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A photo posted by Tin Gallemaso (@xtintina) on Jun 19, 2015 at 9:58pm PDT

A photo posted by Tin Gallemaso (@xtintina) on Jun 14, 2015 at 2:37am PDT

A photo posted by Tin Gallemaso (@xtintina) on Jun 15, 2015 at 12:38am PDT

Squid Rings!!!! Don't forget to buy this!! If you're going there, bigyan mo ko pasalubong plez!!! Itong squid ring saka Napoleones nila. Huhuhu. Bet na bet ko kasi!!

YAYAMANIN!!! HAHAHA. Lakas maka-rich kid ng box ko e may nagpadala sa'kin ng pera para bumili ng "pasalubong" Bangag bangag lang na madalas ako mag-uwi ng kung ano sa pananiniwalang 'yung mga nabibigyan ng pasalubong e nagwi-wish na, "Sana makaalis ulit siya para may pasalubong ulit..." O edi wow. Dami rin nagc-claim ng claim para sa'kin kaya mas malakas ang laban ng Travel Department ng buhay ko. Baliw e, noh? haha! Mej problema lang kasi mostly pagkain lang binibili ko kaya 'yung ibang di ko naman nakikita nang madalas e wala kong nabibigay. Ang tatakaw kasi ng mga tao sa'min. HAHAHAHA! Joke lungzzz ako lang matakaw at bukal talaga sa loob ko mag-uwi kahit na hindi halata hehehe. :))))

Here's where we slept with my signature disorganized things. Open lang. You're going back to basic and they don't have electric fans here but it's okay, it was not hot.  I'm not really brave when it comes to ghosts and all so I had a difficult time falling asleep 'cause I kept on imagining someone peeking. But then, when I had fallen asleep, I didn't even heard that it rained because I slept well... which is usually the case naman.

The snorkeling gears of Danjugan are all package-inclusive.

Before we had dinner, I had a fun time watching these fishes because they looked like they were partying when the water level in the lagoon was slowly rising. See, those who partied all night were still sleeping when we woke up. I know that personifying these animals kind of sound weird but yeah, it's part of the experience or not. haha!

Before having our breakfast, we were taken to our first snorkeling spot. Huhu. Buti na lang high tide na! 'Yun pala 'yun, you'll appreciate snorkeling more on high waters. Visible na 'yung corals from the boat pero nagi-iba 'yung mundo pag nag swimming ka na. Mas maganda sila tignan lalo pag naka-goggles ka na lang.

I've tried snorkeling before but this is my first time seeing this much corals and fishes. You can say that it's probably because I haven't gone snorkeling for a lot of times but I'll say that the feeling's really different here. Edi wow. Ang gulo ko.

When you go reef walking with food in your hands, it's understandable why fishes would go close to you so I can't think of a possible explanation why this school of small fishes kept on encircling us while we were swimming.  Or hindi lang ako aware na ganyan talaga sila kasi iniisip nilang predator ako? Pero hindi naman sila nalangoy palayo, lumalapit pa nga sila sa'kin. hahaha. Whatevzzz or paki-explain pls?

Dave, the island manager, showing us the giant clams/taclobo.

Underwater Selfie. Naman. Haha.

After having our breakfast, we decided to rest by kayaking in the Moray Lagoon.

A beautiful and blessed morning indeed!  Pag makita mo 'yung complexion ko, pwede kong sabihin na, "Ay ito, from Danjugan. Ito from Zambales, ito from Leyte." Mga ganyang linyahan kasi iba iba na kulay ng "tan lines" ko. hahaha. Yabang e noh. Joke lang. What I mean is kung napakaputi ko na noon, aba e mas maputi ako ngayon!

Then we rode the boat again and they took us to the twin peaks. Nung una iniisip ko na 'yung twin peaks e mala-bundok na mataas na bato pero underwater pala 'yon. Merong cliff sa ilalim which is about 50 feet deep.

I saw a lot of fishes but it seemed that I only took pictures of clown fishes.  Orange and black clownfishes.

Hindi masyadong halata 'yung lalim pag sa picture lang but I felt scared at first swimming over this.

Someday I'll try scuba diving too. <3

Here they go again. Encircling me as if I was the balyena predator. Hahaha!

Someday I'll be able to name a lot of fishes that I'll encounter while snorkeling. It's a bit embarrassing that the only names I could think of were, "'Yung isdang may sugat na nasa aquarium sa Finding Nemo." "Yung isa, parang giraffe 'yung itsura nung scales." "Yung isa parang bato" "Dory" and "Nemo"

Sobrang ganda. My pictures didn't gave justice to this.

Galit talaga lahi nito sa'kin ah.  I was looking at them pero nagalit sa'kin at biglang lumangoy 'yang malaki nang mabilis paakyat, tas syempre nag-panic ako. Hahaha! Langoy din ako paatras na may kasamang sigaw eh. Ikaw, Nemo ah. Kung may sakit ako sa puso, ikaw na kumuha ng buhay ko. hahaha! Grabe. Stressbells.

Swam a little again at the sand bar before going back to the lagoon.  Bye, Turtle Island!!

Bye our princess type tulugan.  'Yun 'yung butas na sinasabi ko oh, dun sa may bato. HAHAHAHA! Praning e.

I experienced new things and I definitely learned a lot from our overnight stay here in Danjugan. I really hope that more places in the Philippines would be developed as ecotourism sites that would be able to sustain the beauty and rawness of nature. Iba pa rin pag sustainable tourism and development eh, diba? You know how in some places we'll say, "Puntahan natin at baka masira na." kahit alam natin na hindi dapat ganun, 'yun ang nagiging reality ng mga lugar na sumisikat sa irresponsible mass tourism. (Hello, Sagada :(( Magkikita rin tayo someday. Mag-heal ka muna). Haaay, kung magiging mas responsable lang sana tayo, di naman kailangan na may masira eh. Hay, sana hindi ko lang sa Danjugan Island pwedeng sabihin na, "Puntahan natin ulit kasi sigurado mas maganda na roon in the next few years.'

