The Island Born of Fire, Camiguin

The photo you are seeing above is of a sunken ancient Spanish church caused by a volcanic eruption in 1871, which swallowed the town of Catarman.

Usually, people would say that in travel, it’s not about the destination, it’s the journey that matters. Well, I wish I could say the same thing about this pearl-shaped island. To get to Camiguin, one has to be street-smart, possess good sense of judgement and intincts. Once you reach Camiguin, well, that’s a whole new story.

Before you read the juicy facts about Camiguin, here’s a poem to summarise our experience on this island, born of fire.

Dear Camiguin

Before the great Old Vulcan,

And upon the pristine shoreline,

In the midst of the Philippine Sea

Where Time himself did stop his breaks

This is the place which I will tell

Of which this poem is written.

Lilacs bloom in violet shades,

Seabirds circled the White Island,

In the skies the great woodpecker flies

And fills the air with laughing cries,

Around the gardens butterflies soar,

And by the sunken cemetery the sunset fades.

Here God’s beauty does excel,

For our Heavenly Creator makes no mistakes;

So carefully He planned this land’s history

That this island may show her glory,

In the midst of seven great volcanoes,

Upon the distant horizon.

Like the waves, you are my lullaby,

Singing me softly to sleep,

Like the beautiful sunset, u mesmerise,

In the eyes of a lover, how could I resist?

Blushing as a bride you’ve made me,

when you delivered your soft velvet kiss.

A sea of horizons around me,

Ad infinitum it surrounds thee,

On the island of dreams I’ll be,

Come to my coast and you will see.

The Route

Clark-Pasay-Cagayan De Oro-Camiguin

Navigating Camiguin

The island size is 23 km length, 14.5km width. Because of its conquerable size, we decided to rent a bike immediately when we reach Benoni Port and navigate ourselves to Bahay Bakasyunan Sa Camiguin resort. There are a couple of options to get you to your intended location: Taxis, jeepneys, rent a bike, or walk. The Camiguinons are non-pushy, and helpful.

Now, fun facts:

Even though this island is small, what’s intriguing about it is that this small island is composed of four stratovolcanoes, hence it’s described as the Island Born Of Fire.