CAMOTES Island

The Camotes Islands are a group of four islands that form part of the province of Cebu, in the Philippines. The island group is located east of Cebu, southwest of Leyte, and north of Bohol It is the collective name of the islands that made up Camotes and its towns: Pilar, Tudela, Poro, and San Francisco.
Camotes Island's topography is hilly. The highest point of the island is 386 meters above sea level. Its climate is characterized by distinct dry season. Camotes Island has a total size of 20,964 hectares. Famous for its unspoiled natural beauty, rich culture and heritage, hospitality, and smiling faces — the Camotes Island is regarded by many as: "The Island of Enchantment!"


Climate
Camotes as a whole enjoys tropical weather the whole year round. The dry season is from March to June while the rainy season is from July to February. The nippy air of "Amihan" or the northeasterly wind blows from September to March. From June to August, the southwesterly wind or the "Habagat" turns up.
The "Habagat" wind normally goes through an eight days cycle, which means, eight days of storm and rain. After 8 wet days, the weather abruptly changes to sunny and dry, consecutively. During this season, Camotes Island is frequently visited by typhoons and low depression, wherein it floods the whole island, and blows the native houses' rooftops away.

Economy
The predominant economic activities on the Camotes Islands are farming (including corn, rice, pigs, chicken and cattle), fishing and tourism. Palm trees are the dominant plant on the islands. There are also numerous native varieties of fruit trees and other plants. A number of beach resorts have been established, catering to both domestic and international tourists.

Origin
The word camotes is Spanish for sweet potatoes.

Languages
Porohanon or Camotes Visayan is spoken in the town of Poro only. The dialect is very similar to the dialect of Cebuano that is spoken in the rest of Camotes Islands and throughout the province of Cebu, Northern Mindanao and other parts of the Visayas. Porohanon is distinguished by the way the locals substitute the /y/ sound for /z/. Example: Maayong buntag (good morning) in Cebuano would be changed to Maazong buntag in Porohanon.


Camotes Island Transportation
Access to the island is by boat. There are daily boats from mainland Cebu to Camotes Island.

E.B. Aznar Shipping:
The travel time is a leisurely 4 hours on a clean and comfortable large boat. The boat docks at Poro Island port. You can board on this boat at Pier 2 in Cebu. The Aznar boat leaves daily at 9:00pm from Cebu and arrives in Camotes Island at 1:00am. From Camotes Island, the boat leaves at 11:00am and arrives in Cebu City at 3:00pm.

Fares from Cebu to Camotes Island and vice versa:
Tourist: P280.00
Economy: P220.00

However, if you miss this boat, you will have to travel north of Cebu to Danao City, which is about an hours' drive north of Cebu. There are other smaller outrigger boats, which takes you to the island, in 2.5 or 3 hours depending on the sea's temperament. This is not the most comfortable ride. You will have an opportunity to sit next to chickens, cows, and pigs, and people vomiting out of nausea, and motion sickness.

Pumpboats to Camotes Island:
From Ouano Wharf, Mandaue City daily at 1:00pm; Fare: P200.00
From Danao City to Camotes Island; Fare: P 180.00
Travel Time - 3 hrs.



BUKILAT CAVERN
Bukilat Cave was named after the founder Bukilat. This cave was used as a shelter from the Japanese during World War II. Camotes Island has 8 natural caves. But this cave is breathtakingly beautiful on a high tide when the water flows in. The water in the cave flows out to the sea.
Until today, the people are still constantly searching for the lost buried treasures, hidden during the second world war. It has been rumored to be hidden in this area.


LAKE DANAO
Lake Danao in Camotes Island is known to be the largest lake in the Visayas and Mindanao. The total size of the lake is 680 hectares. The shape of the lake is a number 8 or some say, a shape of a guitar. This place used to be full of crocodiles until they were all hunted down and their hides were sold in Mindanao to produce bags, shoes, and belts out of crocodile skin. It contains fresh water and still is abundant with fishes. Meanwhile the Bureau of Fisheries hold their office here. And we can still buy a variety of fresh water fish that is also dried and sold as a dried fish specialty from the island. Prices of the properties vary from USD1.00 - 3.00/sq. m. depending on the area or location.

SIMALA

No place is too far to visit for a miracle. People whose only hope to cure their sickness is miracle, are always in search for instruments of God’s miraculous grace.

I first heard about this place from my gay friends who spend Thursday and Friday of the Holy Week in Simala saying, this is the best venue where they can repent their sins. From what they were telling me, on the way to the shrine itself are stamps reflecting the 14 Stations of the Cross. Then it concludes to a small chapel built on a hill where Mama Mary’s icon is mounted. But this is just the simplest way my gay friends can describe the place.



The shrine is located in Upper Lindogon, Simala, Sibonga Cebu. Sibonga is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Cebu, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 38,281 people in 7,497 households. Simala, being one of the 25 barangays in Sibonga according to the national census made in 2001, has a population of 399 inhabitants (Simalesi). The territory of the municipality lies between 102 and 294 metres above sea level.

Driving to Simala shrine by private car from Cebu City takes about two to three hours, barring heavy traffic in the outlying towns. Public buses ply the south Cebu route but one would have to get off a corner of the national road to reach upper Lindogon and hail a motorcab or a habal-habal (motorcycle-for-hire) for P20 to take you to the shrine about four kilometers up the mountains.



The shrine became “famous” after word spread that the image of the Virgin Mary was
seen “shedding tears of blood,” a phenomenon that lacks scientific or official church validation but nevertheless draws more people to the area. The Marian monks who maintain the shrine have also landscaped the area, which has a mini falls that cascades down a small pool and well-tended gardens. Signboards warn people that picking the flowers would be like “stealing from Mother Mary”. Families can have picnics and meals in cottages built for visitors. Children like to throw coins in a wishing well which features a large bell. Those who grumble about the distance are quickly shamed by the sight of elderly men and women on wheelchairs and crutches who go there to hear Mass and line up to kiss the image of Mary. These senior citizens don veils on their heads while praying, the same one Mary wore when she “shed tears of blood.”



A major purpose of visitors and devotees who go to Simala is to offer their petitions. Blank sheets of paper and pens on which to write their intentions are prepared by the monks for one to drop in a box at the right side of the glass-encased Marian image. Thank you letters are dropped in a box to her left side. Visitors in lone queues walk barefoot to the statue. Since the area is considered sacred ground, shoes and footwear have to be removed and modesty is part of the dress code. Wearing of shorts, body-hugging blouses or sleeveless shirts is not allowed. Visitors who come dressed in this attire are asked to cover up with sarongs or malongs, prepared by the monks at the entrance. The path leading to the statue is lined with wooden cabinets where written petitions and thank you letters from as far as the United States and other countries are posted. Most petitions ask for a divine cure for ailments of the seeker or a family member’s. Several petitions were made by students seeking to pass the Bar or board examinations. Others seek help in finding jobs abroad. In another cabinet, thank you letters are laid out, full of gratitude to Mary for answered prayers. While waiting for the line to move, reading the letters is an engaging past time. One woman sent a package containing her nursing uniform, her offering of thanks to Mary for passing the nursing licensure examination. Further on is a cabinet crammed with wheelchairs and crutches offered by those who were cured of their ailments.

Each year, the crowd of devotees and first-time pilgrims seems to grow bigger, bringing their faith and petitions for cures and other divine aid. Definitely, there is no place that is too far to visit for a miracle.