The symphony of whispering sea breeze, tidal thudding of
waves, and singing birds nesting within the confines of the Agoho forest was enough
to wake me from my slumber, remembering that I am in Jomalig Island. I would have also attested remembering a dream about that
folklore, that famed lovestory which gave this island its name, but I would be lying. I didn’t remember
what I was dreaming, or if I was dreaming at all. I didn’t even remember much
of the events the night before. The truth was, I woke up that Sunday morning
with a massive hangover.
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| Photo of Jerwin de Pedro. |
I opened my eyes and looked at the sky, realizing I’m not
inside my tent, and was lying in the sand with memories eluding me of how I
managed to sleep there. Later, my
friends would let me know that hours ago, at dawn, it rained quite heavily, but
I was the only one unable to wake up. My headache was so terrible, that even as
we boarded the vessel which would take us to Kanaway Islets, on the other side
of the island, I slept facedown on our small boat’s front end, exposed to
extreme heat – logic abandoned, resulting to my skin still peeling a week later
because of a severe sunburn. We left the expanse of Salibungot sandbar at
around 9am, with most of our things being guarded by local kids who volunteered
to watch over them.
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I submerged myself on water as soon as i woke up to wash my hangover away.
It didn't work... |
I knew on hindsight that Jomalig was a big island, but I
only fully grasped its enormity on that trip to Kanaway, which took us almost 2
hours to complete. The shore all through out was powdery white, glistening in
the mid morning sun, with an array of trees, transitioning from Agoho, to
Coconut as we got further and further away from Salibungot, only to be
interrupted by pockets of houses, that represent some of it’s sitios.
One of
the bangkero even suggested that we stop by at one of the baranggay, which was
celebrating it’s fiesta, and join their little festivities, which I surely
would have done if I were alone on this trip.
As we approached our
destination, an unavoidable comparison of the beach we left, and the one we
were staring at, was both striking and a welcome sight, making our trip
more stimulating.
Salibungot Beach, which bounces a rich golden spectrum
because of its color, is not an exaggeration made by tourists . It's not as
powdery as some of the more renowned beaches, but that also implies a still
vibrant marine life in its proximity, that sea shells are still constantly
being drifted to its shores.
These same shells, are also the reason for its
Golden Colour, eventually disintegrating into its sand, that stretches for a kilometer
or two, lined by an abundance of Agoho trees reminiscent of Anawangin and
Nagsasa coves (Zambales), and in its apex boasts a wide sandbar stretching
beyond comprehension.
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| Photo of Abbey. |
The beach was
intimidating in its length, and with our nearest neighboring tent a street
block away, we were practically isolated out there on our two night stay. The
nearest community is so far that when we forgot the Sawsawan for our grilled fish that one of the locals cooked for us, no one was willing to go back and retrieve it.
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| Photo of Abbey. |
If Salibungot is the island’s elegant sister in the family,
Kanaway islets on the opposite side, portrayed the rugged little brother,
disillusioned to conformity and symmetry, defined by his little hills and
countless rock gorges plunging from it’s surrounding waters.
These protrusions prevented the boat from docking directly on its shores, making a short excursion on a
waist-high water a mandatory requirement. With it’s rocky character, every turn
while roaming around the islets are worthy of immortalizing in film.
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| Photo of Abbey. |
If you’re
an adrenaline junkie, climbing one those hills would have surely satisfied your
cravings, and gave you a better pedestal to be astonished by the clear waters governing
for miles, slapping on the edges of the island’s formations and rocky terrain.
With its waters shallow, it was more ideal for swimming than Salibungot, except
for the horde of sea urchins seemingly waiting for careless feet to stomp on
them.
Having failed to spot snorkeling sites, we decided to head
back to Salibungot after our lunch to just relax and watch its famous sunset
we unfortunately missed the day before, as an outcome of that
excruciating long boat ride. While some of our group decided to stay
on our tent to grab a few hours of sleep, most of us made a detour to the
nearest community hoping to snag fresh sea foods from local fishermen. But out
prayer to dine on lobster that evening was not granted, for the remaining ones
they caught that morning was just sent to the Poblacion a few moments before we
arrived. Nevertheless, we were able to buy a 5-kilo Blue Fin, half of which
went to be grilled, while the other half was served as Sinigang.
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| The 5-Kilo Blue Fin we bought for 400Php only!!! |
As the locals started building fire for our dinner, I returned
to the store I was just at last night, where I left one of my Phone,
intentionally, to recharge it’s battery. It might sound ridiculous to leave
your phone with such carelessness, but unlike in the city, where almost
every stranger can be a Mangagantso,
decent folks still populate most of the outskirts.
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The local kids who guarded our tents.
Photo of Jerwin de Pedro. |
Abbey and Josh joined me, and we bought a liter of Beer,
poured on a pitcher of ice, while Manang, the store’s owner shared stories of
other tourists who visits them. It’s also worth noting that the prices of goods
here are not as high as one might think for an island who imports them 5 hours
away. The sofdrinks are even cheaper here than in some stores in manila. I just
hope that the influx of tourists here, as it will surely soar on the coming
years, would not alienate these good natured Jomaligins, like what I’m seeing
in some places like Zambales, and Batad, where prices are doubled.
Driven more by practicality rather than a lust for physical
strain, we opted to walk all the way back to our campsite in Salibungot, as the milieu of
colors flooding the horizon caused by the impeding sunset, highlighted an
already glowing shoreline.
And as if the superlatives of how massive Salibungot
bay wasn’t enough already, the converging tourist population funneled on its
sandbar to witness its fabled sunset never gave a hint of over crowding. There
was just plenty of room for everyone.
As night fell, and our bellies were brimming of the
Sawsawan-Less dinner that were brought by the kids from the village, we once
again resumed a night of debauchery but this time being cautious of our
guzzling of alcohol having been reminded of the perils of a hangover. While some
of us succumbed to the comfort of their sleeping bags early, most of us
remained for a while, lying on the beach outside our tents, passing beer and
stories around. On my part, I made every effort to remain awake, marveling at
the moonlit scenes, knowing that I will wake up tomorrow with an overwhelming
reluctance to leave.
