All photos credit to Nereo Cajilig Lujan.
When you throw yourself into the unfamiliar, it’s where
you’ll most likely find an adventure. Carles was my unfamiliar adventure in the
summer of 2014. The town is located in the northern tip of Iloilo and getting
there by a private car will take you around 3 hours. If you travel by public
transportation, it’ll take you about 4 hours or so.
To be honest, I was like a hitchhiker when I went there
because I was with the capitol press corps to cover Iloilo Governor Arthur
Defensor’s visit at the Islas de Gigantes scallop harvest which doubled as an
inspection of the fisherfolks post Yolanda.
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| Fishermen harvesting scallops at Ialas de Gigantes, Carles, Iloilo. |
When fishermen harvest scallops, they set out to sea in
groups almost looking like there’s a sea party what with all the boats
scattered around. Then they’d prepare their tools composed primarily of a net
and a tube. After a while, some of them (about one for every group) would wear
his goggles, insert the tube in his mouth, and thrust his body underwater like
a casual dive. In a matter of minutes, one of them would resurface and carry
with him a net half-full of scallops!
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| A fisherman holding up captured scallops which he would be selling. |
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| Freshly harvested scallops |
I already have established an admiration for scallops simply
because I like eating them but to see them being harvested and eating portions
of them raw is even more amazing! I love scallops-grilled, steamed, baked,
fried, even raw (because we literally ate lots of them during the trip)!
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| Yours truly about to eat live scallop |
While that was the
highlight, we also luckily got the opportunity to take a side trip
to some of the islands. In fact, we also got to hitch a ride with the Coast
Guard BRP Davao del Norte heading close to Isla Antonia. The said island is
where the famous photo of Islas de Gigantes, captured in an elevated position,
is taken. You probably have even seen this picture when you googled Islas de
Gigantes.
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| Isla Antonia by the shore angle. |
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| BRP Davao del Norte parked close by through which we took a quick joy ride |
Aside from Isla Antonia, we dropped by Isla Tangke which
literally has a “tangke-like” structure because of the hidden lagoon in the
rocks. It’s an unassuming treasure. I swam-more like floated-in their for about 15 minutes because the water looked so pristine and inviting. You can imagine yourself there soaking in utopic bliss for a fantastical moment. One of the Capitol employees mentioned that
this place is also inhabited by monkeys and they come out around the rocks
sometimes to entertain tourists.
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| The spectacular langoon of Tangke Island, Carles, Iloilo |
A lot of firsts happened in this trip. I won’t dwell on them
for your sake, but let me tell you that firsts are awesome! They’re especially made memorable because of the corresponding awesome people (hello, capitol press corps!).
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| Awesome people |
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