Ending The Year In ILOCANDIA (2016)

New Year's Day is a very exciting and optimistic holiday for us Filipinos. Usually, it is more important to celebrate and spend the occasion in the company of family and friends during New Year's Eve than Christmas Day.

However, New Year’s Day is also a great holiday to spend alone. In 2016, I set up the plan to go to one of the popular tourist destinations in the north - ILOCOS NORTE!

Much to my amazement, I never expected to spend the holidays with much less competition - whether it's for hotel booking, tour van rental, eating out - beyond LakbayLoyd's expectation of solo traveling.

- There are less tourists. You can spend quality time doing more activities.
- I can take photos of anything and anyone without interruption.
- No traffic - definitely!
- Some attractions accept guests without admission fee
- No hagglers, barkers, drivers asking for higher fares
- Sit comfortably and enjoy the view while dining without waiting for your table to be called

And I never had this much fun and enjoyment in Ilocandia ever than before!

LakbayLoyd Lighthouse Series 27: EL FARO DE CABO SAN AGUSTIN, Lavigan, Governor Generoso, Davao Oriental

Mindanao is my most favorite destination and there's no doubt about it. But it became more interesting for me to explore Mindanao because of one historic lighthouse really worth visiting and documenting.

My search for historic lighthouses in the Philippines led me to conquer all of them - from the northernmost point of Luzon in Palaui Island, Sta. Ana, Cagayan (Cape Engaño Lighthouse) down to the southernmost in the southeasterly tip of the province of Davao Oriental for the Cape San Agustin Lighthouse.

Cape San Agustin Lighthouse is situated at Sitio Talisay, Barangay Lavigan, Municipality of Governor Generoso.

I almost thought I have visited most odd places in Mindanao but getting to Cape San Agustin was even odder, and a bit tricky. The truth, I had no idea where I'm going due to limited information about the place on the net. So, good luck to me!

From Davao City, it will take three hours to reach Gov. Generoso via L300 vans from Gaisano Mall of Davao transport terminal.

Now this is the tricky part - you won't find any signage for vans going to Gov. Generoso, instead you have to look for the van going to Sigaboy, the town's former name.

The van left the terminal at 5:00 am. The sun was up by the time we reached the Davao Oriental marker. The scenic view of Davao Gulf as the van passed the road down to Gov. Generoso kept me awake and thrilled.

Now, the next tricky part. The van ride ends in Poblacion when your reach Gov. Generoso but the lighthouse is nowhere near. To get there, you have to pass through several other south district barangays from the town center and has to hire a habal-habal (negotiate with the driver or else...) for another hour to the Cape. 

Cape San Agustin (without the lighthouse) was considered a most important strategic navigational demarcation during the Spanish colonial era, more so even after the first lighthouse was built in 1938 during the Americans and Japanese in World War II where both forces had radar installations near the Cape. There are two lighthouses of different designs built to replace the older ones.
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The view from the top of the cape is a stunning panoramic view of the Celebes Sea and the Gulf of Davao, reason why it is becoming more and more popular to locals and visitors recently to witness the breathtaking, almost postcard-like view of the horizon.

Down to the other side of the lighthouses, one will find the Parola Beach or also known as Pundaguitan Beach, a stunning stretch of pink sand beach facing the ravaging waves of the clear waters of Celebes Sea.