The Bataan Peninsula & Subic Bay

I've spent most of the past two weeks in and around Manila, hanging out and catching up with family in the area. I'd been hoping to see a new part of the Philippines, and so on Thursday we decided to head northwest out of metro Manila to spend the day in and around Subic Bay. We decided on Subic for a couple of reasons: proximity, general lack of traffic, and the fact that I'd heard it was a good area for birding, so it must have some decent undeveloped areas. When I was looking the area up online, there was actually a lot less information that I anticipated for people who are interested in hiking, seeing wildlife, and enjoying the unimproved outdoors. After reading up on the few activities advertised online like Zoobic and Tree Top Adventure, we decided to play it by ear and figure out a game plan upon arrival. 

We left Manila around 6 AM to avoid as much traffic as possible, heading north on the NLEX, with great morning views of Mt. Arayat along the way. In San Fernando we caught the Jose Abad Santos Avenue (JASA) east to the SCTEX at Dinalupihan. We got in to Subic around 8:30 AM, having made great time for most of the trip.

We spent most of the day driving around the area enjoying the scenery around us, snapping photos, and enjoying several activities:

1. Wildlife In Need (WIN) Hospital & Rescue Center - after deciding against Zoobic, we saw WIN's big "Visitor's Welcome" sign along the road, and decided to give it a shot. While it doesn't seem like they get many visitors here, we were treated to a brilliant tour of the facility and animals by Alan, a dutch veterinary student who is currently volunteering there. In addition to taking in and fixing stray cats and dogs, the hospital rehabilitates animals and birds that have been injured on the road, electrocuted by power lines, or abused by former owners. There is no admission charge, but we chose to make a donation anyway to what seems to be a well-run and community-oriented organization. When we visited, species in residence included: MAMMALS: bearcat (binturong), Philippine civit, Philippine long-tailed macaques, and Philippine fruit bats BIRDS: white-bellied woodpecker, white-bellied sea eagles, osprey, nicobar pigeons, crested serpent eagle, emerald dove, brahminy kite, white-breasted wood swallow, brown booby, wandering whistling ducks, Philippine scops owl
   
   
2. Subic Boardwalk & Seafood By the Bay - the Subic boardwalk is rather short, but quite pleasant with several restaurants and nice views of military ships docked further down the shore. We had a nice family-style lunch at Seafood By the Bay. The process for ordering here was new to me. You pay for whatever seafood you want by weight and then can choose to have it prepared however you want. We had prawns grilled in lemon and butter and fish fried sweet and sour. It's a bit expensive, but the atmosphere is nice with outdoor seating and a nice breeze.
   
   
3. Boton Falls Hike - we happened upon a sign for this near the top of the road to the George Dewey Medical & Wellness Center and were very glad that we did. The hike itself is only about 500m long, but the trail descends steeply 100m down through some of the last virgin coastal forest on Luzon. This area has been noted for its excellent birding, but with two small children in tow, we did not have much luck. The only bad thing about this hike is that after a dip in the water, you must ascend back to your vehicle and are covered in sweat again by the time you arrive.
   
   
4. Bataan Natural Park Driving Tour - instead of returning directly to Manila, we opted to circumnavigate Bataan Natural Park to get a better feel for the landscape of the area. This drive provided gorgeous views overlooking the village of Mabayo and Subic Bay. The rest of the drive to Cabog-Cabog was quite also quite scenic and enjoyable, though from there on, there was rather heavy traffic. The road from Cabog-Cabog to Balanga and then on to San Fernando follows much of the 128km Bataan Death March, where the Japanese military forced 60,000 Filipino and 15,000 American POWs to march for three days in 1942 with virtually no food or water.

For more on these topics, the photography tab of this website contain several photos from this trip.

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