Monday, March 28, 2016

Islas de Gigantes, Iloilo (Part 2)

Posted by Free-Spirited Vixen (Juliefe Cuenca) at 12:35 PM 0 comments
Islas de Gigantes (islands of giants) is one of the tourist spots destination in Iloilo. It is a remote group of islands located off the coast of Carles and Estancia towns in northeastern Iloilo.

The ffg are the places included in our tour:

1) Islas de Gigantes Mainland  (read in Part 1)
2) Gigantes Norte Lighthouse (read in Part 1)
3) Antonia Beach (read in Part 1)
4) Tangke Lagoon (read in Part 1)
5) Cabugao Island (read in Part 1)
6) Bantigue Sandbar 
7) Bolobadiangan Island 
8) Bakwitan Cave

Bantigue Sandbar
    This reminds me of the famous White Island / Sandbar in Camiguin. It is also composed of a long stretch of sand which narrows and change shape during high tide. During the time of our visit, it was C-shaped. 
 Bantigue Sandbar

Bolobadiangan Island
      I'm not really sure if this is name of the island that we went to eat our lunch. But there are several huts in this place in contrast to the other islands that we previously visited. Several tourists are also staying in the island's beach resort. However, I didn't find its beach attractive for swimming because there were lots of stones and the wind at that time was really blowing strong. 

Bolobadiangan Island, Islas de Gigantes


Bolobadiangan Island, Islas de Gigantes
Bolobadiangan Island, Islas de Gigantes
Our lunch

Bakwitan Cave
     As per our guide, "Bakwitan" means a place to evacuate. This cave was used by the locals to hide from the Japanese soldiers during the World War, and also as an evacuation site during typhoons. 
Bakwitan Cave, Islas de Gigantes
     At first, trekking towards the cave was easy. And so was the beautiful tour with the stalagmites, stalactites, and rock formations. Never did we know what dangers and difficulties we had to go through before we can exit the cave. But we made it! Proud amateur spelunkers here!
Bakwitan Cave, Islas de Gigantes
Bakwitan Cave, Islas de Gigantes
Bakwitan Cave, Islas de Gigantes
Bakwitan Cave, Islas de Gigantes
      Below are different formations protruding from the cave wall. The first looks like a chicken leg, the 2nd one looks like a horse leg, and the 3rd, that of an owl. The 4th photo shows what a growing stalactite looks like, with a whitish, crystalline substance.
Bakwitan Cave, Islas de Gigantes
We had to crawl inside a small hole to go to the other side of the cave. This is the start of the quite difficult journey towards exiting the place.
Bakwitan Cave, Islas de Gigantes
We had to climb a very steep and quite slippery part of the cave. 
Bakwitan Cave, Islas de Gigantes
After quite some time, we finally made it outside the cave. But wait, the sign only says "Success!! You have made it half way..." What?!
Bakwitan Cave, Islas de Gigantes
     And only after the climb downwards did we get the "halfway" part. We had to cover quite a distance from the cave's exit towards the foot of the mountain. There were several steep parts, we had to go down a number of huge pointed rocks, and pass thru a narrow cave-like passage.
Bakwitan Cave, Islas de Gigantes    
 Bakwitan Cave, Islas de Gigantes
 Bakwitan Cave, Islas de Gigantes
 Bakwitan Cave, Islas de Gigantes
 Bakwitan Cave, Islas de Gigantes
 Bakwitan Cave, Islas de Gigantes
Bakwitan Cave, Islas de Gigantes
Congrats! We have made it! >_< , o_0, :D
Bakwitan Cave, Islas de Gigantes
Kindly click here to read Part 1. 


For those interested to read similar island hopping adventures, just click any of the links below:

Friday, March 25, 2016

Islas de Gigantes, Iloilo (Part 1)

Posted by Free-Spirited Vixen (Juliefe Cuenca) at 12:58 PM 0 comments
Islas de Gigantes (islands of giants) is one of the tourist spots destination in Iloilo. It is a remote group of islands located off the coast of Carles and Estancia towns in northeastern Iloilo.

