Tag Archives: tropical

Philippines, Travelinds, Travelinds Destinations

The Brinze Kylene Expedition

9th May 2016 Heather

May 2016

An amazing end to life on some Philippine islands, our Brinze Kylene expedition took us from San Miguel, Linapacan and ended at Sibaltan on the Palawan mainland. Read about how we came to meet them here.

The Hosts

Our hosts Benji and Maileen were entertaining and hospitable, looking after us throughout our stay in Linapacan, as well as on the island hopping tour. Their service was phenomenal and so much fun. Their crew, Midel and Guerrero, seemed to have limitless energy and kept the boat running smoothly through the whole trip. They cooked for us, put up and took down our tent, found us the most exquisite coral reefs along the way and entertained us each night around an impressively large bonfire.

The Boat

Since we spent most of our time on the boat, it serves that it was rather comfortable and well-equipped for such a simple carrier. Described as a catamaran-style with balancing beams on each side, it had benches, a small cabin, a tarpaulin covering, a ladder to get out of the ocean and a small boxed-in toilet and wash area. Downright luxurious in terms of the local fishing boats!

The Food

Every day in the Philippines is another chance for fish and rice. Different fish, mind you, but fish all the same and rice to fill in the gaps. We loved the fresh seafood and feasted on lapulapu, barracuda, squid, white fish and tuna – all barbecued over a fire and served with a decent portion of sticky white rice. Every now and again we ate the precious commodities called vegetables (cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers) and this was a real treat for the locals and for us as availability is scarce.

13230172_10154430943261992_8846434460380865170_n — The three kilogram barracuda we bought from another fisherman.

13239469_10154430943306992_2662602046951273251_n — A peacock mantis shrimp that we caught and ate!

And Most Importantly, The Islands

The archipelego of 54 islands is hard to describe because each one is slightly different to the next, sparkly, beautiful, rugged and unspoiled by industrialisation or development. We lost count of exactly how many islands we visited in the end, but managed to go at least 15 islands on during the 4-day trip.

Linapacan is said to have some of “the clearest water in the world” – we believe it! Check it out.

Here was the itinerary:

Day 1: Leaving from San Miguel, to Dimancal (check out Karel’s tent resort here), Bolina, Manligad, Asis and Cagdanao (first island camp spot)
- The island across the bay, Balenben, had island huts available for rent at 300 Pesos in a fantastic reef area.
Day 2: Manlihan, Cala-cala (spelt Lacalaca) and Takling (second island camp spot)
Day 3: Calibangbangan and Magransing (third island camp spot – the most beautiful place we have ever seen!)
Day 4: Pical, Mausunon and ending at Sibaltan (mainland Palawan)

Each had coral reefs right off its shores and were almost guaranteed to be completely deserted. Besides, don’t these pictures (from a humble camera phone) make you want to go there right now? Call Maileen and Benji for an adventure on the Brinze Kylene!

Linapacan is well worth your time – wow! What do you think about Palawan?

Malaysia, Travelinds

Sibuan Island

6th February 2014 Heather 1 Comment

06 February 2014

Nicknamed “Sunburn island”, Sibuan is like something out of a dreamy beach romance. White sandy beach, cobalt clear water, reefs right off the island and a couple of palm trees dotted here and there. The military base building is the only sign of life here and life seems to creep past at a suitably slow island pace.

The snorkelling here was fantastic, colourful coral, turtles, all kinds of colourful fish and other interesting sea creatures. It is close enough to swim back to the beach if you get tired and the visibility was good that day.

Favourite memory:

Due to the military presence of these islands (mostly for environmental protection and immigration law enforcement) it is common to see a couple of soldiers, with big guns, lying around on hammocks or patrolling the islands checking for illegal activity. One of the Swedish tourists was in his skimpy speedo (only) and demanded a photo shoot with the soldier and his large weapon, to which the soldier of course, happily complied. They were having a whale of a time doing a photo shoot of “the soldier and the speedo” – hilarious to watch!

Weird experience:

We were on our third snorkelling spot of the day around Sibuan when we heard two loud bangs in a row. It was enough to get us to lift our heads out of the water suddenly and look around expectantly. Apparently, this area has a problem with fisherman using dynamite for fishing purposes and unfortunately, these explosions occur pretty regularly. This particular one was apparently about two kilometres from us, but unbelievably loud for being that distance away. There is a system to report explosions (time,date, location) in the area so that officals can investigate and hopefully catch the offending parties.

