You're an island/Watery World Wednesday

Your life is an island separated from all other islands and continents.  Regardless of how many boats you send to other shores or how many ships arrive upon your shores, you yourself are an island separated by its own pains, secluded in its happiness.  ~ Kahlil Gibran

Linking to Watery World Wednesday

Persistence/Watery World Wednesday

One of the rock islands in Panay Gulf off the coast of Sipalay.

 Formed by ancient coral reefs, parts of this rock formation have been slowly eroded over time into quirky shapes.  I imagined the mouth of a Jurassic fish.:p

"The drop excavates the stone, not with force but by falling often." ~ Publius Ovidius Naso

Linking to Watery World Wednesday

Island life/OWT and WWW

One of the 80 plus islands in the Calamian Islands, northen Palawan.

“It is true that I miss intelligent companionship, but there are so few with whom I can share the things that mean so much to me that I have learned to contain myself. It is enough that I am surrounded with beauty...”
― Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild 

Tangab or fish trap is a type of fishing done during calm seas, weak winds, and no-storm season. Fishermen work from dusk till dawn--they drop the tangab net at low tide and haul the nets up at high tide to harvest the catch. 

Linking to Our World Tuesday
 Water World Wednesday

Wordless/Water World Wednesday

 "What we've got here is a failure to communicate."

Linking to Water World Wednesday

Steep/Water World Wednesday

The greatest danger for most is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that our aim is too low and we reach it. ~ Michelangelo

A small uninhabited island in Cauayan, Negros Occidental, that locals call Pulo-Gamay (or small island).  It has precipices but has a few meters of white sanded beach on the other side.  A pity we weren't able to check out the beach---a lunch of grilled fish was waiting in the next island.:p

 Linking to Watery World-Wednesday

Follow your Bliss/Water World Wednesday

 This is your LIFE.
Do what you love and do it often.
If you don't like something, change it.
If you don't like your job, quit.
If you don't have enough time, stop watching TV.
If you are looking for the love of your life, STOP;
they will be waiting for you when you start doing things you LOVE.
Stop over-analyzing, all emotions are beautiful.
When you eat, appreciate every last bite.
LIFE is SIMPLE.
Open your mind, arms and heart to new things and people, we are united in our difference.
Ask the next person you see what their passion is,
and share your inspiring dream with them.
Travel often;
getting lost will help you find yourself.
Some opportunities only come only once, seize them.
Life is about the people you meet, and the things you create with them,
so go out and start creating.
LIFE is SHORT.
Live your dream and share your passion.

  

Linking to Water World Wednesday

Coron Island: Lush/Water World Wednesday

Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature  and you will find that, behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable,  Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend  is my religion.  To that extent I am, in point of fact, religious. ~ Albert Einstein

Coron Island, Calamianes, northen Palawan

Linking to Watery Wednesday and Water World Wednesday

Patrol Boat/Blue Monday

A patrol boat docked at Danjugan Island.  Danjugan Island is a marine reserve and wildlife sanctuary, a small jewel in the Sulu Sea.

Linking to Blue Monday

Drive-by in Calamianes/Watery Wednesday

Drive-by shots of limestone mountains and islands in Calamianes while were in an outrigger boat. Most of the islands are uninhibited, some are privately-owned.

Calamian Group of Islands, northern Palawan

Linking to Watery Wednesday

Calamianes: Green rolling hills

These are not flood-washed mountains.  Some of the  islands in the Calamianes are rich in a certain mineral that makes them ideal for grazing.  In Busuanga Island alone, more than 10,000 hectares are used as grazing by the Yulo King's Ranch. The coastline is protected by mangrove forests.  I also captured a small fishing village at the tip of the island.

I am sorry I have not been very active in leaving comments on your posts. I moved to a bigger apartment a few weeks ago, and my internet connection is still not stable.

Thank you for your visits and wishing you a hopeful and prosperous 2012!

Linking to Watery Wednesday

Calamianes: Pearl Farm [Watery Wednesday]

Somewhere between the islands of Busuanga and Culion, I noticed this floating hut near the shores of a deserted island.  I wondered why someone would like to stay in a floating hut in the middle of nowhere.  Then I saw lots and lots of floating black balls, so I asked our boatman about it.  He told us the area is a pearl farm.  The huts are for security personnel and they are armed with automatic weapons!

I have not seen a pearl farm before.  I knew about pearl farms in Mindanao but didn't know there are pearl farms in Palawan.  Turned out, pearl farming in the region began in the early 1900's.  The clean waters of Palawan have attracted investors to engage in pearl farming, particularly in the island municipalities.  A total of more than 44,000 hectares are under lease for pearl farming, and the lease period is generally 25 years.

Pearls are cultured by transplanting a tiny piece of mantle tissue of an oyster shell into the shell of a young oyster.  This graft forms a pearl sac and precipitate calcium carbonate into this pocket.  Over time, this grows into a pearl.  It takes 2-5 years for a pearl to mature. Source

The world's largest pearl, the 9.45-inch Pearl of Lao Tzu, was found by a diver in Palawan in 1934 and is now valued at US$42 million. Source

Get virtually wet @ Watery Wednesday

Calamianes: Cagbatan Island

Cagbatan Island in the Calamianes, also known as Coron Youth Club (CYC)---is a tiny uninhabited island ideal for swimming, snorkeling and camping.  Diving beginners also train here.

The optimist lives on the peninsula of infinite possibilities; the pessimist is stranded on the island of perpetual indecision. ~ William Arthur Ward

Linking to Watery Wednesday

Two [Photo Hunt]

Two islands at the background, two kids on the foreground and too many good memories of this place by the beach.  

It takes two to put this boat in the water.

And two makes a good team.


Taken in early March during a family vacation.

Join us at Photo Hunt

Emerald sky [Watery Wednesday]

My soul is full of longing

For the secret of the sea,

And the heart of the great ocean

Sends a thrilling pulse through me.

~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

One of the many islands we passed by on our way to Culion Island.

This post is linked to Watery Wednesday

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