Camiguin is a small island. Despite that, volcanoes are crammed
in this island―there are seven active volcanoes in Camiguin. People who have
gone there said that since the island is so small you can actually go around
the entire island in just a day.
So we set out on a trip to Camiguin for a day. We were a
mixed group of eleven, twelve if you include the driver. Most of us used to be
colleagues at work. A few were friends of a friend who were just invited the
last minute because some backed out. At the end of the trip, however, we all
simply became friends who shared the same harried and hurried trip.
We left Davao City on the 23rd of April at 2:30
in the morning. The plan was to get to Camiguin via Cagayan de Oro, head to
Balingoan Port, then take a ferry boat to Benoni Port in Camiguin. It’s a
butt-numbing ride that takes us almost twelve hours, including meal and pee
stops.
It was around 1:30 in the afternoon when we reached
Camiguin. We took a lunch at an eatery near the San Nicolas de Tolentino
Church. After our lunch, we immediately headed to the destinations found on our
list: Sunken Cemetery, Old Church Ruins, Walkway to the Old Volcano, White
Island, and Ardent Hibok-Hibok Spring Resort where we slept overnight.
The next day, we managed to see the San Nicolas de Tolentino
Church, Katibawasan Falls, and that unnamed store where you can buy Vjandep Pastel―that soft bun with yema
filling for which Camiguin is also known.
We dropped some places on our list. Had we the luxury of
time, we could have visited them all. And since we have a very stringent self-imposed
goal—to see as much as must-see tourist spots in Camiguin in a short period of
time—what we did was mostly to take pictures, pictures, and more pictures. We
neither had time for exploration nor education.
At around 9:30 in the morning, we left Camiguin. My feeling
was one of ambivalence. I wasn’t sure if I was satisfied or not.
Perhaps that’s what makes Camiguin enticing to tourists even
if it has none of the throbbing nightlife of Boracay or the diverse attractions
of Palawan.
Camiguin gives you the feeling of satisfaction of being able
to try it, but at the same time leaves a hollow feeling in you that can only be
fulfilled by trying it one more time.
