Sombrero Island

Mt. Gulugod Baboy 2012 revisit

Our guests appreciated what they saw and experienced on top of Mt. Gulugod Baboy. Expectations were met. Everyone was welcomed by the picturesque view of the blue sea bordered with verdant hills below and with the clear skies above seen on daytime. The cold breeze that kissed while the skies turned tangerine on late afternoon was indeed very relaxing. And, the Socials that night was made more inviting (and absolutely more romantic for those couples in the climb) because of the canopy of stars overhead and the tiny twinkling lights from the towns below which served as a lovely backdrop. No doubt, Mt. Gulugod Baboy always deserves revisits.



On with the next adventure in Mabini, Batangas: Sombrero Island!

Hat shaped when viewed from afar, thus the name Sombrero Island...
Sombrero Island is a small but very beautiful island along the coast of Mabini, Batangas

Beach Bumming at Sombrero Island

Mabini, Batangas

by: Heinz Lopez Alvarez, Jr.

Given that we were already in Mabini, Anilao, Batangas, what else could be more exciting to do to celebrate a good climb than to explore Sombrero Island? It was just a perfect sidetrip and what made it more special was the fact that other BP's namely Marion, Clue and York, were there to join us and to personally greet Percy a happy birthday.

BP Marion, guest Maecel, BP Clue and guest Feigh
~ all joining the climbers in the Sombrero island escapade!

Our guest sweethearts Lean and Carla could not make it to the island adventure, but Clue brought her friend Macel while York came with his girl Feigh so it was a breakeven! As they say, "The more, the merrier".

A fairly big motorboat transported us from Port Mabini to Sombrero Island. The reason it is called "Sombrero" is quite obvious. From a distance, it does look like a hat sticking out of the blue sea.

Aboard the boat to Sombrero Island

King, at the edge of the boat

Approximately 40 minutes from the port to this cute island gave us fun with the waves! Excitement piled up in each one of us as we were approaching.

When the boat docked, the adventure in the island began!

Proper lunch was prepared plus a cake for the birthday boy was served soon as we hit the shore. Then, some went swimming, others just quietly sat down grabbing the opportunity to commune with nature, while others went on with their photo ops. True enough, Sombrero Island's mesmerizing exquisiteness is irresistible! White sand against the dark blue waters, rock formations where waves toss and make huge splash... imagine a perfect tropical island...  It's just beautiful.

Arriving at Sombrero Island

Annalyn sunbathing

Coffee cake for birthday boy Percy

Happy birthday celebrated in Sombrero Island!

DeePee and Marion ~ posing at the rocks

BP Clue having fun under the sun!

Hitting the beach are BPs Percy and Ivan and guests Sheryl and Gladys

Couple Jane and Rommel spending quality time together

A playful BP Ralph enjoying the sediments

BP Chons and the deep blue sea as the backdrop

The group spent a good four to five hours in this small paradise. Everybody felt blessed having been able to experience the gift of nature. Who would contest against the allure of Sombrero Island captured in these photographs? 

Exploring the Island

This part of Anilao, Batangas is well-known for scuba-diving. That suggests that beneath the blue see is a rich underwater haven.

BP Clue and BP Heinz

Annalyn and Percy caught a dead pufferfish

Couple Feigh and York at the cottage

However it was not part of our Itinerary, some of us tried to explore the Island and attempted to go around it, which is very feasible given we had the right equipments like ropes, etc. At first there were Ivan, Ralph, me (Heinz), Percy, Chons, Jane, and Gladys who started the attempt. But when the small group reached a relatively difficult and dangerous part where climbing a gigantic rock to advance was the challenge, only Ralph and I decided to carry on and Ivan needed to lead the rest back to the safer part of the Island.

Rock climbing, eh?

BP Sheryl refreshing @ Sombrero Island

BP Lead Ivan, thumbs up to Sombrero Island's beauty!

We went series of rockwall climbing hoping to succeed. The farthest we reached was the part where we were hanging in there, halfway through or atleast three-fourths in our estimation, but we decided to abort the attempt when I found out that continuing without proper equipment is a real danger. So we went back.

The Comedy...
 

The funny part is (well at least we can laugh at it now because we were seriously scared and panicky when we were right in that moment) we did not know how to get passed the gigantic rock where the rest stopped earlier! Ralph's plan was to jump off the rock and land on top of the next huge rock just to get to the other side of the Island. Mine was to jump to the waters (we were wearing life vests anyway) while praying that the waves would not bring us underneath rock formations where drowning's a sure thing. We were not voicing them out but both of us were thinking about death, rescue, news, (name it) already. Good thing, we pushed ouselves to the limit. Literally, we stretched our legs and arms and invested in our grip just to get passed that effing part of the adventure :) And, when we did (?) we stopped for a moment, looked at each, took deep breaths and hugged! Just like crazy idiot brothers! Hahaha! 

Sombrero Island is a small gem found at the very scenic town of Mabini, Batangas! Refreshing in its cool waters and breathtaking landscapes around it were some of the reasons why it is a perfect sidetrip to a hike in Mt. Gulugod Baboy! We love Sombrero Island!!!

 

The BACKPACKERS in Sombrero Island!
York, Percy, Ralph, Marion, Chons, King, Anna, Clue, Ivan, Heinz and DeePee