TIP:

Take suncream with you. It sure is hot, with little to no shady spots on the island. As a result, we spent most of our downtime at Sibuan in the shade of the speedboat.

See more about Scuba Junkie here.

Philippines, Travelinds

6 Days in the North of Cebu

29th July 2013 Heather Leave a comment

29 July 2013

Snorkeling, sunrise over Malapascua, mangrove paddling, massages, some boys climbing a tall palm tree to steal baby birds from the nest, great food, flying fish, pool bar and bussing through Cebu — wow!

Did Travelinds love Cebu in the central Philippines? We absolutely did. Here’s why our six days on this island was one of our best trips yet.

Day 1

After overnight flights through Manila, Travelinds flew into Mactan airport on Cebu island at sunrise. Tentatively, we made our way to the north bus terminal in Cebu City, based on some sketchy directions.

After a few minutes of checking things out at this busy location, we found ourselves taking part in pass-the-tourist games with competing bus companies. Eventually, we settled on an air-conditioned bus to Daanbantanyan toward the north of the island.

A four-hour bus ride in 35 degrees Celsius and with 90% humidity outside was a breeze. It turned out to be much more comfortable in an air-conditioned bus. Fortunately, the fare was only about 20 pesos more than the regular bus (only ZAR4 more!). So, we arrived at Virgin Beach Resort cool, calm and collected.

Day 2

We chilled, swam and then went on an hour-long kayak paddle by the resort. The flat, blue ocean was incredible. We were actually searching for snorkeling spots along the coast but only managed to find some pretty scenery and a few mangrove swamps.

After lunch, we found a comfortable hammock and socialised with two American tourists. We also played battleships as we watched the afternoon thunderstorms pass by.

Day 3

We decided to travel up to Malapascua Island, which is off the very northern tip of Cebu. The locals advise taking the calm ferry from Maya port that was only 30 minutes from our accommodation.

After some negotiations with local boat captains, who were trying to get as much as they could out of the small group of tourists wanting to hop over the bay, we made our way to the small island. The ferry ride included seeing these amazing flying fish all along the way —bonus!

Once we reached Malapascua, we met a charming local hotel manager who promptly convinced us to check out his place. We hadn’t pre-booked anything, as usual. His kind manner and persistence paid off, and we booked into Malapascua Legend, his beautiful resort with a rather magnificent swimming pool.

That first day on the island, we enjoyed a one-hour full body massage in our airconditioned room for only 600 pesos. We also had ‘Fish Tropicana’ at La Vida restaurant nearby, a dish of fish fillet cooked in coconut milk with lemon grass and topped with fresh pineapple pieces. So delicious!

That particular restaurant had beanbags and love nests right on the beach by candle light every night. It also has an upstairs balcony for those rainy evenings. The restaurant manager, a friendly gentlemen from Denmark, was so efficient and professional that it was hard not to notice. That’s not something we’d come across yet anywhere on Cebu.

Day 4

Mostly, we spent the day lounging around the poolside while looking at the bay a few metres beyond. We enjoyed the morning rain while we had our American-style breakfast. How long it’s been since we’ve had REAL bacon!

We also found a lovely lunch restaurant with all meals at only 95 pesos. This time, we enjoyed mango banana pancakes, thick mango shakes and yummy fresh veg and pork in coconut milk.

That evening, we headed out to find Happy Hour cocktails and dinner, so a very relaxed island day in all.

Day 5

At about 7am, after taking some lovely sunrise pictures, R inadvertently stepped on a log sticking up and was injured. It was bleeding quite a bit. He needed a trip to the island doctor — luckily there was one — to clean the wound properly and bandage up his foot.

Other than that, we spent the day relaxing at the beach and the pool. We needed to start researching accommodation for our last night in Cebu. That way, we’d have a place booked when we reached Cebu City. The 30-minute ferry ride from Malapascua followed by a five-hour bus ride down to the airport felt like a big ask after such a relaxing few days in the sunshine.

The Last Day in Cebu (Until Next Time)

After a very long day of travelling back down from the very north of Cebu, we reached Cebu city. We had decided to stay at Pacific Cebu resort on Mactan Island in Lapu-Lapu. Then, after a restful night, we flew back home to carry on working a little — before another vacation.

Linds.co.za