Siquijor, Island of Mystery

The president (who everyone calls GMA, her initials) declared Monday a holiday for the end of Ramadan (with a small but disruptive Muslim minority here – can you imagine if President Obama declared the same holiday?) and I had to take advantage of the three-day weekend by going away. I hadn’t yet had a beach holiday this month. In looking through Lonely Planet to prioritize travel, when I got to the Visayas I wrote, “anywhere,” knowing that opportunities and/or advice would come up. The most famous beach in the Visayas is Boracay – fabled for its white sand. I was inclined to go there, but the beauty of knowing Peace Corps Volunteers is hearing about destinations that are off the beaten track. I may still get to Boracay (though I didn’t get to Phuket in Thailand and I am okay with that), but this weekend it was on to Siquijor.

Siquijor is known among Filipinos as an island of mystery, for its witch doctors; sure enough, when I mentioned to Carmelita’s cousin that I was going she was a little spooked. I turned out not to have an opportunity to see a witch doctor, but I did get to experience a laid-back island and more than one beautiful beach. To get there from Manila you fly to Dumaguete in Negros Oriental and then take a ferry; I left after the Bay cleanup and arrived in time to get the last ferry. I stayed in a nice resort on San Juan beach – ocean breezes and sounds made for a great night’s sleep, and with fresh shrimp dishes and squash soup for dinners and French toast and mango for breakfasts, my first Filipino hotel stay (since orientation) was a success.

The driver who took me to my hotel, Nonoy, suggested an around-the-island trip, and since I could do that and still have resort time, I was up for it. Actually it was Nonoy’s wife, Grace, who took me around, since he had agreed to tour some Koreans around, but we kept bumping into each other, which was a good way to go. The island is about 72 km around – perfect for a day with multiple leisurely stops.

We went to a natural spring pool right in the town where I was staying (it kind of reminded me of Barton Springs in Austin!), so I kicked off the day with a short swim. We then went to the oldest tree on the island, said to be enchanted (so even with no witch doctor I felt some magic) and then to a waterfall (there were 133 steps down; Grace stayed at the top - not wanting to leave my things unattended, I didn’t swim, but it was picturesque). And then we went to a Spanish-era church and convent that are on UNESCO’s short list of possible sites. It’s huge for such a small island and was built with local materials. Then it was on to a beach in a cove off of the town of Maria – white-sand beach and just-right water – we swam for at least an hour. Loved it! Then it was on to a mangrove sanctuary – we walked around in the clear water and white sand for a while, with the tide going out while we were there. Our last step was a view point, from which we could see several islands. What a great day! And I did have time for a beach walk and lounge-chair reading back at the resort (I finished John McPhee and moved on to Pearls and Coconuts, a book from 1980 written basically for US Embassy wives – incredibly dated and somewhat un-PC, but in some ways interesting for that alone. I did learn an interesting factoid – it was Magellan’s voyage, which ended with his death in the Philippines, that underscored the need for an international date line! The day-by-day journals didn’t match up with the calendar days otherwise.... I also learned that the Clark of Clark Field here in the Philippines was related to a Revolutionary War fighter – I’ve searched on my own, so far to no avail, to see if he’s related to William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition – his brother fought in the Revolution…).

I spent the next morning at the resort, with a leisurely breakfast, trash pickup, beach walking, more reading, and swimming in the pool. Hoorah for a three-day weekend! Grace picked me up so that I could make the ferry back to Dumaguete – which was quite scary. I was given a seat way in the back and as we were pitching to and fro (to the sounds of people getting sick) I started calculating my likelihood of making it out if we capsized, wondered if I should text anyone just in case, and tried to focus on my book. Happy to be on land, I had a little while to explore Dumaguete before going to the airport. It has a laid-back vibe – when I landed I could immediately feel why people come for a short visit and end up staying for months in the Visayas or do voluntouring vacations there. I walked along its esplanade for a while, noted some Spanish-era buildings, and then went to a university-related botanical garden/zoo, which had some rare Philippine species. And then it was time for the plane ride back to Manila, back to work and back to my little room!