BIG FAMILY OUTING
In this travel post, I will be sharing with you the time when the whole family on my mother's side went to Kalanggaman Island, a small island located in the middle of the bigger islands, Cebu and Leyte. In the Philippine archipelago, Cebu and Leyte are part of the Visayas group of islands situated at the center and east of the country.
My mother's younger sister came home to the Philippines from Sweden for vacation. She brought her two kids and one was having his birthday a day after the trip. My aunt wanted to have the celebration on the island to surprise him. A lot of people came with us to the island. The entire extended family was invited. The boat you see in the picture above is just one of the two boats used to transport everyone to the island.
I've heard so many good things about Kalanggaman from my friends and from pictures online. As we neared the island, its stunning white sand stood out in the middle of the sea. And as we neared its shores, the water was crystal clear. We docked on the west side of the island near our cottages and everywhere we looked, the beach was just gorgeous.
Kalanggaman Island has a land area of 7 hectares but the entire island can be easily walked on foot from one end to the other in less than an hour (source). I walked around the island and saw the sign, in the picture above, located at the very center. There were a handful of tourists in their cottages and tents. Some were also lounging on their mats and blankets by the shore. The place was lively and festive.
I walked beyond the center of the island which had a lot of trees that offered shade to the tourists and went for its famous sandbar. The whole island was just a tropical paradise. The sand was white and fine, and the waters were clear and cool. If not for the planned celebration for the day, I would have stayed by the water and enjoyed it to my heart's content.
DOUBLE SURPRISE
Aside from the people working fast to set up the surprise for my cousin's birthday. This trip was also the time when my brother planned to propose to his girlfriend. A few people were in on it and my brother had been planning it for some time already.
The first surprise happened when my cousin was brought to a cottage where balloons, cakes, and food were laid out and a "Happy Birthday" sign was hung on the wall. Everyone joined in the singing of the birthday song. I think my cousin already expected something was up because people kept bringing him away from the cottage.
The entire family shared a hearty lunch and after I'd eaten, I quickly went out to explore the entire sandbar before the next surprise had to take place. The geography of the island was quite a sight. The sandbar extended like a highway and curved to one side. I remember it was a very hot walk. The sun was shining so bright.
One side of the sandbar was calm while the other had strong waves. There were signs and announcements telling people not to swim on the left side of the sandbar because of the waves and strong current. I happily obliged and enjoyed the beach on the "safe" side.
It was time to go back and execute the next surprise. As I was walking back to the cottage, I saw my brother and her girlfriend walking towards the sandbar. The plan had commenced. I returned to the cottage and the people told me I'd be the lookout. I was to signal the rest of the family that the proposal was done so that everyone could go to my brother and her girlfriend to congratulate them.
I tried to be sneaky. There were other family members who were with my brother and his girlfriend. I waited for some time but it seemed my brother had not proposed yet. I got bored waiting and so I decided to go back to swimming. Naturally, I missed the proposal and I just saw people crying. I hurriedly went back to the family and told them to go with me.
Congratulations were given and some tears were shed. I was happy for them but it was getting extremely hot and I just wanted to stay in the shade. I was not able to take pictures of the newly engaged couple.
AIR OF HAPPINESS
Throughout the rest of the day, people were joyful and happy. There was this atmosphere of cheerfulness all around. I thought I'd be sulking around because I was still fresh from a break-up. But the happiness was contagious and I couldn't help but feel better.
In the afternoon, we explored the opposite side of the island. There were more trees and vegetation there. There weren't a lot of people which made it peaceful. I was glad to be walking under more shade.
We reached the other end of the island and the beach there was rocky and the waves were a bit stronger. We saw some establishments but they weren't operating. I think there was supposed to be a restaurant. Big wooden tents were also constructed on this side of the island. I felt like I was in a different place. There were tall coconut trees and you wouldn't imagine there'd be a marvelous sandbar on the other side of those trees.
IDYLLIC WONDER
Kalanggaman Island is truly a wonder. I was supposed to return there before the pandemic happened and now the island is still closed to tourists. All I can do now is remember the joy and the idyllic moments that the island has given me and my family. Here's an attempt at a wacky picture of me and my immediate family.
That's it for this post! Writing this travel blog makes me feel a surge of happiness. Maybe because the island reminds me of happy times and it also makes me happy being able to share it here. Thank you so much for reading my blog and for going through my photos. I have a lot more travel stories I will be sharing here. Catch you on the next post. Cheers!
