Daily Archives: 7 April, 2007

Nagtangco Island (Mompog, Marinduque)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

Our trip to Marinduque wasn’t complete without a visit to one of its outlying islands.  I opted to visit the 8-hectare Nagtangco Island.  The next day we took a jeepney to Balanacan Pier, one of two ports of entry into Marinduque.  Offshore from this fine natural harbor is an imposing statue of Ina ng Biglang Awa (the patron saint of the province).  The statue is located atop a concrete view deck which is connected to the mainland by a concrete causeway.  Curious, we all made the crossing to the view deck.  

Balanacan View Deck
At the fisherman’s wharf, we approached a fisherman and negotiated for the use of his motorized outrigger boat.  We finally settled on the amount of PhP1,000. The boat trip to Nagtangco Island was smooth and uneventful and took all of 30 mins.
 
On our way
Nagtangco Island
Nagtangco Island, together with nearby San Andres Island, have spectacular white sand beaches and we still haven’t had our fill of these beaches.  However, unlike our Poctoy White Beach visit the day before, the beach where our boat landed was packed with picnickers.   Fronting the beach was a concrete resthouse, currently unoccupied, and I approached its caretaker.  Along the way, I noticed that the beach on the other side was deserted.
 
The beach open to the public
The private beach

The caretaker told me that the beach I noticed was private and off limits to outsiders.  However, with a touch of diplomacy, I was able to get access to this beach.  While my companions were enjoying a private, uncrowded swim, I climbed its nearby craggy viewpoint where I had a panoramic view of San Andres Island.   This island visit truly capped our stay in this lovely province.

San Andres Island

The Good Friday Parade of Carrozas (Torrijos and Boac, Marinduque)

Posted on by — Leave a reply

From Poctoy White Sand Beach, we again boarded our Tamaraw FX for our return trip back to Boac.  At Sta. Cruz town, our progress back to Boac was substantially delayed by a parade of carrozas (carriages) of saints, another Good Friday staple, gathering at the town’s Church of the Holy Cross (built in 1714, has 1.5 to 2-m. thick walls and was renovated except for its original tower) and was just getting underway.  

A Good Friday parade of carrozas at Sta. Cruz

Approaching Boac, we again encountered another parade of carrozas.  In both cases, instead of fretting, we just got down the Tamaraw FX and patiently watch the parade’s progress.  The parade at Boac was somewhat different than the other parades I’ve attended in the past as, aside from carrozas carrying statues of saints and the Sto. Entierro (bier of the dead Jesus Christ), it included a contingent of moriones (some riding Roman chariots).

Carroza bearing the Sto. Entierro
Chariot bearing 2 moriones

It was just about evening when the parade finally passed us by and we were able to proceed to our resort.