Holy Week 2012 in Sta. Ana (day 3)

After camping out in Anguib Cove, we left early morning the next day for Palaui Island.

early morning stroll on the beach before leaving for Palaui Island

Group picture! 

Among the Babuyan Group of Islands, Palaui is the nearest one to mainland Philippines, as it's just about 30-45 minutes away by boat. So from Anguib, we took a boat to Palaui.

The day was physically tiring as we had to hike from one end of Palaui to Cape Engano, which is the old lighthouse on the island. Though our bodies were already weak from the 5 km hike and the heat, the view from Cape Engano was just breathtaking the 2 hr walk was worth it.

This day was indeed an adventurous/'suicidal' one, as we had trouble with one of our boatmen. We had two boats with us, one was bigger as it really was for tourists while the other one was just a regular fishing boat. We had to wait for our lunch for almost three hours because the boatman of the bigger boat "had to go back to the main port to get his boat fixed". But according to the locals on Palaui, they saw the guy get new passengers while we were hiking. We also gathered from our guides that the same guy wasn't someone to be trusted, as he had a history of being dishonest to his clients and even his fellow boatmen.

Okay, waiting for food for three hours after a long hike was bad enough. What made the day go from bad to worse was that it was already raining hard, and the sea was getting rough. I love the water, don't get me wrong, but the sight of huge waves and the idea of taking a small boat in the middle of the sea in that condition frightens me. However, we had to leave the island so that we could rest at Baua Beach Resort in Gonzaga, the town beside Sta. Ana. When the big boat arrived with our food (finally!), we hurriedly ate lunch. We faced another dilemma, as the smaller boat left earlier with our guide to look for the big boat. With the weather not being on our side, our other travel coordinator Pepi decided that most of the group could go ahead while a few would be left on the island to wait for the smaller boat and our lead coordinator Sannds. I had my brother go on the first boat as I was worried that he was already traumatized by the trip, and of course his safety was my priority. About half an hour after the big boat left, our boat finally arrived. Let me just say, we were all actually ready for our boat to capsize. Seriously, that was how big the waves were that day. That boat ride was the longest 45 minutes of my life. What pissed me off even more was that we learned, after we docked on the port, that the bigger boat (with the shady boatman) only had 4 life vests. We reported him to the coast guard and hopefully the did something to this guy.

Waiting for our food

Soaking wet and cold, we all settled in at Baua where we had loooooong hot showers and slept like babies ;) Sannds and I hung out at their cottage's veranda as we both weren't sleepy yet.

You know, despite everything that happened on this day, I would still want to go back to Sta. Ana. It's such a quiet, quaint, coastal town and I hope it stays that way for a little bit longer before people start flocking there.