t's been more than 3 hours at sea. The horizon of the ocean doesn't seem to end. Enya's song lulls us to sleep as the ocean waves rocks our almost-primitive wooden boat. It was afternoon, after all the traveling, lying down in the boat's bamboo platform was comfort enough for us, 13 weary travelers.
Our journey started from Manila. It was 10pm when we headed to Batangas Pier from the Tritran Bus Station in Buendia. 2 hours later we found ourselves waiting for a ferry to arrive and bring us to Abra de ilog in Mindoro Occidental. We weren't able to sleep much at the ferry as some loudmouth passengers were talking as if they had the ferry by themselves. We arrived at the port of Abra de Ilog by dawn. It took a while for the ferry to dock as the current was quite strong. As soon as it does, it felt like we were on an episode of "Amazing Race", as everyone was hurrying towards a limited number of rustic Mini-Buses headed to Sablayan. It's another 4 hours of grueling travel on rough and dusty road inside a fully packed, non-air-conditioned mini-bus.
Crown of Thorns
When we reached Sablayan, it was another race to find the DENR station. It seemed to have moved on another location since the last time, some of the guys went there. We found it eventually after a few rounds of tricycle race around the streets of Sablayan. And after the paper works are in order and a hearty lunch at the station, we continued on.
Here we are now, from the port of Sablayan, we rode an old boat to Apo Reef. The sun was getting low when we caught sight of the island and its white distinguishable lighthouse. Everyone was ecstatic, and I am still amazed on how "blue" the ocean in these parts. We headed towards the island in a circling-motion, they said that it was protocol, as not to damage the corals below. Everyone was itching for a dive, so we stopped on a shallower part in the middle of the ocean and snorkeled. It was a great preview of things to come, it felt like I was inside an aquarium as I have never seen so much fish underwater. There was also some crown-of-thorns in those parts where I soon learned that they were the scorch of the sea. It's a sign that that part of the reef was dying. It explained why there are some dead corals about.
