Isuzu conquers Camiguin

Can you imagine living in a tropical island paradise? Imagine living on an island with a rugged mountain range at the center shaped like a voluptuous lady lying down as if sunning herself while surrounded by beautiful beaches and green plant life. Imagine blue waters, warm, soft sand, friendly natives, coconut trees, lush forests, hiking trails, mountain climbing, hot springs, cold springs, waterfalls, fresh air, tropical sun, moonlit nights, and nine active volcanoes.

Uh, did you say nine active volcanoes?

Well, one of them last erupted in 1948, another in 1951 while the biggest and most devastating eruption occurred in 1871, so there’s no need to worry since volcanoes normally have a long gestation period after major eruptions. Besides, there’s a Phivolcs station on the island that can detect any seismic and volcanic activity, and so far, everything’s A-OK.

Isuzu Philippines Corp. (IPC), manufacturer and distributor of Isuzu extreme vehicles (Trooper, Crosswind and Fuego), in coordination with Caltex and WGA Super Ferry, invited several motoring journalists for a romp around Camiguin, a pear-shaped island-province located 90 kilometers off the north coast of Cagayan de Oro City. Perish any thought of flying to the island for some rest and relaxation. After all, this is an IPC activity, and they were the ones who brought forth the tough Isuzu Challenge. So, instead of taking the easy way to the island, we, of course, had to do it the hard way: We drove to Camiguin.

No, we did not use amphibian vehicles. Since the island was previously known as the "island of fire" because of the number of volcanoes, IPC thought it would be appropriate to tour it with the Isuzu Fuego pick-up. And for good measure, they also invited owners of these vehicles to join us in driving to our island destination.

For Manila-based motoring scribes, including yours truly, our trip actually started at 4:10 am, early Friday (June 27) morning at the NAIA Terminal II, but our actual land (and sea) trip started at the Isuzu dealership in Cagayan de Oro City. It was timely since Isuzu Cagayan de Oro (or Cebu Southern Motors) was celebrating its 30th anniversary, and we were royally treated to a cultural presentation complete with local costumes and customary accessories. The dance was performed by the officers and staff of the dealership who dedicatedly practiced after office hours for a month. After getting our fill of food, speeches and farewells, we boarded our assigned Fuego pick-ups and headed our merry way.

We drove in a caravan of 10 Isuzu Fuego pick-ups to Balingoan, Misamis Oriental to catch a roll-on/roll-off ferry/barge, the Shuttle Ferry VI. Inside the ferry were two Fuego pick-ups of participating owners who went there ahead of our convoy. Once all the vehicles were loaded, we left the port of Balingoan at 1:30 p.m. for the port of Benoni in Camiguin Island. Midway on the route between Balingoan and Benoni, a strong storm battered the seas. I decided to sleep the storm out on the bench seats of the ferry, but I wore a life vest and used another one for a pillow. Better be safe than comfortable, I always say.

We safely reached Benoni by 2:40 p.m. and drove out to have lunch at the J&A Fishpen, a picturesque restaurant built on wooden stilts above a real fish pen. By now, our caravan grew to about 16 vehicles, all Isuzu Fuego pick-ups of various model years and guises. After lunch, we drove to Mambajao and checked into Bahay-Bakasyunan sa Camiguin, a quaint resort with several vacation bungalows, a large swimming pool and a beachfront. My roommate, Dino Directo of Manila Standard, and I wanted to rest after our long land/sea/land trip but Isuzu, being Isuzu, had other plans. As we were about to rest our aching bodies, Timmy Naval, IPC’s PR and supreme taskmaster, started calling everyone room by room to ride our assigned vehicles.

We drove up the side of one of the volcanoes to Ardent Hot Spring, one of Camiguin’s more popular tourist destinations. We took a dip and did a little swimming, and found the hot mineralized spring water very, very relaxing. For once, this was no Isuzu Challenge though the island was Isuzu Country since the roads were dominated by Isuzu vehicles. We drove back to Bahay-Bakasyunan for dinner and we turned in for the night.

We did more driving the next day, Saturday, as part of the Fuego-Camiguin Circular Tour. We drove counter-clockwise on the island’s 64-kilometer paved highway to visit the beautiful Katibawasan Falls, the Phivolcs station at the side of Mount Hibok-Hibok (just to check if things were calm under the magma), the Paras Beach Resort (where we had lunch), the Cross Marker of the Sunken Cemetery and the Guiob Church Ruins. The church was damaged and the cemetery sank during the eruption of Mount Vulcan Daan in 1871. Any jokes about a watery grave were kept politely hush-hush.

We took a dip in the Santo Nino Cold Springs in Catarman, which had cold (brrr… really cold) water that came from natural cascades down the mountaintop. Being a mechanical engineer by education, I was amazed at Mother Nature’s design of cooling down an active volcano (cold springs) and venting off some heat (hot springs). After we "defrosted" from our cold swim, we drove on the final stages of our circular tour and drove back to Mambajao, but went straight to Balbagon, where we went shopping for lanzones and other native products. Our evening was capped with a dip in the resort pool, dinner and a cultural show graced by the mayor, Goco Romualdo, and several tourism officials.

Sunday morning found us sipping native hot chocolate before dawn then catching a 35-minute boat ride to White Island, an uninhabited white sandbar that changes its shape according to the tide. We enjoyed the sand and the sea for an hour or so then took the boat back to the resort. We bade farewell to the wonderful people at the resort, drove to the governor’s mansion to greet Gov. Pedro Romualdo a happy birthday, had lunch at the J&A Fishpen, then boarded the ferry for our trip back to Balingoan. We docked at Balingoan at 1:15 p.m. then drove 82 kilometers to Cagayan de Oro airport at a blistering pace. We barely made our 3:20 p.m. PAL flight back to Manila, but we caught it anyway.

As the airplane was taking off, I tried to get a glimpse of Camiguin Island but I couldn’t. The weather was getting bad and the clouds were very hazy. Yet, the warm, fuzzy feeling of coming from an island paradise was still inside me. I wonder, how can Isuzu top this trip?