Why was everyone in Caramoan last Easter?

If you weren’t in Coachella, chances are, you were stuck with your social media. Easter timelines were flooded with countless trips of everyone heading everywhere. But one hashtag trended above all: #ComeOnCaramoan.

“Why was everyone in Caramoan?” Some people asked, wondering why the hell were they not given the memo. “And where exactly is Caramoan?” You’ll be surprised at how many undiscovered starlets, I meant islets, we have in our beloved Philippines. This summer, I made it my mission vision plan to discover as many as I could, part of my “internal” exploration.

The Caramoan Peninsula (not the hotel chain) is composed of various islands, all an island hop away from each other. You land in Naga via a commercial flight, then take a land transfer to the port and then take a speedboat. After an hour, you’re already looking at a menu of islands that have things as diverse as double-sided beaches to cliff diving to sunset sails to choose from.

Others opted to take a bus, but not the ordinary kind of bus. A “luxe bus,” which had its own attendants, movies, snacks onboard, and wait for this ... a strong WiFi signal. For a lot of people, that means heaven. Another group assembled downstairs from 71 Gramercy and began their pilgrimage to Naga. But that’s another story.

YOUNGEST GOVERNOR IN HISTORY

I was lucky enough to collaborate with the youngest governor in the land, Gov. Migz Villafuerte, on an itinerary that would take happy campers (no divas allowed)  onto an island adventure that could compete with Survivor, but with amenities (of course, we can’t survive without food and drinks!). With his sharp mind, charm (he was always getting mobbed), and forward thinking, I believe Gov Migz belongs to an elite few that will change the course of our country’s history. More of them, please!

Oh, did I also tell you that the first Survivor (France) was shot on these islands? And then, the succeeding ones, too, from the US, Denmark, Bulgaria, Holland, Netherlands, among many other countries, have shown our exotic islands on their season of the much-loved reality TV show. There’s something about Caramoan — I think it’s its mix of virginity as wilderness that makes it a shoo-in for the show.

In fact, for my personal road trip to do an ocular inspection of the place, I stumbled upon the construction of The Tribal Council, with a foreign crew working on the show. My guess is that anytime now, Survivor castaways are gonna be thrown to Caramoan to see who can outwit and outlast each other.

Our version was, outwit, outlast, and outfit — as a huge percentage of our camp were fashion, music, and club scene people. In other words, a lot of theme nights and picture-taking happened. Wait, what am I talking about? Any Filipino gathering, whether on land or at sea, is going to be like this.

CARAMOAN-ING DAY AND NIGHT

Each day was filled with challenges, both physical and mental. From solving puzzles to assembling boats to relay races to digging in the sand to building a fire, each challenge was meant to bring a few people who weren’t familiar with each other to work together via teamwork.

Every night became an emotional roller coaster of dance beats by DJ Euric and other occasional DJs who muster their skills and develop their confidence when they’re officially drunk. But then again, these beats from day challenges to night binges brought everyone closer.

By the end of the trip, with each one becoming an adopted child of CamSur as bestowed upon by the governor himself, we all headed back towards civilization and headed towards CWC (CamSur Watersports Complex) for some much-needed WiFi. Yes, our Easter sacrifice was all about digital detox. Not anymore.

The luckiest of us went home with trophies and Technomarine watches, and some, even with Nokia Lumia mobile phones with the best cameras to capture nature’s bounty, among other tricks. All of us were Belo Sun Expert protected and just too happy to share all the new memories made among newfound friends.

So, to go back to the question: Why was everyone in Caramoan last Easter? The answer is, why not? Traveling around our country, I noticed the natural beauty that is more than abundant in every part of the country. We need to tell the world about it. Whether via twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or this column.

You have to see it to believe it. Go beyond reading your timelines and actually be part of it.

Come on, Caramoan!

* * *

(For more pics of natural beauty and beyond, check out the hashtags #ComeOnCaramoan and #LumiaInCaramoan. Tweet me twitter.com/officalTIMYAP and also officialtimyap on Instagram.)