Foot and Fire

     After my Palawan vacation together with my parents, cousin and friends, I decided that it is indeed the ultimate destination that represents our archipelagic riches, with her string of islands, fine white sand stretches of beaches, giant karsts, cool caves, different corals, colorful fishes, lush mangroves, and infinite series of blue waters. Added to that riches is our signature Filipino smile which can easily be found everywhere in Palawan, from the tour guides, the boatmen and often, the Visayan-speaking pedestrians. Our day started with a meeting at the airport. My cousin Cooky with her two friends Sharon and Marissa emerged in the airport fresh from their respective hectic nursing duty at St. Luke's Medical Center, and two more friends of hers, Jo and Jess, a mother and daughter tandem, came from Iloilo City while I and my parents and family friend Nida, came in the airport in travel lite mode. And the fun began! TWO DAYS IN CORON TOWN AND C...

This is the famous photo of Coron Island  since it is the postcard representation of what the loop of islands offers. This is taken after climbing the hilly and rocky side of the karst  and before going down the lake which is situated on the other side. Trek is easy. *** Fyi about Kayangan Lake. *** FYI about the Indigenous peoples called Tagbanuas. ***  The map of coron Islands *** FYI on what they offer. *** The group picture. *** A photo of me just before heading to the mouth of the cave. *** The mouth of the cave facing the rock where we sat for photo... *** A souvenir photo of me.. ***

This is a peacock in my eyes! *** Karsts do not only astound us, they also spark our imagination as we traverse the high seas of Palawan... Check out the photo below if you can at least agree on one of my figure interpretation....  Just sharing you my travel joy... This is the Helicopter Island. On the left is the tail and on the right is the face  and the protruding part is the propeller. See, see? *** This looks like a turtle to me. The not-shy head is on the right and the shell is the bigger portion!  You get what I mean?  ***  A sleeping dog. This must be snoopy. On the left is the folded leg, then the body with long ears, then the eyes and brown nose and another contour for the ears. Got it? *** This is a mushroom. And we have no problem with that, do we? *** Two skeleton devils or two dinosaur fossils.  Whichever you see, they are not pretty for sure. *** My mother enjoy...

Fine white sand, shells and pebbles. Perfect for swimming and sun bathing. In Malcapuya, there are corals and giant clam shell that can be viewed after rowing a free boat ride and then snorkeling. *** Testing the heat of the sun against my skin... The sand is hot but the waters are cool. *** Trying to sleep under the coconut tree... I made sure there are no coconuts hanging... :)  *** The water this blue needs no further description. *** With my favorite travel pal and cousin...  she learned some photography tips from me which I ultimately benefited from. ***  Playing in the sand this white and powdery is a bliss! *** Romancing the stone, urgh, rocks. The rocks rock! *** Posing with the blue hue of the waters and skies.  Embrace nature, Enjoy nature!  ***

This is the postcard photo representative of Coron Island... The karst fronting the Kayangan Island can be taken up above the cliff and by the cave on the way to the Kayangan Lake. This is indeed a picturesque beauty of nature.. *** A photo before climbing the cliff via those rocks. ***  Photo taken halfway up. *** Photo taken of the Kayangan lake on my way down. *** The placid lake of Kayangan is worth the dive. *** There are many stick fishes swimming in the lake of Kayangan. *** The postcard photo of karst in the Coron Island loop... *** A photo of me just after the swim to the cave across the lake... ***

Snorkeling at the Siete Pecados which is a site teeming with fishes and corals.  It was such a lucky day as we were the only tourist boat stopping at the time.  So it was such a happy stop-over. *** We chanced upon this bird resting on a floater near our boat. *** Our first snorkeling of the many days thereafter... *** The riches of the seas are teeming with these vibrant fishes at Siete Pecados,  our first stop at the Coron Island Loop in Palawan. ***                                And yes, this is an utterly not flattering photo of me under the sea.