Friday, June 24, 2011

calauit safari

 4 february 2011, coron, palawan
calauit safari, lunch at the beach


despite having stubborn bodies, we woke up at 4:00 in the morning, to get ready for our calauit trip. it was still dark, and cold. we were not able to eat breakfast na because everyone was good to go. we were going to travel by boat, so a tricycle brought us to the port. we all still feel sleepy, but it was really too cold to sleep. the cool breeze of the sea chills and shudders our bones. and it would really be hard for you to light a cigarette. if you do, you will just hit 30% of it, and the wind will consume the rest. ;p

the moment we arrived at calauit and saw the animals running in the open ground, it feels like africa! eversince, i haven't seen a zebra or a giraffe walking so freely, and you can even feed them. 





calauit safari park is indeed our own local version of the african safari. too bad you won't find lions, tigers and cheetas. ;p it was during the marcos regime when calauit island was declared as a wildlife sanctuary through a certain presidential proclamation (i forgot the no. hehe). its total land area is more than 3,000 hectares. the first batch of animals in this preserve originated from kenya, all aboard mv salvador.

 






the tour truck took us around to see the other animals in the island.

how to get there
it was a more than 4hours travel from coron proper to calauit island. it should only be three, but because of the not so calm  waves of the sea, we had to slow down a bit.

you can also reach calauit by land - 2 to 3 hours travel, then a 15minute boat ride.

rents and rates
boat rental is P9,000 for 6-8pax. entrance fee per head is 250 (higher rate for foreigners). tour truck is 1000 per truck.

time to visit
it is best to visit in the morning, 6:00am to 10:00am. because during these times the animals are in the open, being fed and the sun is not up yet. most them will find shelter in the forest when it is already hot, because most of the animals are not susceptible to the heat of the sun.

after calauit
we should be visiting two islands after our calauit trip. but before we left the island, it started raining, just light rains though. but it was windy. the manager of the park told us that we should tell our boatmen not to push through the island visits, because the waves might be bigger. our boatmen and guides decided to just visit a different island and have our lunch there. i will never forget this experience. on our way, we still encountered really big waves. our boat was dancing! the boatman told us to wear our lifejackets (from coron to calauit, they did not require us to wear them), and placed our valuables in the boat's compartment. we started praying because we really got scared.

and finally, thank god, we reached the island. we were so hungry. our food were not cooked yet, so while waiting we decided to swim and snorkel. 



after eating lunch, we had some fresh buko! yum yum yum! :)



back to coron main blog                                next blog: maquinit hot spring

0 comments:

 
Design by Free WordPress Themes | Bloggerized by Lasantha - Premium Blogger Themes | Laundry Detergent Coupons