Solitude at Kibila Beach (Guinsiliban, Camiguin)

Posted on 12 April, 2001 by Benjie Layug — Leave a reply

Kibila Beach

On April 12, Holy Thursday, we checked out of Dayon sa Cabuaan Beach Resort and proceeded to Kibila Beach, in Sitio Kibila, Brgy. Cantaan, Guinsiliban where we were to stay two nights. This 750-m. long, coarse white sand beach, the only one in the mainland, has a well by the beach and a seabed that slopes gradually.

We all stayed at the DENR Training Center and Dive Camp, managed by the Cantaan Fishermen’s Assn., CBFM Scholarship Foundation, Inc. and the DENR. It has a canteen, dining hall, cottage with bath and a seminar hall. Our stay was spent sunbathing, snorkeling, dining al fresco, chatting (and playing Taboo) by a bonfire at night and sleeping in folding beds by the seashore. We also visited a nearby Clam Culture Farm funded by a PhP120,000 grant from the Foundation for the Philippine Environment. One of our evenings was capped by a marriage proposal (with the accompanying engagement ring hidden in a crab shell) coming from Jake to his girlfriend Tey. How romantic!

We departed Camiguin on an early Black Saturday morning , April 14, on board a very delayed and hopelessly overcrowded ferry back to Cagayan de Oro City for an overnight stay. After last minute shopping for pasalubong at Cagayan de Oro’s Cogon Market (mostly Indonesian batik products) Jandy, Vi and I left the city for Manila on April 15, Easter Sunday, on the 11:35 AM Cebu Pacific flight, arriving at Manila by 1 PM. The others followed suit on the 3:30 PM PAL flight (They almost missed it).

This travel blog, a diary of the author’s local and international travels, aims to provide the reader with news and information on people, places and events that would interest the avid traveler and tourist. But, it also aims to be much more, providing insights on the wonders of this beautiful country, as well as the world, beyond the strict confines of the city. Have a BLAST seeing old churches, exotic temples, educational museums as well as palm-fringed islands; white sand beaches; thundering waterfalls; placid lakes; fiery sunsets; turquoise seas; cathedral-like caves; swirling rivers; majestic mountains; stupendous, amphitheater-like rice terraces; awesome volcanoes and the like. Get to know the movers and shakers in the tourism industry; find out where to titillate the palate; rejuvenate your body; feed your adrenalin, unwind and relax; satisfy your craving for history and culture; and find out what's being celebrated and where.

BENJAMIN “BENJIE” LAYUG, an architect by profession (he finished his B. S. Architecture degree from the University of the Philippines Diliman in 1982), is an avid reader, traveler and free-lance travel writer in his spare time, contributing articles to Travel Update, Philippine Daily Inquirer, COLORS, TODAY, 7107 Islands Magazine, Business Day, Bluprint and the Business Mirror.

He is also the author of the following travel books:

A Philippine Odyssey (New Day Publishers, 2005)
Pathfinder’s Travel Guide: Boracay (Great Books Trading, 2006)
A Tourist Guide to Notable Philippine Churches (New Day Publishers, 2007)
A Tourist to Notable Philippine Historical Landmarks, Monuments and Shrines (New Day Publishers, 2010)
A Tourist Guide to Notable Philippine Museums (New Day Publishers, 2012)

Some of his books now appear in the local library shelves of the National Library of the Philippines, De La Salle University, Ateneo de Manila University, University of Sto. Tomas, U.P. Diliman, Centro Escolar University, San Sebastian College, Miriam College, Silliman University, to name a few, as well as internationally at the National Library of Australia and the University of California Berkeley Library.

Now a senior citizen, he is probably one of the oldest, if not the oldest, active travel blogger in the country today. He also has a lifestyle blog called F.Y.I.:Firing Your Imagination (www.firingyourimagination.blogspot.com). Benjie has traveled to two-thirds (53) of the country’s 81 provinces and over 20 countries in 4 continents.