Travel dates: January 21-24, 2020

The second day of every travel I’ve ever had was the most enjoyable. It meant that I am finally feeling my “vacation mode” is on. This second day of my travel to Coron was definitely not an exemption. You could check out my first day in Coron here.

A Taste of a Safari

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

We had our breakfast in our hostel first at around 7AM then was picked-up for our tour to Calauit.

The Calauit Safari Park is located in Calauit Island, one of the islands of the Calamian archipelago, north west of Busuanga island. It was a 5-minute boat ride from Macalachao in Buluang.

I was excited! I had experienced the safari which I could only imagine as the closest thing with what is in Africa.

A fiasco in the safari

During this tour, I remember seeing some information signs during this trip and I was conversing also with our guide about why and how this part of the island of Calauit came to be, what animals can be seen that time and how the park thrives. Much like how I felt after knowing the impact of Oslob’s whale shark watching, I had this sinking feeling during this excursion that this was the same with my Oslob experience. I realized that The Calauit Safari Park had so much issues especially when I had the chance to watch the documentary “The Kingmaker” months after this trip where it mentioned how this sanctuary came to be.

Moreover, our guide mentioned that there were problems in maintaining the park due to funding, and that there is only one veterinary doctor who visits the park. I asked since I saw some giraffes with skin wounds, which looked like they were infected. Somehow, now that I am writing this, I wish that those giraffes were cared for. Also hopeful that the safari park will have more funding in the future, with proper implementation of policies to protect both the people and animals co-existing in one place.

Black Island

After we bid goodbye to the safari, we went to Black Island, where we had our lunch first then, enjoyed the sun, sand, and the saltwater, a precursor to our beach-hopping in Coron.

After our lunch and refreshing plunge in the water, we packed up to tour the rest of some of the landmarks in this part of Busuanga.

Busuanga Municipal Hall

Malbato Church

The last stop of the tour was the Malbato Church, a very fitting finale for the second day. We ended our tour at 7PM, and had dinner at 8PM.