When I first saw Britania Islands many years ago when Caraga Region a baby boomer in place I made a promise that will not be broken – I shall return.
The three famous words in the history brought us back to the core of memory when Filipinos wage war from Japanese Imperial Army in 1940’s. Then victorious claim began when Gen. Douglas MacArthur proclaimed ‘I Shall Return’ to the Filipinos, his promise never broken. And the war heat up in the white sand beaches of Dinagat Islands and Leyte.
Beautiful as it may seem that foreign people captivates the natures surrounds the war from very tropical scene. Coconut trees standby for many years marching along the white sand beaches were a mark of history a bullet ridden trunks, and some old age trees bend to kiss the turquoise water in the Pacific.
This makes me sense of good rapport that brought back the beautiful islands in the Pacific, particularly the hot spots making a name in the planet called Britania Islands. My family was too hot to handle in preparing the day before making a trip in one of the planet stopover. Those emotions started to plunge high in a 37 degree tripper and began to show on earth how the heaven was mold into one paradise fulfilling a scene of peace and amazement that a number of them started imagining things the gentle way.
I was so in static mode to put a challenge if I can pack my own kids going into rocking adventures that never defined them for life. Now, they want to make their own life packed with meaning in a roller coaster ride that began from home. Since growing at the age of four and six, and yet in my mind, they are still smooth to the demanding physical world of travel, jumping the remote places a hundred miles away from home that draw them into environmental shock.
I have seen them making duel outside against the sun, dust, and rain. And the house was in show from the darkest feelings of air and smell spreading at the center of modern day civilizations. Yet they became explorer of their own phase of health as grown-up kids struggling day to day and bring their bones and tissues to the highest level.
But here in the group of islands and islets became instruments how they behave from the forces of nature that forms a natural habitat for human beings. I believe natures once heal a dying flesh or a dying heart. When someone suffered from the crust of life that makes him vulnerable to any serial attacks of weaknesses and tragic ending, he must embrace Britania – from here another phase of life started to lift and a new person started to emerge.
The Mission Straight To Britania
The travel going straight to Britania not anymore threatening for those who are in pain. The first time encounter is a rigid regimen that close to nausea while seeing moving trees and mountains and rousing vehicles opposite direction. The road to Britania seems not anymore in fighting mode when vehicle travels from Butuan City because all roads are in concrete state winning the government effort to wipe out bad roads in the province of Surigao del Sur that had became the symbol of ugly image when strangers coming in and out from different strategic locations.
I have gain a little glimpse of my two kids after two hours of travel that fall them into sleeps, then wake up from drowsy state looking those strange environment had never seen before. Well, it seems they are radically at ease fighting the ill-effects of travel. The roads along the highway have shown greatness that became a typical comfort for a smooth sailing adventures enroute to Surigao del Sur province. Added stimulation for a lucky trip is the short travel passing Los Arcos from Butuan City. This road cutting the trip enroute to Britania and banned the idea in getting San Francisco for another turn making another round of trip to Britania. This makes travel to live for less than three hours.
World of Mangroves
The vehicle has stopped where you can sense the population of mangroves thriving from any angle of the streets before continue to shut off at La Entrada. The entrance at La Entrada Resort moving out from a vehicle when reading along the road yellow sign ‘This Way to La Entrada’, the core eyes began to sense heaven and earth, peppering the treasures back when witness less people in sight for the last time when I conquered Britania.
The dramatic background shoots the never ending straight line of stairs surrounded with mangroves. The boat is nowhere in sight but each one moves forward with a steady pace to capture the natures trek in a man-made stairs across the sea. Mangroves became a favorite outlook in the summer trees sprawling along the side like a thick wild grass trooping the side of stairs. The winds from the sea bends them and dancing leaves welcome the advancing visitors from a distant land as moves closer the end point where the boat waited us to take to the point for another destinations.
