ONE OF THE FIRST ASSIGNments of our recent Batanes Photo Safari?s participants was portraiture. Clad in her lola?s kimono, Therese Borromeo sat in a yellow small falowa boat docked at the port, after which we took the opportunity to take her portrait showing her sewing a fisherman?s net.
Therese narrated that, before the trip, she was ?suffocated? by worldly pursuits. In Batanes, she bonded with members of Batanes 11 (that?s what they call their batch).
The awesome view of the mountains and the sea delighted them. Valugan Bay was another unique spot, where boulders lined the shore. At dusk, the moon peeked through the clouds.
The group found the Ivatan people gentle, simple and honest. During the Read-Aloud session for the Gig and the Amazing Sampaguita Foundation, the politeness of the children at the Chavayan Barrio School amazed us.
Amazing, too, was the Honesty Store, a shop where you could pick items, list them on a logbook, and drop the payment in a box?with no storekeeper in sight!
* * *
Join the Batanes Photo Safari on April 23-26 and May 6-9, as well as the Coron Photo Safari on May 15-18. E-mail mandynavasero@yahoo.com, or call 899-1767.
