There are seven islands in Batanes Province. Three of the islands are inhabited--Batan Island, where the capital Basco is located, Sabtang Island (where Wayne and Terry's housekeeper, Mary, comes from) and Itbayat Island. The remaining islands are uninhabited, including the most northern island of Mavudis.
Luckily, our small band of photo enthusiasts was blessed with perfect weather. The default weather pattern seems to be high winds and lots of rain. In fact, the week before we arrived, a plane was blown off the runway! Whatever the weather, these islands are startlingly green, surrounded by blue sea and totally unspoilt.
Combined with dramatic coastal cliffs and grazing cows and sheep, you could be in Devonshire or along the Galway coast of Ireland--except for a few scattered palm trees on the cliff edge!
I was hooked when I read the following: "All shoots have breathtaking panoramic backgrounds, velvet green grass, and gentle farm animals. There's deep blue sea, lighthouses, falowa boats and iconic stone houses."
"Why don't you go?" Regee asked. I did. And every word of Mandy's article turned out to be true!
I met up with Mandy and my fellow photo enthusiasts at 4:30AM at Manila's old domestic airport. We took SEAIR to Basco, a flight that takes about 1.45 hours.
Usually, Mandy takes tours of up to 35 people on her "safaris". However, this tour was made up of five of her close friends--Charo and Telly (sisters), Maremy and Ariel and Jun. I was the "outsider" who had joined at the last moment. However, I was made to feel like family from the outset and our little group had the most amazing three days.
The Class of 2012. From left to right: Ariel, Charo, Moi, Jun, Telly, Mandy and Maremy. Mandy is an amazing photographer. She showed us how to compose photos, how to use light, line and texture, how to look for different angles, how to pose (we were the fashion models!) and she did it all with great good humor and tremendous energy.
In three days we circumnavigated most of Batan Island in our trusty jeepney, climbed hills, went into caves, wandered along beaches, avoided large bulls on walking paths, ate copiously and often with merienda appearing in the most remote places as if by magic! We were made to do "jumpology" so that others might practise their action shots. At my age, jumpology (better known as defying gravity) is definitely a challenge. Throughout, we made frequent stops at beautiful churches to thank the Good Lord for our safe journey and to sing songs of praise. It was all quite delightful.
We can only thank Mandy for that--maraming salamat, po--and for "discovering" and promoting the wild beauty of Batanes through her many photo safaris. They have made her famous and she is now called the "Queen of Batanes". She has also done a lot of good works with many of the schools there--bringing in books and school supplies for the children.
We all learned an enormous amount about photography from Mandy and I fell hopelessly in love with Batanes. I do hope that we can all meet up again one day for more adventures. In the meantime, we have a lot of wonderful, zany memories to keep us laughing and smiling. You MUST go to Batanes!!
As one picture is worth a thousand words, here are some of the photos I took. And many thanks to Mandy for making us better photographers.
On the last evening, we climbed up a hill to a windswept ridge at sunset. Standing in a circle, we held hands and remembered all the wonderful days we had spent together, the sights we had seen, the epic meals, the quiet churches, the laughter and the camaraderie. As Jun said, we had not only undertaken a photographic journey but a gastronomic and spiritual one as well. Agreed.
We can only thank Mandy for that--maraming salamat, po--and for "discovering" and promoting the wild beauty of Batanes through her many photo safaris. They have made her famous and she is now called the "Queen of Batanes". She has also done a lot of good works with many of the schools there--bringing in books and school supplies for the children.
We all learned an enormous amount about photography from Mandy and I fell hopelessly in love with Batanes. I do hope that we can all meet up again one day for more adventures. In the meantime, we have a lot of wonderful, zany memories to keep us laughing and smiling. You MUST go to Batanes!!
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