Travel blog #2: A Short Visit to the Countryside: Baganian, Tabina Zamboanga del Sur

Baganian, Tabina, Zamboanga del Sur

my grandfather's house is just a hundred steps away from this school

When we went there on May 24, 2017, we were just hitching a ride on my aunt’s (my father’s younger sister) car since the fare going to my father’s province is a bit expensive for us, luckily my aunt happened to passed by at our eatery on May 23, 2017, before we went to their province in Baganian, Tabina, Zamboanga del Sur. It was hard for me to believe first like I’m in a moment of shock when my father told me at that night that we are going to Baganian (the place where my father grew up) tomorrow.

Going south is very awesome since there is a vast of rice fields except for Bukidnon since Bukidnon from the word bukid (mountain) it is full of mountains but there are some areas where they have a plateau or plain area where they plant a variety of plants like pineapple (del monte has a plantation of pineapple in Bukidnon), bananas, rice, sugarcanes and corns but in Region IX and Region X it focuses on rice so I was so amazed by what I have seen in my naked eyes together with my younger sister. So we took some photos since we were overwhelmed by the scenic views.

As far as I've remembered this place was the first place or town when you enter Zamboanga del Sur. And all the landscapes were amazing starting at Maranding, Lanao del Norte.

A blurry pic of us.

We drove our place Libertad, Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte to Baganian, Tabina, Zamboanga del Sur for almost 10 hours. Why 10 hours? We left at our place by 10 exactly in the morning and we arrive at Baganian by 7 in the evening and it was my aunt’s driver that is kept on stopping by for every place considering he knows that person and they’ll have a chit-chat and so on and so forth until Pagadian City like we almost made rounds to every corner of the city. -_-

This is when we were entering the Pagadian City.

I was reading because I was bored waiting for our driver.

We were 20 minutes away at this time but we stopped over because my aunt was in call of nature.

When I heard some old voice calling my name and I stopped from unpacking my things and went outside to see who called my name then there was an old man rushing to get inside the gate, I was having a mixed emotions at that time cause finally, I saw my grandfather on flesh, I wanted to hug him but I’m afraid I might break his bone so I gently hold his hand and put in in my forehead to make “amin” (a Filipino kind of respect for elders) then we kept on talking to my grandfather until it was time for him to go back at his house while we were staying at my aunt’s house.

By the next morning, our grandfather went to fetch us to my aunt’s house; he said that he will let us get to know some of our relatives that live there. When we passed by at the National High School at their place, there was a boy who is calling my grandfather then went outside of the school’s gate then, later on, I found out that he is my uncle even though I am just a year older than him. We met and knew some of our relatives and I was so glad I met them.

Later on, my grandfather told me that maybe I want to see their wharf or seaport so I said yes and there we saw a few people taking a bath at sea and having fun, then I saw a big boat I guess the locals called it “sapang” (I don’t remember the exact word but I knew it started with letter S and A.

Sapang

I was so amazed by the color of the seawater because there is some part that is color light green or color light blue.

I accidentally captured this girl without noticing that she was there.

My uncle who’s a year younger than me told me that there was a barge sank in the sea when you face northeast or by 11 o’ clock from the wharf, it was a barge from Cotabato going to Zamboanga City when there was a storm and sink the ship, there were a lot of passengers died in that accident and some locals especially my grandfather told me that there was a shark living in that shipwreck beneath the sea. Well, I don’t know if it’s true but I guess I believed it.

My little sister was excited to take a bath, so, my uncle (a year younger than me) took her below the seaport.

It was a fisherman bringing a cogon.

The guy who's wearing a blue t-shirt is my cousin, the guy who's wearing color yellow jersey shirt is my uncle and the girl he is holding on is my little sister.

My grandfather

My grandfather took us to the lighthouse not so far in their seaport for the fishermen. Lighthouse is the one who’ll guide those fishermen in the ocean-going back to its righteous place. Below the lighthouse is a church for the Seventh-day Adventist and my grandfather said he used to be cleaned this area when he was young since he is a member of that church but since he is old now he just visited this church or join the mass every Saturday. We wanted to go upstairs in the lighthouse since we want to see what the view is when you are up there but sad to say the caretaker of the lighthouse went to the mountain so we just took pictures below the lighthouse.

This is where they held a mass as what my grandpa said.

We weren't able to go inside because the caretaker is nowhere to be found so we just took photos below the lighthouse.

One of my favorite photographs

We decided to hike in the seashore, I was so shocked by their sand cause it is not a sand that I was thinking but instead it was a rock, my grandfather said that it is very hard to walk in this place so he wanted us to walk in their Hi-Way but me and my little sister refused to we say we said we wanted to try so yeah it is hard for us to walk since we are not used to this. My grandfather said that this is what they call “buwesan/buhisan” since this is a material that is used for making a house.

This is one of the materials that can be mixed in cement.

By the next day it was raining but later on it turned into drizzle my cousin was so early by 6 in the morning they were at my aunt’s house balcony waiting for us so we were waiting till 7 in the morning, we were already at my uncle’s house in “buwesan/buhisan” borrowing 2 life buoys, my nephew was with us since his parents went to mountain, and at that time I finally met a girl cousin, and sad to say my uncle’s boat was not available so we were just borrowing a small boat that will fit 6 people.

You can see the coral reefs, even if the seawater level is at your knee level you can see coral reefs there.

look how clear and vibrant is the color.

this is more than 6 ft depth though and you can see a lot of fishes but sad to say I don't have an underwater camera nor phone. so basically we were just using our 4 years old Samsung galaxy tab 2

There was a part of the seawater that is color green and color blue, and even if the seawater is just a knee level we can see already corals. So I was really having fun because it was my first time to see corals in the sea. My cousin suggested that we both must take the buoys and seriously I was so totally afraid considering it was my first time doing that in my whole life, I know how to swim but the seashore is way too far for me to swim, but he said that it is okay since he will guide me with our buoys. I was struggling at first but later on, I just go with the flow.

My little sister asked our uncle (the one who wears a black shirt) if she can ride the buoy with him.

they were actually laughing at me because I was struggling to come closer to the boat.

Yep, I am struggling simultaneously enjoying.

My cousin told me that we were just going to the shore by rowing ourselves from our buoys so at first, I refused like I am holding so tightly on the boat but later on I gave up cause I also want to try something new.

My girl cousin took this one when they were near on the seashore.

Took a selfie with my father's sibling together with their father or my grandfather.

sorry for the low quality of the first pic of our family picture.

We hurriedly went to their “pantalan” or seaport because the water level might go down and it is not the best to jump in the “pantalan” when the seawater level is not that high, so when we got there we were shocked because there were also locals that standby in that area while having drinks or some locals just like us wants to swim or jump too.

Serenity

We went on the right side since there were some other people who're having their drinking session on the left side or left stairs. But look at the color of the water huhu it is kinda different on the right side where my little sister took a bath before this happened.

At first glance, it is shallow but when I came downstairs it's almost on my neck level. My companion was just taller than me that it looks like a shallow water. But they both guided the little kids since they are pro at swimming.

Oh yes! I jump on their "pantalan" or seaport for the 4th time ( on that day only excluding the other day(s) )