The Travel Bug: Anawangin Cove

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Brgy. Pundaquit
San Antonio, Zambales
Central Luzon
05 to 09 April 2012
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As usual, I went to my brother's house the night before for early departure. The difference this time was I was sick with fever and flu. They were a bit worried but I told them that it was okay. Sea water and breeze are alternatives for saline solution-- a good thing if you have sticky phlegm that hinders breathing; plus, I haven't been out under the sun for God-knows-how-long already. True story. When your life revolves within hospital walls, it will seem like you're no longer friends with daylight-- the kinder type of daylight, and not the harshness of the afternoon heat...

and i soaked it all up-- sun, sea, and breeze.

Anyway, we left Manila at around 0200 to 0230H and arrived at Barangay Pundaquit in San Antonio, Zambales at around 0700 to 0800H. Then after, we waited a couple of minutes for my brother and his wife to settle things with the boaters. Next thing I knew, we were already a good few miles from the beach.

The Boaters: it may look chaotic, but I think this
is better than city traffic.

Floating away...

And here we go.

I remember looking around, thinking that we're sailing atop
a tub of royal blue gelatin. XD

We visited Capones Island first for a quick look. Took some pictures while the kids swam in the water. It was a bit scary though since it gets pretty deep almost instantly, unlike the beaches in Boracay or in other developed beach resorts.

Capones Island

It's deeper than it looks -_-

Early morning

Someone I do not know. :))

Le Brother, giving one for the camera

Shutter Speed Experiment 1

Shutter Speed Experiment 2

Looks like something out from a dream.

The waters surrounding Capones Island.

After spending a couple of minutes there, we hopped in the boat and went straight to Anawangin Cove. These were the sights that greeted us:

I was rather disappointed when it was not what I thought it was. Instead of finding a quiet camping site in the arms of Mother Nature, what we found was a refugee camp. The place was already crawling with people, and the once quiet haven that was Anawangin Cove was officially converted into a local tourist spot.

I merely calmed my raging disappointment with my imaginings. This MUST be how things worked during the middle ages where people were primitive and devoid of all the comforts of technology. :D

First thing's first: we had to find firewood for cooking. Firewood is available for purchase in one of the local convenient stores near the shore for 150php, but if you want to do it the hard way then no one would stop you. There is an abundance of dried twigs and wood at the back, beyond the fence; and so, armed with a bolo and a knife, my brother and I took the kids there to find some.

My companions :D

Random butterfly on a plant

Stream

This, certainly, did not disappoint. :D

After lunch, my brother asked me if I wanted to climb the hill at the farther side of the cove. If circumstances were of best, I would've immediately said yes, but I was still feeling feeble and feverish so I turned him down. I asked him if we could delay it until early morning when the sun isn't up and angrily blazing its heatwaves at us. He took the point, and decided to swim with the kids and his wife down the shore again, while I stayed at camp with their house help to guard the things (well, she did and I slept. Haha. XD).

The following day, after breakfast, we walked along the shore and climbed the hill. It wasn't as hard as it looked. After reaching a respectable height, I took out my camera and found these sights to behold:

I conquered! :D

There isn't much to do after that except swimming and clowning around with our purchased bow in the woods. Here are some of the pictures taken out of boredom:

See? Even the dog looks tired.

Lunch.

The tropical pine trees: one of the things that I loved during our visit

Other side of the fence

Clowning around with the bow

and yes, I do not know how to hold one. :))

Verdict: If you're not the adventurous, happy-go-lucky, come-what-may type, then I strongly advise you to think twice before going to Anawangin Cove. It's definitely not a comfort zone, and during peak season the place would look like a refugee camp with the tents and all. For those gifted with a strong stomach and the heart of an adventurer though, this place is definitely for you. You can swim all you want, trek steep hills if you dare; and, of course, if you don't want to shell-out 150 pesos for a bundle of firewood for cooking, you can always go to the "backyard" and gather some. You'll find that there is an abundance of it beyond the bamboo fence, and the line of pine trees growing at the bank of a shallow stream is something to behold. :D

After Anawangin, we visited my brother's wife's family in Brgy. Palauig and stayed there for two nights before heading back to Manila. Since it's located right beside an undeveloped beach, things were pretty much relaxed here and I had a good dose of saline solution down my lungs. If I may say so myself, this pretty much helped speed the healing process. Guess I was just too drained and stressed from work.

The kids and I stayed by the beach overnight, in THAT tent.

The Tent and the beach at dawn

Chasing Rainbows

The sun at 0700H

The Lone Boater

Where we slept XD

We also did target practice with a bow and a gun. Had the time of my life using the bow, although I can't really say the same for the gun. Its recoil is stronger than I thought it is.