Nature Trip

Panglao Island Nature Resort and Spa 0

Feb 17, 2012 by Admin in Adventure Travel, Cebu Travel, Nature Trip Tags: ,

This beautiful island of Bohol, more popularly known for the chocolate hills and the smallest primates in the world, the Philippines Tarsier, also possesses gifts from nature, which are in the process of making its name to the world.

Philippines may be known for the white sand beaches of Boracay, but Bohol also has something to be called a counterpart of Boracay. I am a person who loves beaches, enjoying the breeze of the sea, and seeing the horizon lit up and go darker through a sunset.

Panglao Island, BoholBohol really amazed me, taking pride in having a lot of sugar-white beaches. Ideal for a summer escapade with people close to your heart, it will surely make moments many times better with scenery of nature. Basically, a good place for honeymoons and lovers who wished to create more cherished memories.

One particular beach, probably the most noted one is the Panglao Island Nature Resort and Spa. Located in Bingag, in the island of Panglao, Bohol Philippines, the resort is a mixture of the Filipino culture and a tropical paradise. The traditional Nipa Huts are common in the resort complex but the resort offers a pool that seems like connected to the ocean itself.

Being just few hours of the sea trip from the nearby Metro Cebu, getting to Panglao is near by resort spa that will immediately relieve tension from working in a busy city. They also have a website where quick reservations can be arranged. Offering Superior, Forest Bungalow, and Sea view bungalow, gives the tourist the choice of which is the best spot for the right occasions.

Children can also enjoy this Shangri-La to the utmost extent. Staying in the resort alone is a soul-feeding experience but the other services that they can provide make them even more competitive tourist destination. They were able to develop eco walks that lead to the caves deep in the forest. A magnificent architecture of nature, beautiful rock formations and colorful stones is what makes this cave a marvel.

Apart from the walks, swimming and long distance travel, they also have spas and good therapists who ensure replenishing touches to the body. They have various methods of applying forms of massage to visitors who were developed from foreign techniques but most of them originated from the traditional massage techniques of the native Boholanos.

They even provide the best venue for an invigorating massage. Soft mattresses enclosed in a room that gives a feel of real nature that will definitely tear down those stress and tension away.



Image: Anita Sainz

Palawan Subterranean River 0

Feb 10, 2012 by Admin in Adventure Travel, Nature Trip, Practical Tips, Travel Tips Tags:

I am really grateful for the fact that the Philippines may be small and an economically challenged nation, yet it still has something worthy of being called as a beautiful country. Last month, I was seeking the internet for possible, beautiful tourist attractions that are potentially helpful in bringing foreign tourists to the Philippines and help boost the economy of the country through tourism. The new7wonders foundation, started a voting campaign to declare the new 7 wonders of nature.

The Philippines had four nominees namely; the Chocolate Hills, Mayon Volcano, the Tubbataha Reef and the Puerto Princessa Subterranean River National Park. Today, the voting campaign is now in the third phase, and 3 were already eliminated, except the Puerto Princessa Subterranean River National Park. I have heard some hearsay about this attraction from a lot of people, and they said that it was such a magnificent place to witness. So a group of friends went with me to see the attraction firsthand.

We availed a package tour from an agency. It just had a few days of processing time, and we headed there immediately. Surprisingly, I also found out that they were sending many tourists to the Subterranean River of Palawan every week and a lot of other travel agencies experience this frequency too. We arrived at Puerto Princessa at around 9 am in the morning, we checked in the hotel, left our things and went down the lobby to catch our ride to our destination.

It took us just around one and ½ hours of land travel to get to the town of Sabang, where the natural landmark is located, I was enjoying what the tourist said to us on the trip, her name was Annie. The river is in fact, the longest navigable underground river in the world, reaching up to 8 kilometers. It is the only surviving Philippine nominee for the new7wonders of nature, which is on its third phase of voting as of now, there are species of monkeys and massive monitor lizards around the cave.

We arrived at the beach, crowded with tourists, most of them are Filipinos, and I could see the caves mouth ahead. We stepped off the van, and Annie led us to a part near the shore where people are given safety equipment like life jackets, helmets and flashlights. Small traditional Filipino pump boats are also waiting nearby ready for loading.

When we finally got settled, it took 10 minutes for the small boat to reach the cave. Normally, it was dark, but there was a particularly strong smell and the man driving the boat said that it was bat poo, also known as Guano and this is also common to other caves too. Looking at the ceiling, the roof of the cave was tremendous, full of rock formations, and hanging bats of course, look creepy.

There are many bats too, which are flying just above us and some might even hit. As the small fleet headed deeper into the caves, there were magnificent structures like mushrooms, grapes, candles, jellyfish, sharks and the one that struck me the most was the image of Jesus Christ. The river opens up to the South China Sea, but we headed back to where we left because we will also be leaving through there too.


Via : ricky_artigas

Palawan Island Hopping 0

Feb 9, 2012 by Admin in Nature Trip, Travel Tips Tags:

Like most island-filled countries, beaches are plentiful in numbers. The question is, how beautiful are they? I particularly prefer the coasts and beaches over mountainous landmarks. So far, most of the beaches I encountered are worth of being praised. So far, Palawan owns a lot of beautiful beaches in the country. When I travel to islands for a vacation, I tend to look for local fishermen to take us on an island tour with a “banca”. But Palawan has a lot of beautiful beaches scattered in different small islands, so island hopping is the new trip. This time, I am with my friends to spend one summer week in Palawan.

We arrived at at 9 pm in the resort, so we took our dinner and settled in the hotel to rest and prepare for the activities the day after. Earlier the next day, while most of my friends were asleep, I scouted the shores for a potential fisherman who might be arriving from an early-morning fishing session. (Some fishermen do fishing before sunset to avoid bumping into other fishermen). So I approached him and asked if he would like to take us to an island hopping trip to the nearby islands.

We talked for some time, and we agreed each other’s term, and then decided that he will be waiting in the same spot at 9am enough time for us to prepare ourselves and other “should-be-brought-along” like cameras and swimming paraphernalia. By 9am, we headed to the meeting place, and he was there already, and another native-looking guy was there too. He told us that it was his son, and he will assist him in the island hoping activity; I could really see that he is a hospitable person.

Our first stop was the ‘Hidden Beach’ indeed it was an isolated part of the island which might be the reason why it was called ‘hidden’. The water was so clear, and the shore was made up of sugar-white sands. Below our small banca was a healthy population of corals and there were many shoals of fishes swimming near it. There were blue starfishes too, and others were brownish in color.

I noticed some dark circles, which appeared like sea urchins. The fisherman told us that adult breeds of those urchins’ species are important parts of their local delicacy, and they can be eaten raw too. As we headed to our next destination, I saw some cliffs, which were hit by waves most of the time and the bottom part were already eaten by the sea.

We arrived at the next spot, they call it ‘Secret Beach’, weird, but the isolation of the place is the main reason for such names. The beach was nothing more than a better version of the previous beach we went into. Filled with energy and this time, we had the chance to swim into the waters. I happen to bring with me a snorkeling mask, snorkel and a pair of closed hill fins. The sea floor was still made of white sands but there were three puffer fishes I saw. They were adorable, feeling my presence above, it just blew in size like a big thorny balloon. Then it was already noon, so we reported back to the banca and headed back to the resort for our lunch.


via : bertconcepts
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