The Island Explorer

We decided to head back to Bongao, and pass some more spots that we could along the way. We actually took a path that encircled Bud Bongao. There were a lot of green on one side, and to the other, blue all the way. Of course, Tawi-Tawi won't look the same without the houses on stilts built by the Tausugs and the Badjaos. Tawi-Tawi is also known to be an area for migrants from Malaysia and Indonesia, though I heard most of them are not happy that they are here. Nevertheless, they put up residence on bamboo stilts on the shallow white sand beaches along the coast. Some of the areas we passed by were entire communities that looked like a village on stilts. Some houses were abandoned though. Some even had the flags of their tribes on poles. The sun was setting on the other side of Bud Bongao, though some of the rays pierced through to give us a dramatic setting. We found a sand bar that stretched to sea for around 200 meters. Yes, that was long, and it gave us a very nice vantage point...

Landing in Tawi-Tawi was a dream. I never thought that this would be the year that I would be going to the Southern most province of the country. Hence, I didn't make any plans. I only have one night here, so I wanted to make the most out of the trip. Of course, that would mean hitting the beach. After the frustrating no-beach experience in Sulu, I made sure I would be stopping by to get some sand on my feet. After all, I knew Tawi-Tawi was safe, and the people were nodding their heads when I kept asking if we could go to the beach. So, after work, we headed straight to the store, bought some beer and chips, and made out way South of town. Actually, there would be no problem looking for a beach here, since they're everywhere on the coast. We passed by a coastal road that had a lot of white coral beaches, but most of them had houses on stilts. So we moved further away from town to find a secluded spot. And this is where we ended up in. Coconut trees were swaying to the gentle br...

From Jolo, we went back to Zamboanga to catch another Sea Air flight to our next exotic destination, southern most province of the country, Tawi-Tawi. We already felt we had a private plane to ourselves, since we always rode the same plane. The view from above was not as clear, and the flight was deafening and longer. It took us 1 and a half hours from Zamboanga to Bongao, the capital of Tawi-Tawi. As soon as I saw Bud Bongao, the highest peak in these islands, I was having headaches from the sudden descent. Our pilot had to go around again and take another chance in landing the small aircraft. So we landed safely, and awaited for our gracious hosts. I immediately sensed Tawi-Tawi was going to be different from Sulu. We had no police escorts, and the presence of the military dwindled. We rode a red multicab and drove off to the center of Bongao town, passing by the coastline and going around Bud Bongao. We arrived in our hotel, Rachel's Place, which is one of the 4 accommodations i...