The Calauit Island Wildlife Sanctuary
The biggest game preserve and wildlife sanctuary in the Philippines is located on Calauit Island in Palawan, which has the largest land area among the Philippine provinces.
Wildlife Safaris on Calauit Island
The 3700 hectare large Calauit Island is the sanctuary of African and Palawan wildlife threatened with extinction. Calauit was decreed a game preserve and wildlife sanctuary in August 1976 by then President Ferdinand E. Marcos.It was the late President´s response to an earlier appeal made for Kenya by the International Union of Conservation of Nature to help save African animals caught in the midst of civil strife.
Today giraffes, zebras and impalas live together with rare animals like bear cats, Calamian deer, mousedeer and Palawan peacocks, which are endemic to Palawan. The aviary is a recent addition.
A guide drives visitors around the national park in a specially designed jeep for a fee of approximately US$ 5,-. Admission costs you another US$ 5,-.
Because of the long travel time from Coron to Calauit Island (between 4 and 6 hours), we recommend renting a van or jeep in Coron.Please visit the official homepage of Calauit Game Preserve and Wildlife Sanctuary at www.calauitisland.com
Palawan Baragatan Festival, Puerto Princesa, June 23, 2009
The Baragatan sa Palawan festival is held yearly and runs the whole month of June. The highlight of the festival were the dance performances by the 7 participating municipalities of Palawan. What struck me most was the gaiety of the event and the energy and fun that the performers put into their dances - of course this is an area where Filipinos excel. Words fail me to describe some of the the wonderful images created by the extraordinary costumes and makeup on these beautiful and handsome young people - luckily, a picture is worth a thousand works so I will let the images tell the story. I also have videos of all the performances which show the beauty of the dances and the brilliant choreography that tells a story from their province. A special thanks to Manny Lucena of Manny's Guest House for getting me a "Press Card", advising me on the program and being my cultural guide for the afternoon. Click on the link to see the videos of the dances.Security was a little tight on the day but that was to be expected with the vice president Noli de Castro there to open the event (first picture).
