Archive for July, 2009
Beyond Boracay
July 17th, 2009 | 
Author: Fitzgerald in The Great Gatiby wrote about”[beating on), boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” If you want to see an old town that, like many counterparts, has had an ambivalent relationship with its heritage, but is finally embracing it and welcoming its future, then look no further. Spend art afternoon before your flight to (or from) Boracay visiting Kalibo. A few hours are all you need to get to know this Aklan province. Calivo (“town of a thousand”) under the Spanish. has certainly outgrown its literal translation, but the context is the same. It’s a small jewel of a town surrounded by mountains to the east and south, and waters by the north. From the perimeter (which one usually sees en route to Boracay), it looks like any nondescript way-station. Venture further in, and you might just he surprised.
Proust wrote that “the voyage discovery lies not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eves.” Preferably eyes that bother to see what’s right under your noses. Kalibonhons, fellow Aklanons, and wayward tourists have started rediscovering Aklan’s capital town.
What once was a wasteland of dynamite fishing and informal settlers is now a sprawling, 70 plus hectare preserve of giant mangroves. Bakhawan Eco Park is a testament to the Aklanon spirit—it is a community-based forestry project, an ecotourism jewel, a serenejourney and destination unto itself. One, or a group, traverses the forest through an eco-friendly bamboo bridge (capacity: 25) that winds through the bowels of the preserve. Submerge yourself in nature, see bird species thought of as extinct, and lose yourself, only to find (once you cross an estuary into another forest) a path to the living sea. Since you would’ve walked the equivalent of a few (unnoticeable) miles, and will have to go back the way you came, cool your heels in one of the open casitas, and breathe it all in.
Famished, head to Old Buswang and enter Tierra Vega, where a tropical nook serving native and continental cuisine awaits. Order the Inubarang Manok. Think Fish Amok from Siem Reap with succulent meat (native chicken, no less), generous helpings of ginger and a few secret ingredients. There’s fresh seaweed, oysters and fish to make you wonder what you’ve been eating all this time in Imperial Manila. For the less adventurous, the proprietors (who also own the lush enchanting hideaway farm just behind it) have made sure everyone is happy. A decent selection of continental fare is available, amidst the tastefully native (sans kitseh) interiors. Aklanons love their stories, spirits and company, so a few helpings of wine, beer and liquor are recommended for you to blend in and enjoy the atmosphere. Stay awhile, kick back on one of the bamboo divans, and enjoy.
After washing down your meal with cups of native herbal tea, head to the public plaza, which is in the midst of a gradual renaissance. That the nearest shopping mall has been consigned to the outskirts is a good sign indeed. This is the epicenter of
Aklanon heritage, and here you can visit the following:
Housed in an ancestral building that once contained a school, and in another life, a move theatre, the two-storey Museo It Akean traces Aklan’s heritage—going
beyond Boracay into its weaving culture, arts, literature and legends. On certain days, the museum’s second floor serves as a gallery for Aklanon artists, where you can feast
your eyes on, and bid for, severely undervalued and sublime works of art. Sit still on the aged balcony, drink in the happy languor that is provincial life, and enjoy it while it lasts.
Cross the road and take a gander at one of the late National Artist Leandro Locsin’s masterpieces, the St. John’s Cathedral, the epicenter of the province’s heritage. Think Santuario de San Antonio’s less gaudy sister, more interesting to behold, more steeped in history and significance, and more serene to worship in. The unassuming mien of Aldanons in their worship only changes during the Ati-Atihan festival that takes place in mid-January, but that’s another tale to tell.
Then, right across the plaza, with its landscaped grounds and busts of Rizal and Bonifacio facing each other amidst other monuments of Aldanon heroes, go visit a miracle. Head to the Kalibo Public Library, which is a partnership between the local government and civic groups, with collections spanning from J.D. Salinger to Jose Saramago to Jose Rizal, and with provenances as far as the San Francisco PubHc Library and Georgetown University. Sit still, browse, see and join Akianons, young and od get teleported into new worlds with the turn of a page.
The town stays and likes being unnoticed compared to its garish, sandy cousin an hour away, but just once, it makes itself heard. In January (and as a sign of its visceral, genuine character), the sadsad rhythms, cylophones and drums of AtiAtihan begin to wake, and Akianons paint their town with all they are and are becoming. That’s another few months away, another story to tell, and another set of eves to feast with.
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