I enjoyed taking angular shots of my camera before and after the steps. I notice in one of my candid shots a boy sitting in a mangrove tree. This single shot became a viral talk when people take it as a question of clarity when actually there was no boy around the vicinity. It was a decision that ping the minds of those visitors that sometimes put a show in a camera to believe that this boy exist from the outside world.
I find fairy tale stories, witches, and draculas, magical power from amulet of invisible individuals living opposite of our world much more stabbing the curious mind when I saw the picture. But I believe of what I saw that this is human being having fun between rising water and swaying mangrove trees.
As we begin the journey into the world of islands and beaches in now famous Britania Islands of San Agustin, province of Surigao del Sur which its coastlines a hundred percent window to Pacific Ocean, this beautiful tourists spots of Caraga Region became endemic to all visitors – they always made a comeback!
The magic of many coral islands shown the image of God as an artist behind, making the islands and islets panoramic show before the sky and vast body of water were completely speechless human onlookers. The spirits were too high for them to explain that the whole journey in paradise broke that the total existence was the works of God’s hand behind that drove Britania Islands into world class exploration.
Hopping Britania Islands
In the next few minutes, the boat has just release its strings attached to the port, I begin to think the luckiest guy in the planet since I was with places that people wanted to dream and embrace. Met the kind of place that pounded those staring eyes to the new world coming and witness how heaven and earth became your theme that put paint to the rest of your travel.
In my own way of discovery, there are 25 coral islands living in Britania trooping in an inland mass of mainland shoreline that facing the Pacific Ocean. I have seen one that is far away with neat white line that is almost escaping from the group of islands brave enough to take the strength of the Pacific Ocean.
I saw the face of my two daughters in fear when I look straight into their eyes. They keep on asking me while moving forward to Hagonoy island are their any sharks in the water. And I answered them, yes there are sharks!
I remember them when accidentally click the Youtube video when shark coming out in the water open its mouth with its sharp teeth sow terror behind them. Till then they keep asking sharks in the water. Although I have not seen any sharks or its fin floating of my entire career travelling the Pacific islands of Caraga Region. I do believe sharks best places to live is the presence of coral reefs where Caraga Region is rich of biodiversity of marine life. Probably, sharks are thriving among the marine population that I can think of. And they are living down under lurking for its victim to come but not with human beings. They rarely attack human.
I was in a static mood when I saw the islands keep nearing as the excitement began to show while my kid’s eyes still riddle with fear that bloating their minds. But I know for a little span of time from now they will forget everything that occupied their hearts and minds.
We passed to different coral islands that dripped my mind with wonder and totally amazed that has something to do with the shape of cupcake islands floating the clear blue water whose waves slamming the shallow parts with thunder. I can see how the waves level each other in the side playing like a wild fighter in the sea totally influenced by the current of the Pacific Ocean. But the cupcake islands standing each other in one lane became the source of attraction.
In the locals they called these two cupcake islands as Panlangagan that brought strangers challenge able to walk by foot during low tide from Boslon – the biggest island in Britania. The treasures of passing oneself in unbelievable fate crossing four islands in a row are difficult task if you are not associated with taking into score when water in the ground became scarce. It has something of interesting point in history that they became a burial ground of Japanese soldiers during the war. The islands brought the mind of Japanese that found the real treasures not for minerals ore or gold in their presence but find unexpectedly their own home in the soil.
Not just exploration making an impact in Panlangagan but the presence of cave in one of the islands brought another world of adventure besides exploring the world under the water.
Our first stopover is in the island with long shape paradise with a name Hagonoy. We have passed different islands which stretches for miles then at the end part we drop first after the longest hop from the mainland. I thought it was small islet but when we keep nearing the shoreline it was worth the wait, the size brings us a football field.
Turquoise clear water beginning to emerge surrounded the island after crossing some deep blue sea, then for a moment a live show of shallow reef with white sand beneath the boat floor began a taste of paradise rarely seen of entire life. The countdown slowly begins, and everyone uneasy to propel against the excitement that killing the emotion before making the first step of history touching the powdery white in a longest fills.
