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As the boat pulled away from the beach on my last visit there over a year ago, I could not bear to look back. Still, the hauntingly mystical vision of the island kept appearing in my mind’s eye, and will remain forever. The island is named Dumunpalit, which means in the local Cuyonin dialect “the place of no change.” From the air this island is shaped exactly like a turtle swimming through the Mindoro Strait which connects the South China Sea to the Sulu Sea. From Manila one flies by SeAir or Asian Pacific to the YKR airfield on the island of Busuanga, near the bustling port town of Coron. These are the northern parts of Palawan, the "last frontier" and most undeveloped province of the Philippines, rich with awesome natural, pristine beauty. Dumunpalit is one of the most magical places that one could ever imagine. The amazing limestone and red agate cliffs rising out of the turquoise waters, the immense fine white sand beach, the eerie caves with wave worn polished walls at all angles, and its remote setting both make one feel that this island should really be home to Dr. No. This part of the Philippines is 350 miles from the troubled Muslim areas to the south, and is very safe with crime almost unheard of. There are rumours of Pirates sailing the seas to the south in Indonesia, but these are more likely to be nothing other than the brightly coloured local fishing boats. From YKR airport
a 20 minute jeepney ride takes you to the mouth of the San Jose River.
The airport manager, Elmer, has his men ready to load my supplies onto
his 40 foot spider boat with bench seats for twelve passengers (or it is
possible to arrange passage with Club Paradise's taxi and boat). The diesel
boat chugs out to sea, past Maricaban Resort in Maricaban Bay (an excellent
yacht refuge), past Club Paradise on Dimakya Island, past a huge rock with
a pure white sandbar and one lone small tree, past Diboyayan Island, and
towards Dumunpalit's four towers jutting above the horizon.
The network of caves at the water's edge, below the sheer limestone walls, spawns local legends of Japanese gold hidden at the end of the last big war. Although to date none has been found. On the southeast, there is no surrounding reef and the boat slides up to the shore. If it is calm enough, which is usually most of the time, we can disembark directly on the beach, which is hundreds of feet deep at this point, big enough for a stadium football field. The beach then S-curves around a corner for almost 2000 feet. This is the "front" side of the island, where lies the flattest areas, below the dominating, but protective hills. The "back" side also has numerous beaches, but they are backed up by almost insurmountable slopes and cliffs, mostly covered by trees, shrubs, grass, or rock faces. Coconut palms project above the forest canopy and a flock of "toto yalo" (totally yellow?) birds wheel and dart amongst the larger trees. My two caretakers carry off the supplies and baggage, down the woody path, past their own cottage and the banyan tree to the rear, about two hundred yards to the owner's cottage - small, cozy, quiet, and right on the beach of the calm lagoon. The stainless steel water catchment tank is full from the rain and the small concrete cook-room off the kitchen is stocked with firewood. Fresh coconuts are stacked in the corner for refreshing drinks. After settling in, unpacking, and a quick shower and snack, we drift along the beach to splash a little in the lapping waves, and go ahead and take that first swim in the four foot deep sandy bottomed, reef-tamed ocean water. Then the path leads inland to a clearing with banana and citrus trees, and two wells at the base of the hillside. The manual water pump calls me over, and I pump the handle to test the clear drinking water. Surrounded by miles of salt water- and here, delicious fresh water! A sense of security descends. Due to the size of the hill, there is plenty of fresh potable water here year round- many more wells could be dug to provide water for dozens of residents. Soon the dusky skies turn dark and fill with a myriad of twinkling stars. More stars than I’ve ever seen! A campfire on the beach becomes the focus for evening conversation and the making of plans for the morrow. Shall we go cave exploring, kayaking, or snorkeling? Maybe hiking up to the lookout ledge near the top to look over the ocean and neighboring islands? Bird watching, or landscaping and gardening? That plan of using a little cement to make steps up to the top of the corner stone tower sounds luring, to make a vista to catch sunrise and sunset. The night is spent without mosquitos- they must have missed this island, because their presence is rare and my mosquito net is still packed away. At first the crashing of small waves on the beach twenty feet away is keeping me awake, but soon it becomes a lull that ensures peaceful sleep. There are a few strange jungle sounds - particularly a dog like barking that can be attributed to a sort of forest pheasant. The next day
I end up just wandering around mesmerized by all the amazing rock formations
that seem to be from Mars or one of Saturn’s moons, or maybe Tibet. It
would be great if I could find a geologist to explain how so many of these
varied things came to be on the same island. At the first of the four south
towers there is an entrance on land at its base into a cave which turns
and opens into the ocean. Waves roll in on a sandy bottom, and I wade out
and walk chest deep along the tower’s ocean side rock wall to a fifty foot
tall natural stone arch, where waves collide from entering on both sides.
