Mixed Pix

Island-Hopping in Burdeos Day 1

Story by Claire Raborar;

FROM POLILLO TOWN TO BURDEOS

It was already 10a.m. when we finally settled our transportation that would take us to the town of Burdeos from Isla Polillo Beach Resort. Charlie and I originally planned to rent a tricycle (Php200/head) from Polillo Town to Burdeos and leave around 8a.m. but we decided to rent a van when the other guests of the resort decided to join us in checking out the beaches at Burdeos. We spent a bit of time haggling for the van rental because it was quite expensive for a round-trip fare (Php2500 excluding the petrol). In the end, it was all worth it because we were able to save more by joining Aiza and her friends when we split the boat rental for the island-hopping as well.

It took us more than an hour to reach the town proper of Burdeos. The roads are quite rough and bumpy and probably would have been worse in the rainy season. The scenic rice fields and lush forest, however, as well as the adorable “bear” inside the van with us, were a pleasant diversion from the bouncy and uneventful trip. Upon reaching Barangay Poblacion, we went straight to Sabang Pier to look for a boatman. We found one who agreed to our “customized trip” for Php1500 only (standard rate is Php2000). Charlie and I would go island-hopping and would be dropped on one of the islands to camp for the night while Aiza and her friends would simply be dropped on an island of their choice where they would spend the rest of the day before going back to Isla Polillo Beach Resort.

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Island-Hopping in Burdeos Day 2

The Minasawa Game Refuge and Bird Sanctuary is a 4-5 hectare island that was established as a sanctuary by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to protect the bird population. 

Exploring the islands around the remote municipality of Burdeos the previous day had been a very satisfying experience for us, as we enjoy exploring the off the beaten track as much as the well-trodden path. Secluded and unknown, our journey to Burdeos had been a challenging quest, but certainly not an inconvenience. Our first day of island exploration had revealed not only beautiful natural wonders but also friendly and hospital people who had made our stay enjoyable and memorable.

On our second day in Burdeos, we set off again to explore its natural attractions that include beautiful caves, scenic beaches, a bird sanctuary and a mangrove forest. I had been looking forward to visiting the bird sanctuary, as I had seen it mentioned when we were researching noteworthy places to visit in Burdeos. We had visited a couple of island beaches and even camped on one of them the previous day so we thought it would be nice to do some bird watching especially on the islands of Polillo which are known as haven for a large number of different bird species.

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ISLA POLILLO BEACH RESORT

Story by Claire Raborar:

Isla Polillo Beach Resort was the only fully operational resort that we found online while looking for a place to stay in Polillo Island in Quezon Province. Another exclusive resort called Balesin Resort (located on Balesin Island off the coast of Polillo) was currently under renovation. It turned out to be a good thing that we booked our first night’s accommodation with the resort in advance. We hadn’t expected the journey from Manila to this remote island in Quezon to be so long and tiring, and finding a place to stay in an unfamiliar area with heavy backpacks in tow would have made everything more stressful. The serenity of this beach resort, however, with its lush surroundings and the melodic calls of the many birds that frequent the area was a great breather for us after the uncomfortable and chaotic journey.

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ARTWORKS

A fellow Polillian and a friend Arden Mopera exhibited many of his paintings at the T.U.P. ALUMNI ART EXHIBIT 2010 last October 14. Here are some of it;