Camping at Anawangin

Anawangin beach

It was a great start for summer 2010 since my colleagues and I decided to go have a beach weekend at Anawangin Zambales. The night before, which was our Friday shift,  good thing the office is just beside Mall of Asia and Hypermarket. We stocked up on supplies like chips and lots of drinking water as well as insect repellent and drinks. Come Saturday morning, we were picked up by our guide Kuya Jherwyn and a van was already waiting for us already to bring us to Pundakit where we will ride a boat going to Anawangin. Since we left immediately after the shift, we stopped by to get some breakfast at McDonalds at a gas station at NLEX and to also get more supplies (I forgot to bring my toothbrush). The trip lasted for almost 5 hours but we didn't really mind the long trip since everyone was having a good time. It was like high school all over again going on a field trip since everyone had stories to tell and we fondly took pictures. Before nearing the town of Pundakit, we had another stop over at a local market to buy fish and meat so that we'll have something to cook and grill for lunch and dinner at the beach (and not limit ourselves to pancit canton and bread. :p). We even got an ice chest and some ice to somehow preserve the stuff we got. Once we got to the town of Pundakit, it was a short walk to the beach where a boat was already there to bring us to Anawangin. It was 30 minute boat ride to the cove. 

Arriving at Anawangin beach

The boat we rode in was small, but we were provided with life vests so that made us at ease. Upon arriving, 1st order of business was to set up camp and cook lunch since everyone was starving already (Tip: make sure to get lunch already at a nearby town so that you won't worry about cooking once you get there). We looked for a great site to set-up camp and we found a nice spot and tried to put up our tents. Good thing we have our guide Kuya Jherwyn who arranged everything from the van and boat transfers as well as handling our accommodations, he was the one who brought the tents. For lunch, the gang cooked up some yummy chicken adobo, grilled liempo and tilapia. I don't know how to cook and it was a good thing that I was surrounded by people who knew what they were doing. We cooked all of the fresh meat that we bought since we didn't want it to spoil.

Setting up camp

Enjoying lunch

After lunch and once the camp has been set-up already, it was time to hit the beach and swim. The beach was nice, you can go a little bit far from shore and the water was still chest deep. The beach and the water was clean despite the crowd so it was a good thing. It was a nice day for fun and pictures, we didn't really mind that we were sleep deprived since we had work the night before. Kuya Jherwyn was also there to assist us in taking pictures and he was even the one who told us what to do.

Anawangin beach

Walking at the beach

Enjoying the beach

Capping our day with a fun picture

Enjoying the sunset

Yoga by the beach

 After an afternoon of swimming, it was already getting dark so it was time to go back to camp and set-up our bonfire. There's no electricity so it will really get dark so you'll have to bring flashlights. Everyone needed to freshen up so we went to the nearby poso and took turns taking a bath. While one was pumping the other one was bathing then switch, that's teamwork. A thing to take note is that there's no signal at the area but it was also nice since you can be one with nature. After dinner, which was basically the same food we ate during lunch, the group had dessert with marshmallows! When we were setting up earlier, each one found a twig where they could stick the marshmallow to and everyone had a good time cooking it in the fire. At first it was fun but the heat from the fire was too much that we were the ones being toasted, hahaha. A trip wouldn't be complete as well without a couple of drinks to help everyone sleep better. After a few drinks, exhaustion caught up with everyone and it was off to dreamland.

Bonfire

Early morning the next day, the group headed out and explored the cove before going to the beach. The group went and checked the lagoon and we even saw a monkey on the trees. 

Canopy

A little lagoon near the beach

Morning at the beach

After taking a lot of pictures, we went back to the beach to soak up the water one last time. An interesting thing that we did was fish feeding. At chest deep, there were already fish swimming with us so what we did was just get some crackers and we were flocked by a lot of fish which was a fun experience for everyone except for one, hahaha. After eating our bread and pancit canton lunch, we were ready to head home. We made sure that we didn't leave any garbage to help preserve the beauty of the beach. Although we just stayed there for 1 night, it was definitely a good escape. Its another experience for me since its the first time I've done camping.