 | Anawangin Cove is a famous place in Zambales that has been popularized by postings in different social media sites and blogs. This time my Family decided to explore the Cove and see the beauty in our own perception. |
As compared to my trip before, this one also has been planned weeks ahead. After finishing my reports in my corporate life at the office, I went home to get our things and brought our daughter with us this dark night off from Laguna to spend a night in an old place in Caloocan where we live before we moved to Laguna. It’s early in the morning of 3am Thursday when we ride towards Victory Liner Caloocan to commute towards San Antonio Zambales. Like boy scout and girl scouts ready for adventure, we already brought with us our foods and all the things that we needed for camp at Anawangin so we didn’t go to the Market, instead, hopped at a Tricycle towards Barangay Pundaquit where our arranged boatman are waiting for us. Btw, this is our first time trip that we arranged through a travel agent, but it’s still cheap I guess.
A 15 to 20 minutes boat ride in a very strong waves will be truly worth it by seeing a magnificent surroundings until an Agoho Tree-lined beach came into view. Often mistaken for a Pine, it is actually a flowering tree that grows mostly on sandy seashores just like in Anawangin Cove.
The serene cove is truly delightful. Few tents were lined up beneath the Agoho Trees as we expected in a regular Thursday would be less crowded but compared to weekends so we were right, it is so peaceful. Some people are now preparing their foods and some were having a relaxing moment in this peaceful beach. Unlike the commercialize beaches in the Philippines such as Boracay and Puerto Galera, this one is truly remarkable.
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The fact that the Province has been truly devastated by a volcanic eruption of Mt Pinatubo back in 1991, nature has truly has its own healing process. After days of ash falls where this cove and the nearby provinces of Zambales and Pampanga has been badly recognizable before and been said to be erased in the map and years of typhoons and lahar flows, a new haven have emerged, one of natures masterpiece.
We arrived at around 9 am and Fernando with his assistant boatman installing our tent while we preparing our lunch. We have brought rice, canned goods, bread, eggs, snacks but you may also bring dried fish, fruits or your choice of ihaw ihaw but this should be cooked right away to avoid being stale. A 5 gallon water is provided by Kuya Joven, our travel agent contact in Brgy Pundaquit who owns several banca’s and camping gears.
We also brought two small pots but Joven is kind enough to lend us an extra pot, pan, knife, sandok.
Cooking in charcoal is challenging, aside from it takes a long time to cook foods, starting a fire will sweat you out.
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After we prepared lunch, we took a nap and this, I can say, is one of the best nap I ever had. The cool breeze that touches you while looking at the Agoho trees above is something that is very rare for urban people whose stress and anxiety is part of everyday life. I like this part.
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We spend our afternoon swimming, taking pictures and just enjoying the scenery because here, time seems to stop and you have plenty of time to ponder, that is, to think that everyday that your alive is a special occasion, next day is another day to look forward to and God has been gracious so start and end the day by giving thanks to Him.
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It’s nighttime now and also pitch dark because there is no electricity in the area so better bring emergency portable lamps. There are rechargeable lamps and flashlights that only cost 280 to 650 pesos at ACE Hardware or at any hardware store. After supper, we buy woods for bonfire for P100. There is a small store that sells basic commodities, it’s open 24 hours but I suggests that you bring your stuff aside from food, anti mosquito lotion, matches, sponge, dishwashing paste, etc because it is quite pricey.
Now, as I told you above, cooking in charcoal is challenging, starting a bonfire is another. It took us at least 25 minutes to have a decent fire plus a lot of kerosine thrown into it just to start. An improvise lamp, gasera, costs P50.00. But hey, look at my bonfire, isn’t that something?
We wake up around 4am because its raining, luckily not in torrents, but just some pitter patter and stop around 5am, Fernando will fetch us at 7am because we will be going island hopping and to Capones Island where the lighthouse is located.
Camping is truly a remarkable experience, this is another adventure I’ll be looking forward to again, soon.
