One of the highlights of our Suba Malawig Eco-Tour in Brgy. San Roque in Guimaras a few months ago was being able to frolic while standing on an offshore drowned sandbar which I love to call "Naked Island". Though we passed by so many beaches during the tour, nothing could have prepared us for this "beach" in the middle of the sea!
Mid-August this year saw bloggers from across the Philippines convening in Iloilo City to take part in Blog The City of Love event sponsored by Injap Tower Hotel - the city's newest landmark.
For 3-days and 2-nights bloggers and writers experienced Iloilo City's (plus select towns) and Guimaras' heritage and culture as well as historical and gastronomic offerings.
For 3-days and 2-nights bloggers and writers experienced Iloilo City's (plus select towns) and Guimaras' heritage and culture as well as historical and gastronomic offerings.
On that given Sunday, a day trip in Guimaras was our main agenda and instead of the usual and touristy route, we took "the road less taken". And it was a very rewarding and new experience even for me who has been to Guimaras around three times this year.
Brgy. San Roque is somewhere in the southernmost tip of the island of Guimaras. It takes almost an hour of travel from the Jordan Pier via jeeps plus the travel off the main highway.
The Suba Malawig Eco-Tour is a community-based tourism program wherein the tour is made possible by the members of the community. From the guides and boatmen to the performers and homestays, the people of the baranggay do their share.
The Suba Malawig Eco-Tour is a community-based tourism program wherein the tour is made possible by the members of the community. From the guides and boatmen to the performers and homestays, the people of the baranggay do their share.
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| Our SUBA MALAWIG Eco-Tour Map. Click to enlarge |
The tour usually starts and ends in creek (marked H on the map above) but we came during the the low tide that even the flat bottomed boats would find it hard to navigate. So were driven an extra mile or so, to a rocky beach portion (A)of the baranggay to meet our guides and rides.
First on the agenda that day (after having our Jollibee Amazing Aloha Champ snack along the beach) was a tour in and around the mangrove forest. The way to the protected environment was already a treat as we passed by sandbars (jutting out from almost everywhere) and beaches "waving" at us.
An article recently published on Yahoo written by The Pinay Solo Backpacker (who also joined us during the event) features the San Roque Eco-Tour.
A snippet from that feature reads “5,411 hectares of San Roque’s coastal environment are protected,” revealed Kagawad Norabelle Geraldoy, as we cruised around the mangrove forest framing the emerald green river. “The massive oil spill in August 2006 heavily damaged the biodiversity of the ecosystem here and affected our livelihoods. I remember we had to clean each stem of the mangroves with foam to absorb the oil. Then we decided to plant more mangroves.”
A snippet from that feature reads “5,411 hectares of San Roque’s coastal environment are protected,” revealed Kagawad Norabelle Geraldoy, as we cruised around the mangrove forest framing the emerald green river. “The massive oil spill in August 2006 heavily damaged the biodiversity of the ecosystem here and affected our livelihoods. I remember we had to clean each stem of the mangroves with foam to absorb the oil. Then we decided to plant more mangroves.”
Indeed they have done a great work on the reforestation of the mangrove area (B). The whole area is a series if crisscrosses of mangroves and at the bottom, of seagrasses, which nearly got us stranded along the tour, jamming our boat's propeller. Good thing, experience taught these boatmen how to handle situations like that and in no time, we were already up and running.
If they were not, we could have missed the trip nearby to the Taklong Island National Marine Reserve(C) Taklong, which is the local term for snail, gives name to this island which is shaped like one. It hosts the marine research lab of the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) based in Miag-ao, Iloilo. Heavilly affected during the 2006 oil spill, it has now risen above the environmental tragedy.
But we didn't exactly tour the island itself but took "refuge and solace" on a stretch of white sand beach on a nearby island that houses the main office of the whole nature reserve. Check out the map on top and see that how this island is like a sentinel guarding over the whole Taklong island. And that security (leftmost above) gives a commanding view of the vicinity.
In 1963, a group of professors from the Division of Biological Sciences of then UP College Iloilo (UPCI) went to Guimaras to collect samples for a project. Prof. Venancio Aligaen and Prof. Neon Rosell decided to sail farther south where they came upon an island and were struck by its beauty and ideal marine communities.
The UP professors immediately thought of establishing a biological station at the site. They consulted with the local community and negotiated for the purchase and donation to UPCI of a piece of land selected by Prof. Aligaen
After the acquisition of a lot on the island, faculty members and students of the Division of Biological Sciences used the site as a sampling area for various research and study purposes, mostly for course work in Field Biology.
In 1977, the first “station” was constructed. It was a simple shed made of lumber and GI sheets, built through combined UP and government funding, for a research project of Aligaen and Formacion. Read more about Taklong island
And now, the beach! Technically it isn't a beach but a shoal or sandbar that's drowned in the sea at certain times (hightide). But it was enough to get us wet and wild at that point as most of us wanted to frolic in the clear and blue waters of Guimaras.
From above (thanks to this great resolution image from BingMaps - just zoom and change viewform to "Satellite"), this is how the sandbar, which I love to call Naked Island, looks like. It's basically white sand with some corals and the nearest landmass is around 100 meters away.
And look at that patch of blue to the right - meaning deeper waters than the rest. If I have known, I wouldn't have left the boat. Good thing, I didn't or I might have missed all the fun under the sun!
Island hopping along the coast brought us to the more open part of the sea and exposed u to bigger waves that rocked the boat.
But along the way were some rock formations named after how the locals see them from certain angles.
The one below is Bato Baboy which looks like a native pig - pointed snout, though its more of an alligator from this viewpoint.
As we round up the corner and entered the inlet (G), it a sign that the fun under the sun is about to come to an end. So I literally feel the last few minutes and meters of the journey along the way.
Crisscrossing the last stretch of the tour which is presumably the actual Suba Malawig (long river), it was our last glimpse of the mangroves reminding us that mangroves are very important to seaside ecosystems not only as a source of food for the thousands of undersea creatures but also as natural barrier to surges from the sea.
And a little of bit history, the southern coastline of Iloilo just across Guimaras was laden with mangroves before. It was said that pirates and invaders had a hard time attacking the towns in the area as mangroves provide a natural defense and a barrier that made it difficult to mobilize weapon and men near the shores.
And finally we reached the shores ourselves. No weren't not enemies or invaders but very happy bloggers who enjoyed not only the fun under the sun but also connected to nature, even for a brief time during this tour. Now there's more to Guimaras than the usual island hopping and beach - and its really an island that fits anybody's taste!
BLOG THE CITY OF LOVE
is an InjapTowerHotel event that aims to promote Iloilo City.
Bloggers from all over the Philippines toured Iloilo - the city and province plus Guimaras
last Aug 16-18, 2014.
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For more information about the Suba Malawig Eco-Tour, please contact
Brgy.San Roque Cummunity-Based Rural Tourism (CBRT) Association
Nueva Valencia, Guimaras Philippines
Mobile Number: +63 912 414 1797