Busuanga

I did not know the Moro nature.

On the afternoon of the fifth day out, we passed Busuanga and approached a small rocky island which I afterwards learned was Coron.

So far as could be seen, no human habitation was near, and far to the south stretched the unbroken waters of the Sulu Sea.

The chief gave an order in the Moro tongue, and a black and yellow flag was run up to the masthead.

It's the creature I most resembled in local biodiversity.

I never swam in lakes in the Philippines, but why would I? It wasn't the pythons that put me off, but rather the endless choice of beach destinations, like Mactan, Boracay, Palawan, Busuanga, Davao, and Dumaguete, with its supposedly cursed witch island visible offshore.

Living in Manila, it seemed like every rock and reef became super accessible after Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific invested in fleets of smaller turboprop aeroplanes.

Well, actually, there was that one lake, but it was the closest thing to paradise I'd ever seen.

I did not know the Moro nature.

On the afternoon of the fifth day out, we passed Busuanga and approached a small rocky island which I afterwards learned was Coron.

So far as could be seen, no human habitation was near, and far to the south stretched the unbroken waters of the Sulu Sea.

The chief gave an order in the Moro tongue, and a black and yellow flag was run up to the masthead.