This should have been posted two weeks ago, but I had to give way to @josejirafa's and then to @glecerioberto's post about Bantayan. If you're interested to read their take about the island, you can find them here:
They have a very different approach in showcasing the beauty of Bantayan, but both packaged their post to highlight the natural beauty of the island. One showed the island through the perspective of a transient adventurer while the other showed his deep connection with the island, but both are a delight to read.
Hello Hive!
In my last travel post under this series, I featured Bantayan Island with its stunning beaches. There's another tourist spot that we toured, but I was torn between adding it to the post or not. In the end, I decided to make it into a separate post. Anyway, here's the link of my post under this series.
I also made a separate post about our island hopping to Sillon Island or Virgin Island. It's part of our Bantayan Island trip, but I put under my Philippine Islands series. Find more about the island in the link below.
Rationale of this Post
The reason why I decided to have this in a separate post is that I will be talking about mangroves. I have this deep fascination with mangroves as I have with corals. At first glance, they're just trees of almost the same height that are anchored in the muddy portion of a shallow sea, but at a closer look, you'll be able to see their significance in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem in a particular area. I wanted to highlight that in a post.
As an archipelago, The Philippines is the sixth country in the world with the longest coastline (Nag, 2018). This means we are blessed with marine resources and ecosystems and that includes mangrove forests that are usually located in tidal flats. According to an article by Gaia Discovery, deforestation as an issue in the Philippines is focused only on upland forests while those that are happening in lowland areas, especially mangrove forests, often goes under the radar (Tacio, 2012). Mangrove forest areas in the country are rapidly dwindling because, in the recent past, people often regarded mangroves as unimportant. Often, they're cut down as a source of firewood.
What really grinds my gears is when I hear in the news that mangrove areas are cut to pave way to establishments, just like what happened in Palawan recently where environmental officers were arrested by local police to prevent them from inspecting an area where mangroves are cut. The one was last year in Cavite where the whole mangrove island is allegedly levelled for a hotel and casino to rise up there. Before and after photos were circulating on social media about this issue.
As if those people didn't know about the role of mangroves in marine ecosystems. We are not only talking about natural habitat and breeding ground of marine life, but we are also talking about carbon sequestration, coastal protection, and erosion control.
Carbon sequestration is the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide [USGS]. According to recent reports, mangrove forests can sequester carbon as much as four times than rain forests (Erickson-Davis, 2018). In coastal protection, mangroves act as storm barriers as they dissipate big waves during storm surges (del Valle et al, 2019). In erosion control, mangroves filter the sediments carried by the river and prevent those sediments from reaching the sea.
Mangrove reforestation initiatives deserve attention. While Bohol and Siquijor islands are leading the way in mangrove conservation, other areas in the Visayas are now slowly catching up. Bohol has successfully integrated mangrove area tours in their eco-tourism projects. I haven't tried it yet, but Bohol has firefly watching in mangrove forests. Siquijor is following with its massive mangrove tree planting project in the last decade. Mangrove eco-tourism has been a trend in recent years as evidenced by the increase in mangrove forest tours and walkways. One of those walkways is Oboob Mangrove Garden.
Oboob (or Obo-ob) Mangrove Garden/Eco-Park is located in Bantayan Island and is managed by OMAGIECA (Obo-ob Mangrove Garden Integrated Ecotourism and Conservation Association). So, the mangrove walkway is also called as OMAGIECA Mangrove Garden. With the aim of raising environmental awareness and responsible tourism along with the promotion of local tourist spots, the association maintains the 116-hectare nature preserve.
During Our Visit
Oboob Mangrove Garden is slightly far from the town proper of Sta. Fe. I think it took us 30 minutes to reach the area via tricycle. There's an entrance fee of Php 50 at the registration area and information center. You can choose to tour the whole mangrove area via kayak or boat, but the best option is just to stroll around the walkways that are made of bamboo slats.
At the end of the main walkway from the entrance is the Omaciega Restaurant where you can have fresh plates of seafood at an affordable price. I must warn you though that the place offers very little shade from the sun. I was ready as most of my friends so forgive the outfits in the last photo below.
The place is still recovering from the devastation brought by Typhoon Haiyan. Mangrove planting efforts were ramped up as indicated by small mangrove seedlings which are in total contrast with the dead mangroves.
From Omagieca Restaurant, walkways lead to bamboo cottages and watchtowers where you can relax and enjoy the scenery. Much of the reviews say that there's not much to do in the mangrove area except be with nature. I agree with those reviews. As for me, you don't have to do anything once you're there except have that much-needed relaxation.
They say you can do fish feeding, but I don't really recommend that one. You're introducing a foreign food to the critters in the mangroves that might have an adverse impact on the delicate balance of the ecosystem below the water surface.
The Camp Sawi signage was transferred there from Kota Beach where it was originally placed for the Filipino movie of the same title. However, I won't show my photos because of my damn outfit. At least I didn't get a sunburn when we were there. 😂
Alright, that's all for this post and this is the end of my Bantayan Island escapade. You can check out @josejirafa's post for more information about the mangrove area and whatever sea creatures he saw when he was there. You can also check out @glecerioberto's post to have an idea of his mood while he was there. I'll leave you with this only decent photo that we had. Of course, @queenielee was with me when we visited the island. Maybe she will post and have a different take about our experience there.
