BUGANG RIVER

BUGANG RIVER IN PANDAN

As the people of Antique are ardent and steadfast protectors of their environment, the province has remained a haven for natural beauty, and this has become evident in having the cleanest river in the Philippines: Bugang River.    

Bugang River ranked first among the cleanest inland bodies of water in the region for three consecutive years and eventually won the “Gawad Pangulo sa Kapiligiran” as the cleanest river in the Philippines.

The river is supported by several springs, one of which is the major source of the municipality’s water supply. Moreover, the same river serves as the municipality’s tourist resort whose cool and fresh water provides a soothing and relaxing sensation to many local excursionist and tourists.

MT MADJA-AS

MT MADJA-AS IN CULASI ANTIQUE

Mt Madja-as ( “mataas” in Karay-a, the language spoken in Antique and also spoken in some parts of the Panay island) was a grand moment for us who have been to most high peaks in the country. I was not so sure how sore I would be after the climb but darn, here I am with a painful knee. I probably tore a ligament because I now limp when I get up in the morning. It did not help matters that right after Madja-as, i had to fulfill a photo assignment in Negros and Iloilo. In Negros, it was a long 4 day-trip via motorbike to visit and shoot many upland areas that were former areas of conflict and may soon experience more conflict if the mine operations go full-blast. It was a good trip that made me see the way other people live. It has made me see things in a new way, maybe also because I am no longer a wide-eyed girl. Haha.But I hope I can say more with my pictures. Find out if you get intrigued with the stories when I put up the pix at Banyas Tales, my other blog. I have so many thoughts about each place I visited although I spent more time in the hinterlands of Sipalay, southern Negros. For now, here are some pix from the climb.

BORACAY ISLAND

BORACAY ISLAND IN AKLAN

Boracay was originally home to the Ati people. Boracay Island was already an inhabited place before the Spaniards came to the Philippines. It was known to the Iberian conquerors as Buracay. At the time of contact with the Europeans,Buracay had a population of one hundred people, who cultivated rice on the island and augmented their income by raising goats.

Boracay is part of Aklan Province, which became an independent province on April 25, 1956.

Sofia Gonzales Tirol and her husband Lamberto Hontiveros Tirol, a town judge on nearby Panay island, took ownership of substantial properties on the island around 1900 and planted coconuts, fruit trees, and greenery on the island. Others followed the Tirols, and cultivation and development of the island gradually spread from this initial beginning.

Tourism came to the island beginning in about the 1970s.The movie Too Late the Hero was filmed in 1970 on locations in Boracay and Caticlan. In the 1980s, the island became popular as a budget destination for backpackers. By the 1990s, Boracay's beaches were being acclaimed as the best in the world.

In 2012, the Philippine Department of Tourism reported that Boracay had been named the world's second best beach after Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Boracay Island is located off the northwest corner of Panay Island, and belongs to theWestern Visayas island-group, or Region VI, of the Philippines. The island is approximately seven kilometers long, dog-bone shaped with the narrowest spot being less than one kilometer wide, and has a total land area of 10.32 square kilometers.

South-facing Cagban Beach is located across a small strait from the jetty port at Caticlanon Panay island, and the Cagban jetty port serves as Boracay's main entry and exit point during most of the year. When wind and sea conditions dictate, east-facing Tambisaan Beach serves as an alternative entry and exit point.^[27] Boracay's two primary tourism beaches, White Beach and Bulabog Beach, are located on opposite sides of the island's narrow central area. White Beach faces westward and Bulabog Beach faces eastward. The island also has several other beaches.

White Beach, the main tourism beach, is about four kilometers long and is lined with resorts, hotels, lodging houses, restaurants, and other tourism-related businesses. In the central portion, for about two kilometers, there is a footpath known as the Beachfront Path separating the beach itself from the establishments located along it. North and south of the Beachfront Path, beachfront establishments do literally front along the beach itself. Several roads and paths connect the Beachfront Path with Boracay's Main Road, a vehicular road which runs the length of the island. At the extreme northern end of White Beach, a footpath runs around the headland there and connects White Beach with Diniwid Beach.

Bulabog Beach, across the island from White Beach, is the second most popular tourism beach on the island and Boracay's main windsurfing and kiteboarding area.

Boracay is divided for land use and conservation purposes into 400 hectares of preserved forestland and 628.96 hectares of agricultural land.

BUGTONG BATO

BUGTONG BATO FALLS IN TIBIAO ANTIQUE

Bugtong-Bato Falls belong to the Bandirahan Mountain. The Japanese attacked the area during World War II which the locals say in Karay-a dialect, “gin-birahan sang mga Hapon.” 

Thus, that is why the mountain is called Bandirahan.

Bugtong-Bato Falls is one of the water sources of Tibiao River. Another river called Tuno River which is named after the local tree, Tipuno.

MARARISON ISLAND

MARARISON ISLAND IN CULASI

Malalison is an unspoiled 55-hectare hook-shaped island. Also known as Mararison Island, it's one of the three island-barangays of Culasi, Antique.Malalison can be reached by a motorized pump-boat (4 kilometers away or 15-20-minute ride, or even up to an hour depending on the weather) off the coast of the town proper.

Malalison Island has been popularly called the "Batanes of Antique" because of its landscape. Prepare for your legs to get tired during your uphill trek.

SIRAAN HOT SPRING

SIRAAN HOTSPRING IN ANINI-Y

Hot springs are love and therapy for the body, but aesthetically, sometimes they look all the same to me, especially when they are enclosed in swimming pools. Which is why I was in for a pleasant surprise when I made my way up Siraan Hot Spring in Anini-y, Antique.
Siraan Hot Spring is on top of a rugged gray outcropping with a view of the sea. So, while I immersed myself in the spring’s hot, sulfuric waters, I also took in the blue of the sea and the sky.
It's offered far more visual treats than a single view of the sea, though. The curious explorer in me was amazed with the various shapes and sizes of rocks, and how the view of the sea changed as I climbed and moved from one rock to the other. Trees shooting up from the gray and yellowish rocks were a bright contrast, as well as a welcome shade, for the hot spring’s guests.

ESTACA HILL

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ESTACA HILL IN BUGASONG

The Estaca Hill is located at Bugasong, a 43km. away from San Jose. This hill has an elevation of some 200 feet with a perfect view of the sea and the surrounding Bugasong. A watchtower was built to warn the people from the attacking Muslim pirates.

It is also the famous and a beautiful in the municipality of Bugasong. Some students in Bugasong are visiting there to see the highest part of Estaca. 

Estaca Hill was favorite plce of the students in Bugasong because if yo go there you can the almost part of Bugasong.