After a long vacation from taking a long vacation, we have finally gone to another wonderful destination, Pundaquit, Zambales.
It took us around 3 hours via Victory Liner bus routed to Iba, Zambales to get to our first stop, Brgy. San Antonio, in which, by the way, I was asleep for the whole duration of the bus ride. From there, we took a 10-minute tricycle ride to Nora’s Beach Resort. We were not able to take pictures while on the three-wheeler because the trip was really really bumpy and our cameras might end up bashing around the side car. But on our second visit, we managed to take a short stop at the bridge wherein only one lane can be accommodated.
Ok, let me rephrase. Single lane for vehicles and two lanes for by-standers or passers-by.
Don’t be fooled by the tricycle drivers. The fare from San Antonio proper to as far as Nora’s beach resort is 50 pesos or 25 pesos per head. If the drivers offer a pick up on your departure from the resort, agree on the fare or else, it will cost you double, 50 pesos for them to get to the resort, the other 50 is your actual fare from the resort to San Antonio proper. It would be best to ask people from the resort to fetch vacant rides for you which will cost just 50 pesos or 25 pesos per head.
Nora’s beach resort is not that big. Consists of one main hall, good for around 40 people, a videoke bar, and a few rooms. Their resort is actually filled with trees, so taking pictures of the resort is like capturing a garden with your camera.
Well at least we were welcome by their cute welcoming committee.
Ooopppsss. Not her, this cute little one.
Meet their security.
Manong guard:
And Manang guard:
The resort is situated right in front of the beach. From there, we could see the Capones and Camara islands.
Our plan is to explore the three islands (Anawangin Cove, Camara, and Capones) so we had to start our boating trip early.
I would suggest tourists to visit the Camara Island first since it is the island wherein the waves are most of the time, aggressive. As you get near the island and the waves are high, your boatman will either ask you if you still want to give it a go or will rather suggest to proceed to the next island and just come back once the waves have settled. My suggestion, GO AHEAD AND LAND because there is a very minimal chance that the waves will calm. By the way, your boat will be waiting at a safe distance from the battering waves, so if you decide to leave the island, just wave at your boatman and he will come and pick you up on the shore (always remember which boat you are riding). If your camera is not waterproof, always keep distance from the rocks as there will always be splashes of water flying at your direction.
And ALWAYS be VERY VERY CAREFUL when visiting Camara island. We only did not find snake tracks, we also had a close encounter with a few of them during our stay. Nearly got bitten, too.
Was able to catch this one but it got away. A few inches from my arm, I would have had two fang holes.
This fourth snake that we found almost bit my girlfriend. This crawler was taking on a route behind her when I caught a glimpse of it while shooting a video of the horizon. It lifted its head and was ready to bite my girl. Good thing I was able to warn her on time and she was quick enough to get out of the way.
It is always nice to see snakes in the zoo, but a live one in the wild, it is somehow exciting. But getting ourselves almost bitten is nowhere near of anything exciting. Scary would be a better way to describe the feeling.
After that wild experience, I found something I have always wanted to take a picture of, a live crabling. What’s so special of being able to take their pictures? They are extremely fast. Once you have caught their attention and they try to move away from you, one blink of an eye is all it takes to realize that they are a few feet away from you, either running like hell or had taken a dive into the waters. It took me almost 10 minutes of foot crawling to cover a distance of around 4 feet just to get close to this crustacean and take a decent picture of it. It was not bothered by the flash at all. All it cared about is my movement. Any sudden movement I would have done trying to get closer to it would have made it scramming, which it did after my camera reached the opening where the crabling was hiding.
There are 3 ways to go around Camara island. The first one is to climb the rocks as high as a 2-storey building. The second is to swim around the rocks. The third, which is preferred by most tourists, especially those with non-waterproof cameras and would not dare climb the rocks, is to go underneath them. Yes, crawling through the gaps between the rocks.
Since my camera is not waterproof, and I don’t have any casing for it, swimming around the boulders was not an option. Crawling between gaps is not my type of adventure, which left me with one last option, climb, which I do most of the time during such trips. And such sense of adventure usually ends up with great rewards: A better view of the horizon, and at times, things cannot be seen from below, just like the statue of Virgin Mary which can only be seen while you are on the boat, or of course, on top of the rock where it stands, seemingly untouched for a while. Just unfortunate that I was not capable of taking a picture of the statue’s front view since it is situated over the edge of the huge rock. But being able to stand beside it over the edge, and gaze upon the horizon, it was just a very relaxing feeling. A true contentment for me.
