Musings
Well, I’m microblogging again. In my case, that means that I’m going to post this at the end of my first draft.
The post previous to this was my first attempt at microblogging. After it posted, more than 24 hours ago, I edited two more times. I wonder how many times I edit this before I submit my next post.
Why its called Snake island
I got the impression that tourists are offered a selection of nearly ten islands. Visit one or all of them. Only your energy and time constrain you. At some point you’ll have to stop to eat. The two islands offered to us were Pandan or Snake island.
Snake Island
Snake was named after its shape from the air, the boatmen told me. Long and skinny, that white mark in the image above, I did not draw. That’s the white of the beach sand. There are native huts along he beach. You pick out a hut when your boat pulls up. There’s no charge to use a hut. There’s no central location like a ticket booth to go to. You just pick out a hut.
Halloween Mask illusion
Google Map and Earth use commercial satellite photos. A satellite takes photographs in a sweep. When it does a sweep, it records the image in its own lighting condition. Later on, weeks later perhaps, the satellite will train its camera to make another sweep of the area. It won’t be the same area. It’ll be off to the side. The sweeps abut each other. The process is similar to painting a wall, one stroke at a time. Lighting conditions are different in this next image I printed from Google Earth. I want to point out the illusion of a Halloween ghost mask. You can see this same illusion using Google Map.
Halloween Mask Illusion
Getting to Honda Bay
The Honda Bay tour is a visit to the zoo. There’s a Bat island and there’s also a Starfish island. Starfish is named because the island has a starfish population.
The stretch of Bancao beach that I explored in this post, for example, was pristine but it had no starfish. It had lots of brittle stars though!
Honda Bay using Google Earth
To see the attractions of Honda Bay, you start at the wharf of Barangay Santa Lourdes. It’s a 20- to 30-minute drive from Junction-1.
At the wharf, look for the tourist assistance center.
If you don’t see it, just ask for help.
Honda Bay, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines
Making our arrangements at the wharf.
At the wharf, you’ll pay for the services of a banca and its boatmen.
Pesos 1,500 for the use of a banca and boatmen. The boatmen will also cook for you.
Wharf of Barangay Santa Lourdes. This is where land vehicles park and tourists hire boat services.
Before 9/11
Docked along the wharf was this muscular-looking patrol boat.
A rigid inflatable boat of the Maritime Unit of the Philippine National Police.
There’s a mount in the bow for a machine gun. The mount has a shield. The machine gun is shielded by a notched plate. It’s in front of the land vehicle’s front grille in the photo above. Notice its twin outboards: two 250-horsepower engines!
Police presence here is important. It was in Honda Bay that a most notorious crime of abduction and kidnapping took place. In May 2001, Muslim terrorists from Mindanao crossed the Sulu Sea, attacked Dos Palmas, and spirited 20 hostages away to Basilan.
That incident single-handedly shut down tourism in the province. Then 9/11 occurred and the world plunged into recession anyway.
I was just reminded of this because two suspects from that incident were reported caught earlier this week. Here’s a link.
Kudos to the police for establishing what appears to be a robust (robust enough) base here in Sta. Lourdes. The peninsula of Puerto Princesa is just south of Honda Bay. It’s probably 10 to 15 minutes away.
There are three more RIBs in there! (Rigid Inflatable Boat)
Island views
It was an overcast day which turned out fine because we avoided getting burned.
Rounding that island, we saw an abandoned jetty.
Mangroves are the pioneer "big root" vegetation in the islands. Hail to the mangrove!
Pandan island, I think.
 Another island in the tour–called Anupo–was covered in the previous post.
Appeal for information to those who’ve visited Honda Bay before
Did your boatman say Bat island had a bat population?
Do you know the names of the other islands?
What are the islands that make up the Halloween mask illusion?
There were three of us in our group. The banca and boatmen cost 1,500 pesos. There were only three of us but you rent a banca. A banca can seat six so we were at half-capacity. Is that what you paid when you went?
Lunch cost 500. It consisted of four freshly-caught fishes and rice (of course). Three were grilled and one, the largest one, was made into sinigang. Yummy! What did you pay?
Please post a comment if you know the answers.
How to enlarge an image
Most images can be enlarged. All in this post can certainly be enlarged. To enlarge an image, click on it. The screen will refresh. When you see the image again, you’ll see its final resolution. Click on it (the size of the final resolution–encircled below) to see the largest version of that image.
How to enlarge an image
Retired? No way! 