From that point everyone started to jump quickly and explore the world of neat and white close to the world and free from total sins. The beauty can be seen from the inside making glow towards the outside washing sorrow and fear down to the sands. My wife and two kids take a plunge to the clear water after touching the first step, and myself taking steps the gentle white powdery sands before the naked feet. This makes the beauty when walking with your bare feet from a paradise free from a bad world. Nothing else but a pure revelation from Mother Nature creating a paradise that is keeping for a hundred years.
I have tried to look those faces of my two young kids after the touchdown, and it seems they bloom and alive not anymore bomb with fear in their eyes. The thrust of Mother Nature have change their emotions into desire exploring the new found world surrounded with slamming water in the shoreline. We talk about coping mechanism how fear and sorrow deviates our normal life once ruled the free spirit. In a step behind my naked feet having an eye with those little souls shimmered with joy and fun. I can felt that life is so different for them after they create a historic visit in an exciting world of Britania.
From that moment I can see my wife and kids faces the joy and happiness cannot be taken away from them.
After embracing the farthest spot of Britania we have to move back to the boat we are in and diverted our attention to other hot spot called naked island. I have seen two of them fighting to surface from below the water mark. Those waves from the ocean started gaining their confidence to crush the islands with thunderous slams almost covered one naked island in the left. The saga continues from the next one who are much clearer and dignified but in the end when high tide peaking the moment, they thwart and gulping down the island gone by the sea. But these islands fight back to survive, and tomorrow they are here comeback to life.
We drop by to another destination called Boslon Island. The famous landmark has its own station of the cross standing the right side of an island. Putting the symbol of spreading Christianity when the famous Spain colonizer Ferdinand Magellan able to dominate the natives with friendship and embraced Christianity. Caraga Region became the core of Christianity when Magellan making blood compact with the king in Butuan and celebrated the First Mass in the Philippine history.
I was in love at first sight seeing the finest sands in the ground, and those never fade turquoise water in the background making attribute to an island paradise. Along the side follow the directions when undiscovered giant rock leaning against a mountain rock able to stand for years against from outside force of Pacific waves and rousing tropical storms which find yourself hiding in a narrow space between them. This giant rock leaning from another rock became a nature hunt when someone makes an escape to Britania then leave the island.
We stayed the whole afternoon at Boslon island explore how it became famous from the rest of the islands trooping the Pacific. From that point of scene I understand why people coming back to Britania that put them the merits in exploiting heavenly place and admit leaving the uncleaned theme of their life, and leave Britania with new found feeling and strength putting mark the never ending series of ‘I shall Return’ to the islands.
While everyone is making attention the farthest island alone from the group of islands that can be seen from the naked eye the white line and green vegetation. The boat captain is undecided to make a trip since it was already late afternoon and the windy eastern air becoming blossom in the middle sea. If we made across the open sea then no choice but to make a cut to the mainland against from packed of increasing waves and prepared our things homeward bound in no time.
It was the most dramatic moment when leaving the island soon after able to unmask the reality behind Britania success. Touching down only two islands while the rest of the group of islands and islets became a witness to our eyes drawing composure and wonder beyond our soul. The visit beyond compare and what we lost our time is jumping to Hiyor-hiyoran island. We kissed this island with embarrassment as a fact we only saw those standing coconut trees and white ground breaking goodbye as we take pride to our pleasant memories moving forward to the mainland.
I told myself that there are places to hold on before you die. Living in Caraga Region is like sitting in a mass of gold, making find of unexplored places. You can say before God and men that a thousands of them cross a light impasse to your mind when to go and kissed the beautiful hotspots of Caraga. To the very least I accomplished taking the few numbers of them, but not taking into consideration that there are beautiful places unexplored in the vast area of Caraga Region.
My visit to Britania Islands became a never ending series when making call to historic phrase ‘I Shall Return’ and the journey man is not anymore in a bad hit when talking those rising paradise in the Pacific drawing a sad note for those individuals who are free but not putting this place in their hit list before they die.
