Unforgettable adventure | Inquirer Entertainment
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Unforgettable adventure

/ 08:24 PM March 16, 2012

HORNSBY AND MONTECASTRO. Discover the beauty of Batanes.

ELLA Guadayo Hornsby, a classmate in college, decided to join the March 10-12 batch of our Batanes Photo Safari. On the plane, she sat with Elisa Montecastro, a 77-year-old adventurer who was traveling by herself, and who owns the Cliff Royale Subic Resort in Olongapo City (call 0917 851-5273).

Elisa was hotel-hopping, so I invited her to join our fun group of 26 photo enthusiasts, many from the Asian Development Bank Camera Club. Elisa was keen on seeing the third island, Itbayat, by herself.

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I advised her to take a five-minute plane ride to the island, instead of the rough, four-hour trip on a falowa boat. It takes a 3-km trek through a forest to reach the mouth of Torongan cave. Then, a truck takes visitors to Coroboban, the highest peak on the island, and Port Pagnaman, where falowa boats dock.

At the heart of this quaint town is a beautiful church built in 1875, where a Spanish priest (assigned there almost 50 years ago) still says mass. I attended a beautiful early-morning mass one Easter Sunday, during which men sat on the left side of the church and women on the right.

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Join our Batanes Photo Safari from April to June. Visit mandy-navasero.blogspot.com,  or call 896-3208.

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TAGS: Batanes, Photo safari, Travel

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