LIVE ON A BOAT AND SLEEP ON ISLANDS
NATURAL STATE.
There are ways to begin a two month long “gap year”, living on a enlarged fisherman boat and sleeping on small and bare bones islands in the Palawan region of the Philippines with two of your best friends, is one of them. I found the company Big Dream Boat Man on a google search when investigating where and what to do. Their motto was to visit islands and locations in the Palawan region of the Philippines when no other people are there, timing their visits and staying on islands so you can experience this intense beauty in peace. As soon as I read this, I felt that gut feeling that one must obey. I contacted one of their owners, Ollie, who over what’s app organized our trip and eased any sensation of “am I crazy for arranging this kind of insane trip the first week we set off.” Our trip was private, myself and the girls, even still, most trips of group excursions have a maximum of twelve people aboard, plus three crew. The crew were three young guys, a captain, a chef and a deck-hand. You make your own itinerary daily, which consists of journeying to islands, snorkeling, shipwreck hunting (absolutely terrifying under grey skies) and coming up with games which can only be created when hunkered down on a deserted island. Be quick and communicate what you like and don’t as they are flexible. Truth be told, the rumors are true, being stranded on a deserted island is exactly what it seems, exhilarating, blissful and completely bat-shit insane.
So there you have it, cast me away.
DO. LIVE ON A BOAT AND SLEEP ON ISLANDS
We flew into Coron, the most northern point of the Palawan province. A man with a van picked us up and drove us to the other side of the island where our elegant wooden boat with spider-like tendencies was waiting for us. We hopped on board, were a bit unsure our mortality, but then eased into it.
Our first stop was to spend the night on was Pass Island, a tiny triangle of land which by day holds a pretty awful lushy lunch and loud music. By night, it was just us, the family of caretakers, a basketball hoop, a pair of cutie pups, few huts, and the most breathtaking sunrise that put us right in the groove. Eat your heart out, Tom Hanks.
We sailed next to CONCEPCION island to visit it’s waterfall, a PREYING MANTIS AND have a DISCUSSION ON GETTING OUR SCUBA DIVING LICENSES
YOU GET RENT MOTORBIKES ON THE ISLAND TO GET ROUND TO, BUT WE WALKED.
FOUND A TON OF COWRIE SHELLS HERE (FYI MAKE YOUR OWN COWRIE SHELL NECKLACES - Dip’EM in gold if you have to, i don’t care)
the best island to stay on, even has a cottage with air conditioning, but we didn’t get to stay in that room. We just peered through the window like sad puppies.
THEN THE BOAT BROKE DOWN
THE LAST NIGHT WE STAYED ON BANANA ISLAND
WE awoke to embark on our last adventure…
Beautiful, but crowded, go early
DO. TAKE A SEA PLANE BACK TO MANILA
I was terrified to do this, and it turned out to be one of the best hours of my entire life.
Fortunately, we were left scrambling for a flight from Coron back to Manila. All the flights on the Cebu Pacific were booked. We had very little cell phone service and had to have a boyfriend back home find options for us. Hehehe, or we could have been stranded… on a deserted island.. anyway..! He found the seaplane company Air Juan with daily flights, the tickets were $200 each, and it was worth every penny.
If there is one place in the world to take sea plane, it is the Philippines. I was overwhelmed with the sense of our mother, the Earth, and all of our mothers. The idea of a mother, she takes care of you, nurtures you, and sets you free.