There are deep cracks into the rock wall wherein various shells have been
jammed by storms, and as high tide advances, the waves get higher so I
return to the beach.
However, after studying the situation, I was convinced that there was no cause to fear for my investment, neither from squatters (none of which I saw or heard of in Palawan), nor the government, who is very keen to encourage foreign investors. There is an investor’s permanent multiple entry residency visa with a $100,000 investment and the usual paperwork, police clearances, etc. Most of the resorts in Palawan are foreign owned. Nearby Club Paradise belongs to a German- and the Sangat Resort near Coron is built on timberland status land, owned by someone from UK. My conclusion is, as I began back on the forest pathway, that it will take an open-minded, adventurous foreigner to assume responsibility for this piece of heaven. Someone who can think out of the box. I collect some cuttlebones for my parrots - which I guess are from some sort of sealife. A weaving, crisscrossing trail of a monitor lizard’s tail and its double rows of footprints marks the otherwise tide-smoothed surface of the blinding white coral sands. These monitors hide by day in between large rocks up on the hill and come out at night to hunt smaller lizards, crabs, and mice. I came upon a big one once, but it was petrified and ran off. The island has many birds and is home to the rare Philippine eagle. I noted several species of butterflies, dragonflies, bumblebees, bats, red flowering coral trees, an unidentified lavender flowering tree, the harmless Pacific boa. As far as I know, there are no poisonous snakes, scorpions or insects. The island feels quite benign, actually. The sun can get hot since this is not far from the equator but in the shade the cooling sea breezes are quite refreshing. I decide to try and circle the island by the shore, making it to the “lost” caves in the northeast peninsula of towering rock “blades,” and around to another big beach adjacent to the massive rock “turtle’s head,” around which is too much for me to negotiate with giant boulders at the bottom of cliffs over 100 feet high. Climbing the steep hillside, I reach the saddle meadowland between the big 300 foot hill and the lesser 200 foot hill. This could be a nice building site, being a couple acres flat area just above the little valley down below, near the owner’s cottage. Returning to the well, I take a quick shower by bucket, and retire to tell tales of my explorations to my diary. I found several hidden smaller beaches with rock spires off the shore, with holes through their center like needles. I named these islets the “Needle Rocks.” There are pieces of red, orange, and blue coral here and there. The caves glowed red from the agate’s deep color, and reflected in the tidal pools, it was a strange effect. On the rear of the second stone tower is a slope covered with one or two inch square chips of marble, breaking off and sliding down from the rocks above. There is certainly plenty of good building stone here. There are numerous rocks and islets surrounding the main island, which provide roosts for birds and create fascinating wave and tide action. The reef-protected lagoon makes a great anchorage for shallow draft boats such as catamarans or the local spiderboats. There are fifty mature coconut trees, many having been cut down by passing fishermen in years past, but now I have planted many new ones. There are no sandflies or gnats- no bug problem at any time of the year, wet or dry season. The rains start in May and last into December, and sometimes in April the ocean is as calm as glass. Construction
might have been a bigger challenge was it not for the modest Palawan freighter
that passes by each week stopping at minor ports on the way to Puerto Princessa.
But how long could I live in total separation from the rest of the planet? Would I miss the cities, masses of people, cars, stores, internet? Internet? That, I learned, was very economically reasonable through several satellite-served providers in the Philippines, so with a solar photovoltaic power arrangement and a satellite dish, I could check on the outside world whenever I wanted to. Just to make sure all of that out there was still there, was not getting any better since I left it, and that which I managed to escape. But then I remember… I need a bigger place for my cows and orchards. And that’s why I must sell Dumunpalit, since if I can’t be here to care for this very special remnant of some prehistoric era, then someone else who was qualified should. After all, how can I be in two places at once? The 300 acres I recently purchased on a Central American Pacific island with its mile long beach, rainforests, iguanas, turtle breeding grounds, running streams, and hilltop housesite with killer views, are waiting for me. And there’s plenty of pasture for my Jersey/Cebu cross breeding program and self sufficiency goals on my part of this new island. But that’s another story.
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Streetwise
Philippines - 