A dolphin and the islands

CEBU, Philippines - And there's a dolphin. Small and solitary along the Camotes sea. But I am getting ahead of the story. To backtrack, I got the chance to participate in the Suroy-Suroy Sugbo: Enchanting Camotes during the weekend. It was a two-day activity that showcased cultural presentations, native delicacies and heritage sites of the Camotes Islands.

Camotes is made up of four islands: Poro where the town of Poro and Tudela are located, Ponson where the town of Pilar stands, Tulang and Pacijan, where you could find the town of San Francisco. Touring in a group of islands means lots of boat rides. I didn't expect to see a dolphin.

Day 1

The phrase "warm welcome" never seemed more apt on our arrival at Poro wharf. The smile of the locals as they handed us necklaces was as warm as the heat of the summer sun. Tourists, both foreign and local, and members of the media thanked God were given wide brim native hats to protect us from the scorching heat.

Some students welcomed us with their Tagbo festival dance. Tagbo means "to meet." There's a duplicitous significance in the dance; one is that it tells the story of the foundation of the Poro municipality where a meeting point united two warring tribes and gave rise to this town; another, I think, is to welcome or meet or tagbo the guests. Quite an appropriate dance!

In Tudela, guests were treated to native delicacies like camote cookies, camote chips, camote sticks, camote pudding etc. The common food denominator is obviously where the name of the island was taken. It was said that the Spaniards that came to the island asked natives settlers farming camote (sweet potato) about the name of the place, the native settlers thought the foreign men were asking for the name of the root crop they're harvesting and so, they told the Spaniards "camote." And because of the downsides of oral tradition, the group of islands was now known as Camotes.

It is also in Tudela where the famous Bukilat cave is located and where I realized that the event's "Enchanting Camotes" tagline was not some fancy whim of a desperate copywriter. Enchanting was the local faith healer who asked permission from the spirits down the cave before tourists could enter the site. Enchanting was the raw egg that stood on its end signaling a favorable response from the spirits. Enchanting were the fairies, mermaids and otherworldly creatures posing inside the cave, even if they're just locals in costumes. Enchanting were the seven windows of the cave that naturally illuminated the cool waters, which according to the girls posing as mermaids was "cold."

From there, a boat took us to Buho Rock Resort in Poro where people in colorful embellished boats welcomed us complete with dancers in baro't saya costumes – a beautiful distraction since our eyes couldn't get their fill of the famous rock that resembles a ship while those girls are dancing. We proceeded to climb the 56 steps up the Buho garden where lunch was served and where Poro locals, including the senior citizens, ukulele ensemble, angklong ensemble and combo-lata musicians serenaded us. The Tagbo festival dance capped off our short visit at the resort.

En route to San Francisco, we passed along the approximately 1.5 km mangrove-fringed coast way that connects Poro Island to Pacijan Island. There are fascinating tales about this causeway that connects the gap between the two islands. It was said that in the absence of a church in Pacijan long ago, faithful Catholics in the island built the land bridge just so they could attend mass at Poro church. Others claimed a certain Fr. Sirva built it for the devotees. Now, the causeway is home to numerous mangrove species. The 360 hectares of mangrove forest has 29 identified species out of the 33 mangrove species in the Philippines.

Next stop is Lake Danao in San Francisco where the festivities continued. Guests feasted on native afternoon snacks of binignit, suman, bibingka, biko, salbaro among others while some went tilapia fishing and took a ride in a floating cottage called sakanaw. Locals mingled with tourists in games of greased bamboo climbing and greased pig catching. The highlight was the cockfighting game called karambola. Instead of the usual two roosters as combatants in this sport, there were 10, which solicited laughs from the audience. The roosters were confused so the game was called to a halt resulting to no bloodbath.

We got some quiet time at Santiago Bay where the lazy expanse of sand and sea made it ideal for horseback riding along the shores. Some did rent a horse, others treated themselves to a full body massage service from TESDA certified local reflexologists. Most of the guests, if not all, got to taste tuba (coconut toddy) along with sunlutan (sea cucumber variant), tropical fruits and some boiled root crops.

We got not only dinner but also romance at Mangodlong Resort. Torches along the beach, candles on pathways and tables, fire-dancers and fireworks appealed to both romantics and pyromaniacs.

Day 2

I saw the tail first and thought the mermaids from Bukilat cave is no myth at all. But then its head resurfaced and I recognized it was a dolphin. We're on a boat going to Pilar when I saw the solitary creature. It may be a usual sight for the locals but it was my first time to see dolphin, and a solitary one at that. Odd that this so-called sociable creature chose to be alone.

Lunch at a heritage house proved more enjoyable with live serenades of Visayan love songs in the background. The last stop is Can-ugcay Reforestation Farmers' Association Bee farm at Brgy. Villahermosa, Pilar where we witnessed a honey extraction demo. Some guests bought bottled honey in bulk.

We had to depart for Poro for immediate boarding back to Cebu City and I spent most of the trip back home sleeping and looking for that solitary dolphin. It's fascinating to think that that dolphin was the very representation of Camotes. The islands are isolated but through Suroy-Suroy Sugbo, this untouched Eden is being shared to tourists.

I never did see the dolphin again. But I was still enchanted both by it and the islands. (FREEMAN)