Saturday, May 29, 2010

Stranded on Boracay Island

The island of Boracay, just off the coast of Panay was originally home to the Ati tribe. Boracay is part of Aklan Province which became an independent province in 1956. Formerly undiscovered, it wasn't till the 1970s that tourism began to develop in Boracay, and the island became popular with backpackers in the 1980s. They tell me that years ago, Boracay Island was a well-guarded secret, but then in the 70s a foreign movie crew accidentally "discovered" this island paradise. Since then Boracay has become one of the major tourist destinations in the Philippines.
I came to Boracay Island in an attempt to find a tropical island get away for our possible 2011 photo tour; a kind of retreat, a place to recharge our batteries, review our portfolios and take in a little bit of Philippine beach culture. This kind of R&R is not usually a part of any of our other photo tours, but with the beauty of the Philippines, I am reluctant to exclude it from our tour.

I hadn't planned on spending this much time here, but after arriving I was informed that flights off of the island were fully booked.  Anyway, as beautiful as it is, it's a bit too touristy, so tomorow I'm off to try and find another, less traveled island, one that can be our little slice of "undiscovered" paradise. Of course, there could be worse places to be stranded, so I'm not complaining. In fact, I took advantage of the time and yesterday, hired a guide Anthony, and his boat, for a circumnavigation of  the island...Boracay is truly a stunning place!
Paalam! (Tagalog for good bye),

5 comments:

Lanthus Clark said...

Nice place to be stranded!

Mindanaoan Driver said...

Oh Karl,

The word 'Stranded' seems nice when you are in a beautiful island.

I was once stranded somewhere in Polilio then. What a paradise.

Keep safe, God Bless!

Drey

Terry Wheeler said...

Hey Karl,
My wife says to try Palawan. Very beautiful she says and not nearly as touristy!

Your pictures are awesome!
Terry

Eric Calabros said...

you now shoot with Nikon.. so, IMHO, its time to change your picture placed in the header of your blog :-)

Anonymous said...

Looks beautiful. when are you going to do the trip?
Judi and Harry