The ffg are the places included in our tour:

1) Islas de Gigantes Mainland (Gigantes Norte & Gigantes Sur)
2) Gigantes Norte Lighthouse
3) Antonia Beach
4) Tangke Lagoon
5) Cabugao Island
6) Bantigue Sandbar (read in Part 2)
7) Bolobadiangan Island (read in Part 2)
8) Bakwitan Cave (read in Part 2)

Islas de Gigantes Mainland

        Actually, the mainlaind is divided into are 2 parts: Gigantes Sur and Gigantes Norte. We were only able to stay in Gigantes Norte as this is where our contact beach resort is located.

This is the sight which welcomed us upon our arrival:
Gigantes Norte, Islas de Gigantes
        The boats cannot dock immediately adjacent to the shore due to the shallow waters. As such, we had to ride a much smaller boat to send us to the shore. We can't help but notice the piles of shells along the beach and on top are groups of townsfolk collecting the flesh from the scallops, clams, wasi-wasi, and other kinds of mollusks. What a waste of shells! Hopefully, someone could think of exporting them to other provinces and even countries to be used as decorations and others handicrafts .
Gigantes Norte, Islas de Gigantes
Welcoming us are a group of smiling kids who kept on waving and saying hello to us. 
Gigantes Norte, Islas de Gigantes
    Gigantes Norte is not really famous for its beaches since there are too many shells, rocks, and seagrasses. But still it offers a beautiful scenery on its own.
Gigantes Norte, Islas de Gigantes
    At the time of our departure, we had to ride a motorcycle to the other side of Gigantes Norte to board a boat on our return to Estancia Port since the first boat was under repair. There are also several beach resorts just adjacent to each other here.
Gigantes Norte, Islas de Gigantes Gigantes Norte, Islas de Gigantes
Gigantes Norte, Islas de Gigantes
We had to stand on a raft with the boatcrew pulling us towards the boat

Gigantes Norte Lighthouse
We headed to the lighthouse on our first day. We rode a motorcycle then trek a little towards it.
Gigantes Norte lighthouse, Islas de Gigantes
It was drizzling when we went there and the wind was really strong.
Gigantes Norte lighthouse, Islas de Gigantes
Just in time to catch a glimpse of the rainbow
Gigantes Norte lighthouse, Islas de Gigantes
Children selling their own crafted souvenirs
Gigantes Norte lighthouse, Islas de Gigantes
Gigantes Norte lighthouse, Islas de Gigantes
We climbed our way to the top of the lighthouse
Gigantes Norte lighthouse, Islas de Gigantes
     This is our view from the top. The lighthouse uses the energy from the solar panels to produce light during nighttime. There is also an island visible from our spot which I t believe is the Cabugao island.
Antonia Island
   Our island hopping officially started on our 2nd day. Our first stop was the Antonia Island. We found out that there is also a beach resort here that caters to guests, many of whom were staying in big tents. There is also a snorkeling area in this place but at that time, the current was quite strong due to the wind so we didn't dare get too far from the shore.
Antonia Island, Islas de Gigantes
These are some shots of the islands we passed by on our way to Antonia Island

Antonia Island, Islas de Gigantes
Antonia Island, Islas de Gigantes
I didn't venture far from the shore so this is the only shot I got of the corals
Tangke Lagoon
    This lagoon is one of my most favorite spots in our island hopping tour aside from Cabugao Island. It reminds me of the different lagoons in El Nido, Palawan although the Tangke Lagoon is much shallower and smaller. But it has its own unique beauty along with its irregularly shaped limestone cliffs and rock formations.

Tangke Lagoon, Islas de Gigantes
 Tangke Lagoon, Islas de Gigantes
Tangke Lagoon, Islas de Gigantes
Tangke Lagoon, Islas de Gigantes
Here is another good shot of the lagoon courtesy of http://www.exploreiloilo.com/info/tangke/
Cabugao Island
   I really love this cute island! Just look at our photos to know why! ^_^
Cabugao Island, Islas de Gigantes
Cabugao Island, Islas de Gigantes
Cabugao Island, Islas de Gigantes
 Cabugao Island, Islas de Gigantes
Cabugao Island, Islas de GigantesCabugao Island, Islas de Gigantes
 Cabugao Island, Islas de Gigantes
Cabugao Island, Islas de Gigantes
 Cabugao Island, Islas de Gigantes
 

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