Overnight camping in Kalanggaman Island

The only sound we could hear in the vast ocean was the roaring of the motorboat. The captain on its wheel, maneuvering the vessel smoothly.

The sun's setting down. The skies turning into a golden color. Everywhere I look, I see gold! My favorite time of the day. Of course I couldn't let it pass without capturing its gloriousness. And then out of nowhere a dolphin came out swimming into the sun's direction. We were elated at the sight of the sea creature. But as the sun sets down, so was the disappearance of the dolphin. As per the boatmen, it's not a rare sight in the vicinity, they can be seen around the island especially in the afternoon.

A few minutes later, we finally arrived at our destination - Kalanggaman Island. After months of anticipation, I finally got to step on the long stretch of the island's sandbar. This is it. We are really camping in an island in the middle of the ocean. It's a bit scary and exciting at the same time. Hello! We are in the middle of the ocean and the boatmen already left us, the captain said he'll come back for us the following day. We we're like castaways. We were left there carrying our bags, foods that we brought from the market, two camping tents, two 5 liters drinking water and two 10 liters of water for washing off or cooking. We were on our own. No guides to help us.

The island has no electricity and the water comes from the ocean. Good thing we decided not to cook our dinner or else we would end up eating in the dark.

Visitors or campers in the island is also limited. They don't allow overbooking to protect the island and to avoid overcrowding. So we were one of the lucky ones who got in the list. Yey!

I didn't attempt to help in the setting up of the tent, I'm not good at it. So I took the task of preparing our foods for dinner which is basically just getting it out of the plastics. Haha. Since we didn't achieve the sunset in the island, we decided to camp on the area where the sun will rise. And it's also the area with less ants! They are everywhere!!! Maybe that's why it's called Kalanggaman because there are lots of ants inhabiting the island.

Actually, it was our second set up. We initially set up our tent in the shaded area near a shanty but after setting it up, some of the campers moved away. We thought it's for the better, so we can have the shanty by ourselves. Then suddenly we heard a sound. A gecko's sound!! It's in the shanty beside us. So we immediately moved out. We cannot risk getting jumped by it (if it jumps or whatever). I told you it's exciting and scary in the island. Haha

So when we we're finally settled in the not so shaded part of the island, we prepared for dinner. After dinner, we went to the middle part of the island to wash off and also check if there's bonfire set up. Unfortunately, there was no bonfire.

It was still early for bed so we decided to rent out a lounge chair where we can lay and stargaze. There's nothing much to do in the island at night. Reception is also bad in the island so mobile phones are basically of no use.

We grabbed the opportunity to catch up without interruptions since we have no mobile phones in hand. When we were out of things to talk to, we just lay there and look up at the astonishing sight above us. That night we were blessed with clear skies and gazillion stars. I was hoping to see a shooting star or even a falling star so I could make a wish. I saw some but was always too late to make a wish. Haha.

Hours passed and I was still fighting the urge to sleep as that was a rare moment that I want to savor. The others went inside the tent to sleep. When it got chilly and I was left outside, I joined them inside. I also remembered we still have to wake up early for the sunrise.