The Playground That Is Anawangin

If you call yourself an outdoors person and you haven't been to Anawangin, you should be ashamed of yourself. Hehe I'm kidding. But Anawangin is to campers as Puerto Galera is to call center agents. I remember all the hype about Galera when I was still an agent. Up to date, I haven't set foot on that place. I try to avoid anything congested when leaving the city. Why would you leave all the ruckus for another one? .... What am I talking about? Lol.. 

You will probably find hundreds of blogs online that will give you instructions on how to get there and what to bring so I'm not gonna bother. Instead, I shall give you a list of what almost stopped me from going to Anawangin and another list making me realize why this island cove is one hell of a playground that I shouldn't even think of missing out on.

What are we working if not to play? :)

Here are the things I gathered from blogs that nearly had me backing out of our Anawangin Trip. 

Sand Fleas Galore. Locally known as NIKNIK, these are *as i read* blood-sucking parasites that can be found in the vast sands of Anawangin. Mosquitoes na island version at laganap ito sa Anawangin. Aminado akong hirap akong matulog kaya ang worry ko, pag naalimpungatan ako sa kagat nito sa madaling-araw at mahirapan na ako bumalik ng tulog. Worse, kung ako lang ang manatiling gising hanggang magbukang-liwayway. Gano man kacute ang tawag sa kanilang "Niknik", ganun din ka-cute ang iniwang peklat ng mga to sakin bilang nakatulog ako sa buhanginan sa sobrang kalasingan. Fiesta ang mga ungas! Nagmistulang pahina ng connect-the-dots ang katawang-lupa ko.

Walang accommodation. Bilang tangang-tanga pa ako sa set-up ng Anawangin medyo nawindang ako dito. Virgin pa kasi ako sa mga camping-camping. Wala talaga akong idea kung pano ang kaganapan sa mga camp-out na yan.

Walang CR. Nag-expect akong meron. Pero ang kantyaw nila sakin, pwede naman daw maghukay kung magna-number 2 ka. Pagdating sa island, may CR naman. Pero laking pasalamat ko na rin at hindi ko kinailangang MAG-MOMENT sa island dahil hindi mukang comforting ang comfort room doon.

Walang signal. This bothered me. A lot. Bilang may jowa ako non at pahirapan na nga magpaalam na mag-oovernight ako sa kung saan sabay wala pang signal sa pupuntahan. This is enough to feed his paranoia that I'm spending the night with someone illegal. Para namang napakaganda ko para magloko.

Walang kuryente. Naisip ko ang blackberry kong daig pa ang teleponong nakabukas lahat ng App sa bilis madrain ng baterya. Yun talaga ang worry ko, hindi yung kung mainit o madilim sa island. Pagkalow batt talaga ang concern ko. 

Halimaw na Alon. This was my main concern over and above everything. Over na, above pa kaya talagang napakalaking concern niyan. Dalawang bagyo ang nakaschedule nung linggong yun. So adding to the advice/s of some friends who've been to Anawangin before that the waves we will encounter to get to the island are not something to be taken lightly, news of the storm surge added to my hesitation. Kahit ako pa ang nag-set ng outing, konting sundot na lang back-out na talaga ako. I'm glad hindi nila ako pinayagan umatras at katakot-takot na mura ang inabot ko wag lang ako magpaiwan =)

What made Anawangin worth all the trouble? 

Because it's where wild waves 

and calm waters meet.

You can climb mountains and peek at what's on the other side..

Blast the night away with good friends and laugh your hearts out the next morning reminiscing what a blur everything was.

You'll never run out of things to do in this cove. There is so much to explore when sea, mountains, marshes and woods get together. Woods talaga? 

Promise, pwede kang magpaka-Dora dito. No map needed :P

Don't take my word for it. See for yourself. Just check the weather before going there. ;)

P.S. This is a long overdue post. Wag ng itanong kung gano ka-long overdue. Masipag ako magbyahe. Medyo tamad mag-update :P

Categories: Anawangin, Beaches, Cove, Zambales