could see and respect that we are all perfectly imperfect for our journey.

Linking to Kim's Watery World-Wednesday
 and NF Waters

Contentment/Water World-Wednesday & NF Waters

Contentment is a pearl of great price, and whoever procures it at the expense of ten thousand desires makes a wise and a happy purchase. ~ John Balguy

A pearl farm near Dynamite Point in the Calamianes

Get your eyes wet over at Watery World - Wednesday

and NF Waters

Culion Island [Our World-Tuesday]

Culion Island was not a part of our itinerary but I asked our guide to arrange a visit to this island.   My mother told me that her father who died during WW II, taught English in this remote, sleepy seaside town in the 1920's.  We chartered a banca and started early on our hour and a half journey to Culion.   

Culion is one of the bigger islands in the Calamianes group--it's a historic island where the Spanish built strategic fortifications to protect the island from Moro raiders.  It is also a place wrought in pain and despair. This island once housed the world's largest leper colony established by the Americans in 1901.

Agila View Deck - approaching the island, we were greeted by a huge image of an eagle set in stone at the top of the mountain.  I later learned that it is a testament to the resilience and gratitude of the island's patients, who made the giant replica of the Philippine Health Service seal in 1929.  There is also a Christ the Redeemer statue near the seal.

Culion was called an "island of no return", and home to thousands of Filipinos segregated and isolated in one of the country's most remote islands due to leprosy.  Leprosy has affected humanity for over 4,000 years, and was once believed to be highly contagious.  It is primarily characterized by skin lesions; left untreated, it can be progressive, causing permanent damage to the skin, nerves, limbs and eyes.  An effective treatment for leprosy was finally introduced in the early 1980's.  Now, Culion is leprosy-free.

Aside from its poignant past, Culion Island has an unassuming beauty.  It is blessed with warm, gentle people, pristine marine treasures, a beautiful church, a fascinating museum and captivating scenery.


The red-roofed church is one of the island's attractions.  

We docked near this house and walked the streets of Culion.  We would soon discover how the original settlers overcame their darkest years and built the foundation of this community.  

To reach Culion island, you can charter an outrigger boat at Coron harbor.  Average boat rental is P2,500 (about $60.00) for 6-8 persons; P1,500 (about $35.00) to 2-4 persons (smaller boat).  There are commuter boats available from 12 noon to 2 pm at P180 (about $5.00) per person.  There is also a passenger ship from Manila that docks in Culion Island once a week.

Share your world at Our World - Tuesday and NF Waters

Coron Island: At the Twin Lagoon

It was around 2 pm when we reached the Twin Lagoon in Coron Island.  The lagoons are enclosed by giant walls of craggy rock formations of the Calis mountain.  This place made me feel like I was in a parallel universe.   The air of serenity that envelopes this place soothes the senses.

These photos were all taken at the outer lagoon where the boats were docked.  The two lagoons are separated by a wall of rock.   To see the inner lagoon, one has to pass through a narrow opening by swimming or floating.  The outriggers are too big for the entrance---and since I am not a good swimmer (and a bit claustrophobic), I opted to stay in our boat.

My sister and the rest of the boys tried to convince me to go with them, assured me the life-vest would keep me afloat but I wasn't persuaded (I must be really getting old!).  My sister reported later than a small banca was able to enter the entrance---had I known, I should have joined them.  But according to our boatman, even small bancas wouldn't fit into the entrance during high tide.  Nobody mentioned a raft.

This is how the entrance looks like.

Borrowed this photo from Christian's Lakad Pilipinas

I learned later than one of the boys was also spooked and didn't go into the lagoon.  My sister told me that the water in the inner lagoon was strange---both warm and cold, crystal clear on some parts, murky on the other.  The lagoon has brackish water, it's probably the reason of the changing temperatures.

The wooden footbridge alongside the limestone walls serves as pier for boats and people who want to swim into the inner lagoon.  Snorkeling and kayaking are allowed inside the lagoon.

I spent my time taking photos, staring at the limestone cliffs, looking out for birds, particularly balinsasayaw and just taking in the splendor of this place.  

Twin Lagoon, Coron Island

Calamian group of Islands 

Palawan, Philippines

My contribution to:

Blue Monday

NF Waters
Our World-Tuesday