Related posts to this Story:
Day 1 - Coron: Better Than Boracay?
Day 2 - Giraffes and Zebras Running Wild in the Philippines
Day 3 - Trekking Mt. Tapyas and Soaking in Maquinit Hot Springs
Coron Itinerary
Coron Expenses
We woke up before dawn (2:30am) the next day to get ready for our 4-hour journey to the tip of the Calamian group of Islands, Calauit. On retrospect, I suppose it's better to visit Calauit immediately after your arrival in Busuanga because it's nearer, probably less than an hour by land.
Anyway, we made our way through the dark to our boat. I had forgotten just how many stars there were in the sky until I looked up that night. The sky was just full of tiny, twinkling, bright lights. The night was cold but I fell asleep soon enough since there wasn't anything to see just yet.
I alternated between waking and sleeping until the sun was up. We got drizzled on several times but I didn't really mind. The only real problem we encountered was when we were already near Calauit but our boatmen forgot where the entrance was. We got stuck in some of the shallow coral and had to maneuver the boat to deeper waters. We also had to ask a fisherman where the path to Calauit was.
Fortunately, we didn't waste much time, and were finally heading towards the correct direction after a while.
The entrance fee to Calauit is Php 250 per person and the safari truck rental was Php 1000. As we headed towards the huts where we planned to eat our breakfast, we already spotted several deer, zebras and giraffes roaming freely. We instantly forgot about breakfast and hurriedly posed with the animals. Hehe.
After a while, the safari truck arrived, carrying other visitors. There were two Filipinas and a foreign couple. It turned out we were to join their group for the tour. They waited for us as we ate breakfast while the tour guide talked about the animals in Calauit.
I learned that the giraffes were flown from Kenya and on their adjustment period, the caretakers would line up several endemic plants of Calauit and observe which ones the animals ate. Those plants they chose were sent to Manila to be studied for nutritional content, or possible harmful effects like abortion. If it was harmful, the plant was purged from the area.
The oldest giraffe (18 years old) was named Max, who was also the lead male and currently courting the female Isabel. His patches were darker than hers. I also noticed the giraffes used their long, black tongues to break leaves from branches.
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| Me feeding Max. Behind him is Isabel. |
