E L T I P S V R T
With my crew of Lost Boys I was out exploring some of the most remote paradise isles in the Philippines, on board a traditional wooden boat.
There was no set plan as we sailed the 100 miles south from Coron on Busuanga Island, to El Nido on Palawan with Tao Expeditions.
Many of the crew, affectionately known as the Lost Boys, come from former fishing families whose livelihoods have been affected by commercial fishing.
They are one of the many successes of the Tao Foundation, which aims to pour tourist dollars back into the communities they sail past.
Over five days we put the ship’s prowess to the test. Known as a paraw, it is a shallow keeled hull designed to easily navigate around islands and over reefs. Used for centuries, it was mostly forgotten when engines became the norm.
Our 22 metre replica was covered in tribal carvings and lashed together with sailors’ knots.
And for its first stop the crew handed us snorkels and pointed in the direction we should swim.
There we found a shipwreck teeming with rainbow coloured fish and billowing soft corals. No wonder it’s a Unesco biosphere reserve. And the next few days were a magical repeat of the first.
As we sailed around some of the most untouched of the Philippines’ 7,641 islands, we’d stop at snorkelling spots and explore lagoons and idyllic stretches of beach before a blast from the crew’s conch shell horn requested our return to the boat.
We were also able to see the brilliance of Tao’s work when we visited one of the schools in northern Palawan and learned our bedding each night was made from recycled flour sacks and sewn by the Taobacked Women’s Association.
We walked among the organic vegetable crops and happy livestock that the locals raise to cater for the tourists on Tao’s fleet of boats.
Meals were a gastronomical spread of local dishes, including
BRING a 20 litre waterproof bag, or buy one from the many stalls in Coron and El Nido to take ashore each night. Avoids any drama if your bag falls off the kayak.
DRINK cup after cup of the boat’s delicious ginger tea. Ginger settles the stomach so will help prevent sea sickness. PACK loads of bug spray and dehyrdration sachets. You do not want to run
out at sea.
Filipino power – that’s rice to you and me – and adobo, which is a traditional way to marinade dishes.
The fresh seafood – octopus, tuna, squid and snapper – that filled our plates would either be caught from lines strung from the back of the boat or bought daily from fishing villages along the way.
Stargazing
Each night we moored off the coast of a new desert island and 24 of us swam ashore to camp while the crew ferried supplies over.
We stayed on the beach in opensided shacks perched on bamboo stilts, known as tuka huts. Perfect for stargazing.
More culinary delights were cooked over open fires and barbecues made from old metal wheel rims, and we feasted on fresh sea urchins or porridge served in coconuts plucked from the trees. On our final day of sailing we
drew into a secluded bay on Cadlao Island. To mark our final evening the crew spent hours turning a suckling pig on a wooden spit over glowing coals by hand. After devouring our pork lechon, the national Filipino dish, we sat around a campfire and a crooning crewmember known as Blackjack serenaded us with his guitar.
We sank jungle juice cocktails and after a bold attempt to teach the crew the Welsh national anthem, we knew it was time to turn in.
The next day as we came into port at El Nido and I blew the conch to announce our arrival, I realised that my Tao transformation was complete. I felt more like a Lost Boy than a Londoner.
FACTFILE: Flights to Manila with British Airways and Cathay Pacific start from £432. El Nido or Coron can be reached by a further internal flight. Prices for a five day, four-night sailing expedition on Tao’s paraw sailing boat start at £529. Includes meals, refreshments and overnight stays at Tao camps. Cheaper tours are available on Tao’s motorised bangkas, but book early. See taophilippines.com.