Category: Travel

The whole world is reopening. Where are you heading next?

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Flying over in America

After two years of staying home and quelling the travel itch just looking at pictures from past travels, the wait seems finally over. Tourism industries all over the world are eager to get restarted and destinations are sprucing up their attractions to welcome visitors once again.  Surely, your travel list must have swelled over the past two years with must-visit/revisit places. Time to warm up your gallivanting muscles and exercise your travel skills which are unsurprisingly a bit rusty from lack of use.

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Bike & Birding: A Preview of the Redeveloped Arroceros Urban Forest Park

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On an elevated platform for birding at the Arroceros Urban Forest Park

If you plan to visit the recently inaugurated and redeveloped Arroceros Urban Forest Park by bike, I would advise to defer for a later time. The park doesn’t allow bikes in the area, let alone, on the pavement going to the park. Since it is still in development (despite being inaugurated already) there are no bike racks in the area. I asked the guards where I can leave my bike securely and they can’t give a definite answer. I was excited to check out the re-opened “last lung of Manila” and do a little birding so I decided to ride all the way from Pasig.

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Sunlight Ecotourism Island Resort: Culion’s Luxury Getaway

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Sunlight Ecotourism Island Resort in Culion

Culion is a fascinating destination for those who enjoy off-beat natural tourist attractions and rich heritage. This former leper colony in Calamianes island is usually explored by those who go for an extended stay in Coron. But it doesn’t have to be another option. Sunlight Eco-Tourism island Resort offers a luxury nature getaway in the region while still keeping close to the heritage now in the running as an internationally recognized documentary heritage for UNESCO.

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Birds of Culion Palawan

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Birds of Culion splash photo

ument the birds I encountered in Culion, Palawan. Culion is part of the 200+ islands in the Calamianes group of islands. This includes the other three major islands Coron, Busuanga and Linapacan. Birding in this area shares similar sets of species and endemics. A nice companion to this post Birds of Culion, is the Birds of Coron and Busuanga which I did early part of the year.

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Things to Do and See in Lamitan: Land of the Yakan

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Yakan Weaving in Lamitan

The island of Basilan interestingly has two major cities. There’s Isabela de Basilan, now the center of commerce and trade. Then there’s, Lamitan, the government seat of Basilan province. In 2017, the provincial capital was transferred from Isabela de Basilan to Lamitan City as it is formally part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). In terms of tourism, one of the main highlight for a visit in this city is to learn more about the Yakan tribe, one of the first original inhabitants of the island of Basilan.

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Things to See and Do in Isabela de Basilan: The Gateway to Basilan

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Malamawi white beach wharf in Isabela de Basilan

Go places where you least expect yourself to be. Basilan isn’t really on everybody’s bucket-list of travel destinations especially with the stigma attached to the province. But the pandemic has changed the way we travel. Why not go to places where you’ll see less tourist yet still enjoy equally wonderful attractions? Isabela de Basilan’s just got the right mix of natural wonders, variety of culture and plenty of halal goodness.

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Travel Safely: A Guide to Basilan Province

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Basilan Travel Guide

I experienced Basilan and it was a splendor of sumptuous seafood and flavorful halal dishes, uncrowded natural wonders and a melting pot of culture from people brimming with hope and promise. I think more than a decade a apart since my first visit was enough to see how Basilan has changed. I’m not here to erase the stigma that has attached to the province (as in with any other places) but to highlight the other side which not many people have seen yet. If you’re willing and have an open mind, a couple of cities in Basilan, namely Isabela de Basilan and Lamitan, are ripe and ready for tourism.

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