Sources:
1. Nag, O. S. (2018, Jun 18). Countries With The Longest Coastline. WorldAtlas. https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-with-the-most-coastline.html
2. Tacio, H. D. (2012, July 19). Mangrove Forest Deforestation in the Philippines. Gaia Discovery. https://www.gaiadiscovery.com/nature-biodiversity/mangrove-forest-deforestation-in-the-philippines.html
3. Fabro, K. (2020, June 11). In Philippines' Palawan, top cop linked to assault on environmental officer. https://news.mongabay.com/2020/06/in-philippines-palawan-top-cop-linked-to-assault-on-environmental-officer/
4. Erickson-Davis, M. (2018, May 2). New study finds mangroves may store way more carbon than we thought. https://news.mongabay.com/2018/05/new-study-finds-mangroves-may-store-way-more-carbon-than-we-thought/
5. del Valle, A. et al (2019). Mangroves protect coastal economic activity from hurricanes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1911617116
Kim Ybañez
Welcome to Kim's small corner in Hive. He is a chemical engineer by profession, but a blogger by passion. He is a wanderlust and an adventure seeker. Join his quests as he visits secluded destinations, climbs mountains, tries new and exotic dishes, and explores his country (The Philippines) and the rest of the world even if he's still a poor corporate slave with tons of bills to pay and two siblings to support in college.
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I find it really fascinating how we have different stories to tell when we came here. Anyways, thanks for the mention and for 'giving way' lol. I, too, would applaud these trees for doing such a wonderful role in the environment
That's why it's really important to always tell your travel blogs based on experience. Different takes, different experiences, same place. Of course, muatras jud ko basta mangpost namo.
Is that a safe place? Because as beautiful as it is, to me, it looks more like a suitable place for reptiles, lol
Definitely safe. There might be reptiles, but they're more afraid to humans than we are to them. I think the only reptiles here are monitor lizards and snakes. I haven't seen anything though. The place is famous so there are a lot of people.
Oh man I love the mangroves. I actually dedicated a post to them too :) Incredible plants. Wishing you a lot of success with this post, here is a little support from me ;)
@tipu curate 2
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 16/32)
Wow! I looked at your post and I was stunned by the last photo. That underwater shot is amazing! Mangrove areas are usually muddy, but your photo was crystal clear. Stunning!
As always, thank you for your constant support! Very much appreciated.
Yes, you are right :) But these photos were taken in a cenote, a natural sinkhole. Cenotes are usually filled with crystal clear water ;)
You are welcome buddy. Always a pleasure to support a notch piece like this ;)
Oh! I forgot it was taken in Yucatan Peninsula. I really wanted to visit Mexico just for the cenotes alone.
Cenotes are awesome ;) The Caribbean can easily get too warm in summer (around 30 C) but the cenotes are always cool and refreshing. A few more photo samples from those that I got to visit while living in Mexico ;) https://steemit.com/travel/@phortun/beauties-of-yucatan-my-ultimate-photo-collection-of-cenotes
Wow! Awesome photos! 🤩🤩🤩
One photo really caught my eye. Those turtles chilling on the logs.
I'd love to come the second time around with you! Those days <3
I miss you et! Uwi kana dito. Or ako ang pupunta jan. Haha
miss you too, et! ali na sure ko daghan kag mafeature ari XD
Ang pera ko et. 😭😭😭 Konting-konti nalang. 😂
oy but the future looks bright for you here man pud.
😑😑😑
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I would have had fun there at the mangrove habitat. I would have spent the time watching the fish swim in and around the roots of the trees there.
Didn't know you were into coral. Me too!
Hi Dave! Corals are just so colorful and they're too significant to be ignored.
Visit Cebu and you will definitely enjoy it here.
Its on my wish list. Has been for a while
Yay! I hope it will come true. If I'm still here, I will definitely show you around.
Informative and enjoyable! Thanks for the feature. Love your outfit. Magsasaka ka gorl? Hahaha.
Sabi na eh! Di po ako magsasaka sir. Ako po yung caretaker ng mga bakawan po opo. 😂 Putik!
Hiya, @lizanomadsoul here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Top 3 in Daily Travel Digest #963.
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Thank you so much Liz and pinmapple team! 🙌
The sun is harsh indeed on the island. Ah, so that's where they transferred the signage. When Kota Beach management decided to remove the arch, guests continuously came to the resort looking for it.
We also thought it was still on Kota Beach. They said it was transferred to the mangrove area. That's why went there, just to have a photo under the signage. I ended up not sharing them because my outfit was really horrible. 😂
Pre wala naman sana downvotean ng kapwa pinoy may atraso ba ko sayo? Tsk
😑
Enough with your kapwa pinoy bullshit. If you're an abuser, we don't care what the fuck your nationality is. Kababayan my ass.
Thank you for visiting my hometown and definitely my birthplace, it's such an honor to be part of your travel journey here in Bantayan Island. Just by reading your articles makes me even proud of being a local here in our island. Thanks a lot for featuring the community-run mangrove plantation.
You're welcome! Bantayan is just beautiful.