Categories
Cagayan Islands and Beaches

Return to Palaui Island in Santa Ana Cagayan Valley

It took more than a decade but I finally found my way back to the northwestern tip of Cagayan Valley. So much has happened the last decade or so in Palaui island. Admittedly, it’s the biggest tourist draw in Santa Ana, Cagayan. It has hosted 2 seasons of America’s Survivor series back in 2013. There are other Survivors from other countries that followed. But the most significant development for me is the designation of the island as a “National Park” due to the Expanded National Integrated Protected Area System (ENIPAS) act signed by President Duterte in June 22, 2018.

Categories
Misamis Occidental Photo Prints

Nikon Shot | Lighthouse Family

Cotta Fort Lighthouse
Cotta Fort Lighthouse

Lighthouses are not just stone, brick, metal, and glass. There’s a human story at every lighthouse; that’s the story I want to tell.

~ Elinor Dewire

For this week’s Nikon Shot, here’s a very recent photo (taken yesterday) at the Cotta Fort Lighthouse in Ozamiz City. It’s my first time in this city and province. It was great experience as I had the opportunity to share my blogging expertise to the students here through La Salle University’s “9th Culinary Congress: Promoting Food Tourism through Social Media”. I was there to represent my other blog Happyfoodies.com. After the talk, we walked down the street of Ozamiz towards the Cotta Fort. We had a lovely light that afternoon that I had to take a photo of my companions along with that lighthouse atop the fort. I called this photo “Lighthouse Family”

Categories
Backpack Photography Batanes Batanes Philippines Travel

Batanes: Postcards from Batan Island

The moody morning landscape at Diura
The moody morning landscape at Diura

No doubt the most visited island in Batanes is Batan Island, the landing point for any plane coming in this northernmost region in the country. The provincial capital, Basco is also located in the island making it as a starting point for exploration. I have written extensively about the places in Batan Island already so I won’t be repeating much aside from some updates and new site takes from our recent Backpack Photography 3-Island Hop in Batanes. But don’t get me wrong, even if I’ve been here several times already, the views still never fails to amaze me.

Categories
Cagayan Cagayan Philippines Travel

Cagayan: On Rough Seas to Palaui Island and Cape Engaño Lighthouse

Cape Engano Bush View
Cape Engano Bush View

I’ve been looking at the stark gray sky repeatedly while hoping that it would clear up or much less, let the rains abate. It’s been at least an hour since our original call time. We’ve eaten our packed breakfast and spent time idle with Sun City‘s speedy internet connection. We could have slept over these wasted time but we were all raring to go to Palaui Island. It will be my first time to set foot on this island at the northeast tip of mainland Luzon and I won’t let this rain dampen my excitement.

Categories
Macau Macau Sponsored Travel

Macau: The Guia Fortress and the Grand Prix Museum

Guia Fortress
Macau's Guia Fortress Chapel and Lighthouse

From our Red Market walk with Antonio Coelho, our coach drove to the eastern side of Macau Peninsula for Guia Hill, whose peak is the highest point in Macau. It was a short drive but we had to leave our coach and take a cable car up the hill. From the hill we still had a few minutes light hike. It was midday but the overcast sky was our friend. We passed by a few joggers and people doing some martial arts sparring along the way before we reached the foot of the Guia Fortress, one of the 25 UNESCO sites under Macau’s Historic Center.

Categories
Batanes Batanes Events Philippines Projects Travel

Batanes: Backpack Photography Workshop June 2010 Day 3

Mahatao Lighthouse Group Hug
Mahatao Lighthouse Group Hug

Ever since the workshop started we’ve been waking up earlier than the sun. We were joking most of the time that we’ve managed to accomplish a lot before 9am (when one of the participant’s alarm would start ringing) than on a usual day. Even on the last day of our workshop, we had to wake up a tad earlier. We noticed that the days are longer here in Batanes, by 5am we could already see the sky light up. So by 4:40am, our jeep was already rolling towards Valugan Bay.

Categories
Batanes Travel

Batanes in Mono: My favorite walking spots from Basco

Batanes Mono: Basco Lighthouse and Cliffs

Basco Lighthouse, Cliffs and Sea

Aside from finding the range of accommodations in Basco and also discovering places to eat, I spent a lot of my time in Batan Island just chilling out and wandering around. It was after a 4 day of assignment so I didn’t really want to pressure myself to produce as many photos as I needed. I decided to be experimental this time and set my camera to monotone mode and capture Batanes in monochrome hues. At different times of the day, I go to these places walking distances from Basco center and just sit there for at least an hour and just be amazed at this wondrous creation.

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