It has been a week now and I can still vividly remember how my recent trip to Balicasag Island ended. It was pitch black, the wind was howling like a danger is coming after us and the thick darker clouds were hovering above us like we can't escape it anymore. Our boatmen had to kill the motor of our boat so as not to hit the corals below - yes, it was low tide too. And though, our boat was moving, I can sense the tension in the sealed mouth of ours. This is not how I dreamed of my first-ever Balicasag Island trip, this is not a dream to start with, it was some sort of a nightmare.
To most of us when we heard of Balicasag, the first thing that comes right up in to our minds is its pristine white beach barely touched or abused by people. Considered as a Panglao, Bohol's pride, my recent trip to this paradise has almost turned differently if not for the determined Panglaoanon guides who tried all their best to bring back us to the Panglaoshore safe and sound.
On the second day of my coverage of Panglao International Dive Fiesta, we were invited by our host - the Panglao Tourism Board - to see and experience one of the hottest dive sites in the country, the Balicasag Island. Boasting with rich marine life that has been attracting foreign divers, Balicasag is actually in my must-visit list here in Bohol.
There are really places in this world that seeing once is not enough , and I'm really thankful for the opportunities given to me - opportunities that do not just bring me to different places but also makes me do the thing that I love the most, appreciate the beauty of this world at its finest moment. All that including the howling wind and tarnish rust, I got to do all over again in Ilocos Norte's Cape Bojeador Lighthouse.
We were just in the nick of time when we arrived at this towering beauty of Burgos, Ilocos Norte. Though, it may seem that nothing has changed in it, the moment I passed by its newly painted gates, I know that there is something new - something different - about this place that only my sixth sense can tell.
Unlike my previous visit here in Cape Bojeador Lighthouse, the place was so empty when we arrived. The guard was the only man left and he was about to leave then. Thankfully, he was so kind to let us in to see the whole lot.
Since my great Northern Luzon adventure where I get to see and experience the creepy beauty of the Cape Bojeador, I somehow developed this fascination towards lighthouses. And since that day, I find myslef in the hunt of other lighthouses in the country, and one of the latest hunts for me was the Cape Bolinao of Bolinao, Pangasinan.
Other than the bountifulness of our seas, the beauty of our great coastal lines, including white-sand beaches, if there's one man-made thing that make our coastal provinces make look more fascinating and intriguing, I personally think that lighthouses are one of them.
From its prestige looks that symbolizes power and triumph back in the early days, we now consider these architectural beauties a part of our heritage and culture that are still standing strong until now.
