Almost a year ago, I journeyed to an abandoned island in the Philippines and oh how I survived and lived to tell the tale. I could be exaggerating my story here but back in January 2015, I had the most thrilling experience travelling on the road with my clients, Jack and Sophie, together with new found friends. After our 3 fun days road trippin in Ilocos Norte (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), we were bound to the last leg of our trip for a shoot in Fortune Island (Batangas) that almost didn’t happen due to bad windy weather forecasts. While on the bus for many hours the day before it happened, I silently prayed that it was probably better that we change locations because to ride on a boat with a bad windy weather would mean raging waves and raging waves scare the wits out of someone who doesn’t know how to swim — obviously that’s ME!
But eventually, the resort coordinator informed us in the last minute that the weather seemed to have calm down so it was sort of safe to finally cross. As much as i was very excited, I also never prayed so hard in my entire life that day. On board a small boat that fits about 10 people maybe, we all tried to get ourselves comfortable as we headed to the island which took 45mins to reach I think from the mainland…half way there though, the waves suddenly grew treacherous (apparently they’re known for it but I only found out after the whole trip!) and what the boatmen told us next made my stomach flipped. “Sorry, you all need to swim from here to the cliff because the boat can’t dock near to the shore with these big waves.” Did you just say we have to swim Kuya? [“Kuya” referring to the boatmen].
Everyone knew how to swim except me. And Lester is an amazing multi-talented deaf athlete/swimmer so that’s a relief coz he can probably save me if our boat got capsized huh? Oh, I have thought of the worst. So, with my life vest on, I held on my dear life with a rope being pulled out by someone from the cliff. It took probably less than 5 mins of crossing from the boat to the cliff but the longest scare I ever had. And you wonder what happened to my ThinkTank camera bag? Oh, it learned to swim on its own, too. Genius. Can you believe it was tied and pulled up by only using a rope, too and hoping against all odds it would never fall into the water? This made me wish I should have invested already with a dependable Pelican case. Anyway, moving on…we all got safe into the island, all drenched and laughing it all out even if we were a little out of breath. The next question was, how do we get back to the mainland safely too? Well, we worried about it later, soaked in the breath-taking views and started shooting. We went through the same ordeal when we left the island and thankfully, we were all back in one piece unharmed at the end of our day.
You might ask would I do this kind of adventure again? In a heartbeat, yes! But first, I need to get some serious swimming lessons before I even dare. And yes, get that Pelican case too.
With the raw and rustic beauty around Fortune Island, it was all worth it for the record of risking our lives to get there. But let’s keep this adventure a little secret from my Mom, okay? 🙂
“Fortune Island was once a luxury island resort, but now it is now just an abandoned island with a few crumbling structures. However, this does not diminish the natural beauty that the island offers. In fact, one of these structures, called the Acropolis from the Acropolis of Athens, is the island’s current main attraction. Fortune Island’s Acropolis stands on a rocky cliff that juts out into the water. Many visit the island to take photos by this crumbling structure that is an imitation of the famous ancient citadel in Greece.” – via Tere Terebol
Meet the whole crazy gang with me. Thanks for all the adrenaline-pumping-adventure guys! Totally unforgettable!
Make up Artist: Azil Ocampo
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