Philippines, Palawan: TayTay and the Flower Island

Palawan is considered as one of the most beautiful islands not only in Philippines but worldwide. The main Island of Palawan is about 450 km long and 50 km wide, surrounded by thousands of small islands, all belonging to Palawan Province.

Thinking back to the TayTay Islands makes my heart warm and my mind sad that we needed to leave this magical place. The TayTay Province is not only known by its natural beauty, but the place had so much more.  It is the largest municipality of the Palawan Province and the first capital of Palawan.  From the north bounded by El Nido, in the east TayTay Bay and Sulu Sea, and in the west by the South China Sea. The place is considered an unexplored paradise of Palawan - long coral white sandbars dotted by coconut trees, amazing coral reefs, hidden rock caves and lagoons. We stayed at one of the islands - the Flower Island, a small resort known for its close proximity to Phillipines biggest pearl farm operated  by the same French owner.

Flower Island

View from the guest house

After booking a stay at the Flower Island Resort our first concern was how do we get there. As we could not find much help from the internet, I will share more details about the transportation and prices. From the resort we were offered to be picked up from El Nido airport and transferred to the resort of the ridiculously high price (around 90 euros one way). Especially high, as the rooms at resort itself costs more than the average accommodation in Palawan. To decrease the price of the transportation, we took a 1,5 hour bus drive (Cherry Bus) from El Nido bus station to TayTay port (bus ticket price 2 euros) where we were picked up by the resort and transferred to the Island by boat. All together we paid around 90 euros both way, which seems to be the only option to get there as the island was quite isolated and far away from the main Island of Palawan. Riding with a small motorboat in through huge waves was quite an experienced, so we felt relieved when arriving safely to the destination after an hour at sea.

Flower Island

Two ladies from the resort welcomed us with coral necklaces, warm towels to clean our hands and fresh welcoming drinks. The Island was surrounded by crystal clear light blue water, white sand and a view to the surrounding islands and mountains. It does not take long to understand what was the hype about the place. The place was paradise. The resort itself is situated in the west side of Flower Island. Consisting of bamboo bungles next to the sea, beach bar, massage place, restaurant and jewellery shop (pearls). It took us 30 minutes to walk around the island and around 15 minutes to walk up to the lighthouse, where the resort offers its guests the possibility to sleep as well. And that is it. During the one day, including arriving to the island, paddling and sunbathing we did everything, except seeing the pearl farm.

Our bamboo house

Balcony

Restaurant

At twelve o'clock in the afternoon and around seven o'clock at night the bell ring is inviting all 15 guests staying at Flower Island Resort, including the owner with his two local lady companions to the buffet style lunch/dinner. After 10 days travelling around Palawan I can truly say it was the best food so far. Rice with spicy chicken, salad and veggies with oysters sauce was perfectly seasoned; for desert six pieces of the very best homemade cookies we both have ever had. Finally we could have some taste experience. All the food is organic and locally produced. From the beach bar it was possible to order coconut, fruit shakes and the Island favourite the banana daiquiri (rum, local coconut and bananas) - well at least until they ran out of banana as a group of Australian vistors had ordered the drink for 4 days in a row.

Lunch

Organic and fresh food in the Philippines is not as common as we might think, especially around locals. Soil degradation is a major threat in food security in the country. Over-salting, water issues, and erosion are the common cause for mismanaged soil. More than 5.2 million hectares of land are seriously  damaged  resulting in 30 to 50% reduction in soil productivity. another big issue is access to water. Around nine million Filipinos do not have access to safe/clean water. Therefore, people are consuming more processed and low nutrients foods than ever. Health issues are something what government and NGOs fight for.  During our stay we visited the NGO Save the Palawan Sea, whose aim is to teach local families how to raise healthy free range chickens and take care of the soil in order to grow organic vegetables and fruits. Save the Palawan Sea supports local families with practical knowledges, organic antibiotics and soil. Other issues like illegal fishing, forest cutting as well as prevention of sea pollution were introduced.

Philippines is also one of the first countries affected by climate change. Effects can be seen from the increased amounts of tropical storms and increased level of sea temperature. Geographically, The Philippines is surrounded by more than 7000 small islands, but nothing else stands between them and the ocean, which makes it one of the leading countries to be exposed to climate change, which may make hurricanes and tsunamis stronger and more unpredictable. The increased sea temperature do not only affect humankind but also the pearl oysters, who are one of the front lines of the ocean's early warning system.  Especially, because they can't move and adjust changing living conditions. During our second day at Flower Island, we decided to visit the local pearl farm to get insights into how they produce and develop pearls from oysters. The process to produce one pearl can take up to five to ten years. The company were specialised in luxury golden pearl production. Nowadays, pearl farms have to invest a lot of money into research and development in order to increase the quality of life of oysters, by providing them nutrious food and better living conditions. The tone of the golden pearl is naturaly achieved (by using using donor oyster) and no further treatment is needed to achieve the beauty of the gem. However, only 20% of the total oysters production reaching the readymade age will result in one golden pearl. Most of the oysters will be used in the food industry. The price of one golden pearl can vary from EUR 250-1000, depending of the quality, size and design. As the aim of the company is to achieve mass production the price have kept lower.

Golden pearls

Goals of the pearl farm

We spent our nights by playing cards or petang, and drinking mango or banana daiquiri from the local bar. The first night we climbed up to lighthouse to see the sunset and enjoy the view of the ocean with two cold local beers. A small road through the forest lead us up to the lighthouse. The forest were full of noises, snakes (we managed to see one), about 1 meter long lizard, chickens and birds. Later returning to our bungalow with small lights we saw a big mouse outside, following another mouse inside the bathroom, small lizards running around the walls, ants eating leftovers from our toothbrushes and about a 10 cm long cockroach in our suitcase, which was super scary! As the houses did not have “real” windows all kind of smaller types of animals could sneak inside, it made me feel like sleeping in the zoo. The most amazing experience was snorkelling in the afternoon after visiting the pearlfarm where the reef lagoon was rich with sea turtles and colourful fishes. We were followed by a small yellow fish with black stripes who was swimming all the way under Anders' neck. As the fish was same colour as Anders' swimming pants. The fish might think that they belonged to the same species.

TayTay Island, especially Flower Island is a wonderful place, if not my favourite in Philippines.