Bye Danjugan!! Sabi nga, "I would stay and love you but I had to go." Babalik ako soon. Sana makabalik. Huhu. Black tip sharks, sana magkasabay tayong dumayo sa Danjugan someday. Huhu. :)))  Take nothing but pictures.  Leave nothing but memories.  Kill nothing but time.

We left Bacolod at around 5 A.M and reached Cauayan at 9 A.M. I have coordinated with the island manager two weeks before our arrival just to secure our slots. Danjugan is a marine sanctuary and they are practicing a low-impact tourism model so you need to book in advance. From what I know, they don't accept walk-ins and just maintain a certain number of visitors per day.

After riding a tricycle, we then road a boat that took us to the island.

Freshness pa ba3. hahaha! Sobrang konti lang talaga ng picture ko doon sa Bacolod na mukha akong tao.

On the way to Danjugan you'll see the Turtle Island of Sipalay, Negros Occidental. Why is it called Turtle Island? Edi itanong mo sa kanya. haha. Baka kasi mukha siyang turtle.

We finally arrived at Danjugan! Keep in mind that there's no running water and electricity here so make sure to conserve water and bring your powerbank with you. There's an orientation upon arrival para hindi naman lost kids ang peg. Tourists are also assigned tour guides para hindi talaga lost kids ang peg habang magt-trek. Their tour guides are very knowledgeable so you may ask them questions about the island. "Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints. Kill nothing but time." Bawal ang pasaway sa Danjugan pls!

This is where we stayed for the night. I'll show the picture of the bed in my next post but one thing's for sure, back to basic talaga pag pumunta ka rito.

It was lowtide when we arrived at the island. These are the roots of the mangroves near the Moray Lagoon. The reason why these roots stick out of the soil is to enable the mangrove to breathe.

This is the moray lagoon. This is named as such because of the moray eel that abound the area.

One of the many moray eels we saw. There are also a lot of small fishes swimming here but it is prohibited to feed them.

And the start of our trekking. Sobrang good job sa'kin for impulsively buying that sandals when it was on sale last February. Daming beses ko ng ginamit. hehe.

I was supposed to post a picture of the bat cave but I realized that posting this would be better because I look fair in this picture. Connect? Hahaha. You may look at my instagram account for the picture of the bats. It was my first time seeing a lot of bats and one of the python snakes in the island was inside as well.

While trekking, we passed through these mangroves. Inside this area, although it's not that obvious, is their breeding site for crabs.

We continued walking until we reached this place. This mud house is another type of accommodation in Danjugan Island.

Interior of the mud house.  I am just not sure about how you can rent this nor its rate.

Can you spot the nest of the eagle? Even if we didn't see any eagle that day, our guide pointed where its nest is located.

Went back to the main area (moray lagoon) for our lunch which is also package inclusive. Nung una medyo namahalan pa kami sa rate pero nung andun na kami, worth is naman pala, mura na nga kung tutuusin sa dami ng activities na pwedeng gawin.

<3  Talagang activities ang madami rito: kayaking, boating, snorkeling, trekking, bird watching etc.

Low tide. It rained so we had to wait until it stopped before we continued with our activities. We tried to snorkel that afternoon pero mahirap palang mag snorkeling pag lowtide. Nagasgasan pa nga ko somewhere. Hindi ko alam kung saan pero may sugat ako pag-ahon namin.

We found nemo! Stress. Hahahaha. This is one of my unforgettable moments in Danjugan. I was so thrilled upon seeing these clown fishes upclose that I forgot to take into consideration that these fishes are territorial. Ayan, picture ako ng picture kaya galit tuloy sa'kin. Sinugod na nga ako, minura pa ko! Nakakaloka. Ano pa bang gusto nila?? Pasalamat 'tong mga isdang 'to dahil ako ang dayuhan. Tsktsk.  Talagang na-personify na eh. Hahaha!

My first time seeing a sea cucumber. Sea cucumbers help in the recycling of nutrients in the ecosystem.

Nag-pass out na blue starfish. Hahaha. Parang lasing lang na biglang humilata ang peg eh.

The reason why it was scary to snorkel in shallow water is this sea urchin.

Then we joined a group and we went to the non-protected side of Danjugan and we saw this heartbreaking reality.

Kung gaano kaganda at kayaman sa corals ang protected area, ganito naman ang hindi. Ano na? Maghihintay na lang ba talaga tayong masira na lang ang mga corals ng ganito? Huwag naman sana dumating 'yung panahon na gustuhin nating kumilos pero huli na pala ang lahat. I hope that Danjugan's vision of converting more Philippine islands into protected sites be a reality ASAP. I was thinking if I should still post this here parang ayoko, gusto magpaka-selfish para hindi masyadong maraming pumunta pero 'yun din, they need the funds eh. Kaya pinost ko na rin in hopes na mas mataas 'yung chances na mabasa 'to ng mga responsible tourists.

In places like this where visitors are just the second priority, bawal ka rin pumatay kahit langgam. hahaha!

We went to this side of the island to see the sunset but to no avail because it was cloudy. Did I tell you that there are a lot of species of birds in the island too? Hehehe. When were seating here, we panicked because a bird flew near us. Akala ko susugod eh, nangangamusta lang pala.

At ganun-ganun na lang, tapos na ang unang araw namin sa Danjugan Island. <3