Apo island is a chunk of sandstone sea floor that was uplifted some time ago and is now crumbling back into the sea. Very steep cliffs, mostly covered in tropical vegetation, except where chunks have recently fallen off. It is completely surrounded by coral reefs, and we learned that it is one of the Philippines' best models of community supported conservation in action. Fishing and diving are strictly regulated and there is a large area of the reef that is a marine preserve. The wonderful thing about this is that the local fishers have found out that the regulations and protected area actually result in greater quantity and quality of the fish they catch! It really does help when the fish have a safe area nearby to breed and grow.
The last picture above is Liberty's Lodge where we stayed. A rustic world away from Manila indeed. We bathed and flushed our toilet in our ensuite bathroom using a soup-pot-sized ladle from the cistern, and slept under a mosquito net. No need for the ceiling fan, because there were lots of louvered windows and a strong ocean breeze. The fact that the generator only supplied power in the morning and evening was old hat to us after Typhoon Milenyo... and we were too tired each evening to stay up much past 9 anyway. There wasn't a lot of wildlife on land, but Richard surprised quite a large spider on the cistern one evening (sorry, too dark for a picture) and almost tripped over a toad on the stairs up to the dining room.
Our room was the last one on the left at the top of the stairs, just above the multidenominational shrines.
On our second stay, the lodge was quite full of guests and we were forced to stay in the Seaview room at the top. Oh the hardship! Four flights of stairs to climb from the beach. Of course, once we got up there, the room was just gorgeous with a balcony around two sides and a large bathroom with running water for the shower. The balcony was particularly nice for watching sunsets.
 Getting there |
 Scenes |
 Diving |
 Kids & School |
 Village |
 Coconut Wine |
 Lighthouse |
 Sunsets |