Last Day in Port Barton

The sea was calm near Pamoayan beach

My last day in Port Barton. I wanted to spend it on the sea. Daniel was left without a boat because his father had gone fishing. Luckily Jacky's mother was going to Capsalay, so Daniel, Ariel and I went with her in her boat.

After dropping off Jacky's mother, we started rowing towards the back of Capsalay. I could not resist the temptation of the clear turquoise water and plunged in for a refreshing swim. I had a hard time climbing back into the boat, though, for the sea was turning wavy.

The waves became stronger and stronger. We had to abandon our oars and shift to the engine. The force of the waves was so violent that I feared our small wooden boat would soon be torn to pieces. Daniel and Ariel kept cool, however, obviously they were used to such waves. We had a wild time dancing with the waves...

We reached Pamoayan at midday. Daniel was sleepy because he did not get to sleep until 2 o'clock this morning due to his voluntary duty at the church. So we let him take a nap after lunch, while Ariel and I did a little beach combing.

We left Pamoayan early in the afternoon and rowed back to Lagban. This part of the sea was calm as usual. We rowed slowly to enjoy this last leg of our journey.

Albaguen

The passer-by told us we were trespassing

The weather cleared up today. I finally made the trip to Albaguen with Daniel.

We first made a stop at Blue Cove, which turned out to be not as strikingly scenic as the tourist brochure described. Besides, we could not get too close as it was now privately owned by a resort. So we went back to the shallow area between Exotic and Albaguen, where the water was crystal clear and the seabed white and sandy. I swam there to my heart's content.

Then we headed for Albaguen. We arrived at the small fishing village on Albaguen with an empty gasoline tank and two hungry stomachs. So we roamed the village in search of food for the boat and for ourselves. Daniel found gasoline and I found one papaya, some bananas and two fish: one was bisugu and the other was taladigan.

We took our trophies and drove the boat to a quiet little beach away from the village. Daniel built a fire to grill the fish, while I cut a coconut in half to use as bowls for the rice. We had a delicious picnic. After cleaning up, we found a shaded place and lied down on the beach to take a nap.

Just when we were ready to leave the place, a passer-by told us the little beach was private property and we were trespassing! Well, well, no problem. We have had our picnic and nap. It was time to move on anyway...

A Sea of Stars

A colony of starfish

It rained last night and the sky was overcast this morning - not very pleasant weather for a voyage to Albaguen, so Daniel suggested going somewhere nearer. I did not understand where he meant to go but agreed all the same.

He took me to the Sandbar - a patch of shallow sandy area between Port Barton and Capsalay that is only visible during low tide. I had seen pictures of it depicted as "an ideal place for a picnic in the middle of sea", which was quite a dramatic scene.

I walked towards the far end of the Sandbar. To my amazement, I discovered a colony of starfish lying under the water. Within the small area of a diameter of 10 m surrounding me, I counted a few dozen starfish! I had only managed to take a few pictures before a shower blurred my view...

When we left at midday, the water level already rose high enough to leave a tiny tip of the Sandbar above water...

Three Days on Capsalay (2.7 - 2.9)

Daniel with his catch

the Sandbar links the Two Parts of Capsalay

Capsalay is the nearest among the neighbouring islands off the coast of Port Barton. There are only a handful of fishermen who live in a corner of the island. The rest is now occupied by a few foreign-owned estates, one of which Jack's father takes care of during its owner's absence. At his invitation, I spent three carefree days with the boys on this little island.

2.7
There were beautiful coral formations near shore. But without snorkeling gear, I could not see enough of them. I kept far apart from where Daniel was diving and fishing with his speargun, for fear of being hurt by accident. Today he had a good catch. Coral fish are flamboyant, but not very tasty.

2.8
Daniel, Ariel and I gleaned the coconut grove and collected more than a dozen coconuts. I asked the boys to help me make coconut oil. They had a coconut grinding contest, which Daniel easily won. He ground half a coconut in just 28 seconds. For me, the job would have taken at least several minutes. After a lot of strenuous work, a dozen coconuts only yielded less than half a small bottle of oil. Since we had so much coconut milk, I made ginadaan na papaya (i.e. papaya cooked in coconut milk) for lunch and ginadaan na sayote (Sechium edule) for dinner, and ginadaan na sago, sagin (banana) and raisin for dessert.

2.9
Two early risers - Daniel and I took a walk along the shore. We did a circle of the part of the island to the west of the property. On the way, Daniel climbed up a tall sampalok (tamarind) tree and picked some of its ripe fruits for me. He was a great companion - cheerful and always attentive...