dean's list: Capones

I can't remember exactly how I learned that I was signed up for a camping trip. All I know is that I can't back out. I don't know why all of a sudden, friends at work decided to be outdoors-oriented and I was tagged along with them.

Camping... is something at the bottom of my list when going out of town. I'm actually glad that I'm done with scouting and CAT so the idea of going on a camping trip is basically out of my head (except on an expedition to Mt. Pulag). But if and only if there is no other choice but to camp, the only time that I would say yes is if there is a decent (clean) rest room with running fresh water.

I was assured that there were clean rest rooms in Nagsasa. We marked our calendars to save the last weekend before Christmas for the trip. Uh-uh, my Christmas mode was off until I returned from camping (except for those times I had to shop for presents for my family).

The itinerary was basically depart from Makati at late Friday night, arrive at Pundakit early Saturday morning, set camp at Nagsasa and stay there whole Saturday morning, sidetrip to Capones Island before leaving for home Sunday. I asked to have it revised to go to Capones Island on Saturday instead so when we leave on Sunday we won't be drenched in salt water and they agreed.

The trip to Zambales was fine. We weren't able to sleep in the van since manong driver seems to be in a hurry. We arrived in Pundakit before 5am and it was still dark... had a short break to eat a little (thank you office for our supply of Gardenia bread and mayonnaise/sandwich spreads we were able to prepare some egg sandwiches) and pee before sailing to Capones Island.

It was still dark when went on a small motorboat. It was pretty scary since we have no lights. It was windy that morning and waves were pretty big. Anyhow, we managed to arrive safely.

This is what happens when everyone brings a camera.

It was in 2007 when I first set foot in Capones. The island is pretty much still the same. Glad people there managed to keep it clean.

jump shot alone

We went to another side of the island to see the lighthouse. The sun was shining so bright so I decided to just stay on the boat. I had them take my camera instead.

on their way up to the light house

Nagsasa bound

We were so tired (and hungry) when we arrived in Nagsasa Cove. Good thing we opted to take a packaged trip so we didn't have to prepare food by ourselves. After our lunch, I decided to take a nap while some decided to roam around the island and swim at the beach.

Weather was cool in Nagsasa... not with the usual dry beach air. We had a fun bonding moment that night... grilled marshmallows... DIY baileys... ghost stories... usual chizmax!

taken before we had our shots

I wasn't able to sleep really well inside the tent. Thanks to our ghost stories, my imagination went wild when the wind was really blowing hard that night.

We decided to climb the hill early morning. The view was breath-taking!