Our next stop is the Capones island, sitting right next to Camara island. This the island that we spent most of our time in. We were excited to see the Capones lighthouse, so we did not waste precious time and started on with the trek the moment we hopped out of our boats, making the first route to the other side of the island. It would be better to take the grassy path first and on the way back, take the other route marked by an unfinished construction.
Not enough grass?
Along the way, we saw some rock formations worth climbing, which will be my next target on our third visit.
Upon reaching the other side of the island, we continued walking along the shoreline. Then a field of rocks.
The waves here are just as intense as the other side of the island. The only difference is that there are more and bigger rocks to be found on this side of the island.
And the view on top of these rocks is fantastic. But during the day when the sun is up and the sky is clear, it would be best to equip your camera with a CPL filter to enable you to take shots of the clear, shallow waters.
Getting past the rocky shores breaks no sweat, but going up the hillside is a different story. Once you go uphill, make sure to mind your surroundings. Look up or you will bump your head on tree branches or sprouting roots, watch your steps or one wrong footing, and you would stumble down over soil and rocks, and looking to either left or right would save you from tall grasses and tree branches slapping your face.
It is always good to make some stops and watch the splendor of the sea as her waves rush to the shore.
Found a batch of flowers along the way, worthy of a macro shot.
Finally, the Capones lighthouse. Its surrounding structures seemed to have been long forgotten but the top of the lighthouse appeared to be very well maintained.
Behold the grand entrance to the top.
Watch your step as you climb up and down the spiral staircase as the whole staircase is pretty much rusted and there are no support aside from its central post, which makes the staircase shaking as you make each step.
Making our way to the top of the lighthouse is no easy task. I took a few head bumps before reaching the porch. It is also advisable to wear glasses to protect your eyes from dust particles and chipped off rust. But as soon as I reached the top, I did not mind all the troubles. The view from above was spectacular. Talk about eagle’s eye view.
Make sure that your camera has a neck or hand strap. It is a long way down for your gear if you lose your grip.
The view through a hole.
With flash.
At the foot of the lighthouse, there is this structure which appeared to be like a small office. There is no other way to go beyond the vicinity aside from the windows. By the way, going beyond the structure would be at your own risk.
Then why go beyond the vicinity? The view from the outside is very inviting and difficult to resist.
Why stepping outside is risky? The surface is what it appears to be, rocky. One slip or trip, and you will find your self hitting the pointed rocks, or falling off the cliff. I just had to prove it myself. The view was enticing that I decided to take photographs of the landscape from the edge but the rock that I stepped onto suddenly broke and I almost made a free fall to the waters below which like a few storeys down.
To add more of my share of the extreme, I did climb some other peaks while we were on Capones island. They are not as high as mountains, maybe just around a few meters high, but how to get on top was the actual challenge. I literally crawled my way up and down and clawed through the dried moss as they chipped away and make my ascend dangerous, not to mention the more difficult descent. And when there is moss on the rock, it means that the rock is not as hard as you think it would be. It is more like packed soil that chips off and breaks as I grip and step on each of them. The thought that reaching the top would be the best part, I could have never been wrong. I could barely stand because there was just a thin row of rocks for me to stand upon so I just sat down and took some pictures.
Before leaving the island, I made sure to get over some elevations that are easy to climb.
And a little fooling around.
It was late in the afternoon when we left Capones island so we decided to go to Anawangin cove the following day instead.
The next morning, we departed at around 7:00 in the morning going to Anawangin cove, the haven of hikers and campers in Zambales.
Anawangin cove is the most ideal place in Zambales if you want to get close to nature, unwind, or escape from the buzz of the city. The wind whistles as it blows over the mountain, water from the mountain keep a constant supply of water to the swamp which continuously flows to the sea.
Unknown to most tourists, there is a short trek that will allow you to see the whole of Anawangin cove. From there, you could also see the shores on the other side. The trip is easy enough even for those who are not serious climbers, but still, those who would decide to take on the trek need to be careful. The trail going up is situated almost over the edge of the mountain, with tall grass as rail guards, not to mention that the soil is slippery when wet, or even when it is moist because of the morning dew. And the drop is nowhere to be considered a safe fall, rocks are waiting to break anything that falls into pieces.
The trail ends at the first summit of the mountain. But I did continue on to the next peak. From there, it was a climb-if-you-can adventure. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time and the city calls for our return. On our third visit, however, I am hoping that we will be able to take on the 6-hour hike from Pundaquit to Anawangin Cove and climb the highest mountain in the province.
