Ecotours - Palawan
 Calauit Island Game
Preserve and Wildlife
Sanctuary
by Robert Gardner
Half-way between the cities of Manila and Puerto Princesa you can find a
piece of African savanna replete with grazing giraffes, zebras and other exotic
creatures roaming freely on their own island preserve. How these animals came
to inhabit a place thousands of miles from their home in Africa is a story full of
legend and rumors. The facts are that in the mid-1970's during the heyday of
the Marcos regime, a latter-day Noah's Ark embarked on a voyage from an African
port to escape a flood of civil unrest, illegal hunting and habitat destruction.
It landed on a sparsely occupied island within an hour's flight from Manila but
a world away from the paths and byways of civilization. The how and why of
this translocation of about a dozen species has been obscured in the mists of
time and memory. Some say it was President Kenyatta of Kenya who requested
other countries to provide refuge for animals threatened by wars and drought.
None of these species were particularly endangered. Others suggest that
Marcos wanted a private hunting preserve for his family and cronies. Maybe
in a time when environmental consciousness was growing, the administration felt
it could establish its conservation showcase.
But why banish the 200+ families who called Calauit home? Most were
subsistence farmers and fisherman scattered along the fringes of the island and
all were forced to resettle on nearby islands. This created a 3,700
hectare wilderness home for the giraffes, zebras and about a half-dozen antelope
species. What adds to the mystery is that it was all done without fanfare
and with little public knowledge until the People's Power revolution toppled the
Marcos oligarchy in 1986. In the ten years since they were introduced,
the herds thrived and lacking the usual predators, their numbers quadrupled.
It was a strange experiment for a country that has little money to fund efforts
to conserve it's own natural resources. Its success has more to do with
the dedicated caretakers who must have operated on, at best, a shoestring.
It was funded through the Office of the President and is currently administered through the local Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD).
Besides the imported animals, the sanctuary has started conservation programs
for some of the native wildlife which are truly endangered. Along with the
change in government, some of the families who once called Calauit home have
returned to reclaim their land.
What hasn't changed is the remoteness of the island. Off the beaten travel
path and the usual shipping and air routes, it takes a special effort to reach
this wildlife haven. Two jump-off points are the town of Coron and the
Club Paradise Resort on the island of Busuanga. Club Paradise is
actually on the smaller Dimakya Island just north of the Busuanga (YKR)
airfield. This is the easiest option but the more expensive since the
resort charges more than $100/day. If you're there for scuba diving,
taking a side trip to the game preserve would be a nice diversion. In Coron,
the PCSD has an office that issues visitor permits and arranges trips. You
can also enquire at the larger resorts, lodging houses or dive shops. Most
of these trips are overnight boat excursions that require a minimum number of
passengers. When I was in Coron, the PCSD office was closed so I decided
to try a "do-it-yourself" journey.
Calauit Island is just off the northwestern tip of Busuanga Island. On the
map, it looks like if you could reach the end of Busuanga you could literally
just hop across to Calauit. The main road from Coron follows the coastline
nearly to Calauit. I took a jeepney from Coron to the town of "Old
Busuanga". It's a rough, dusty route that took nearly three hours.
My map had a couple resorts in the area and a sign led me to one called "Rio
Playa". I was the only guest but the caretakers helped arrange a boat to
Calauit for the following day and that evening I took a tour up the Busuanga
River in a small pumpboat. The hired boat arrived early the next morning.
It was a large outrigger that could have easily carried a dozen passengers.
Captain Serrano had his son as a deckhand and three daughters came along for the
ride. The weather was good as we followed the coastline towards Calauit.
From Old Busuanga, the trip was two hours.
This two-day trip cost nearly $100: $50 for the boat and another $50 for
transportation, lodging, food and entrance to Calauit. The game preserve
charged P300 ($6) entry fee and another P300 for the truck tour. One of
the packaged tours from Coron charged $125/person. I traveled alone.
A group could share some the costs, especially the boat hire. And instead
of staying at a resort, there are lodging houses in the larger town of Salvacion
where the boat I hired was from. Here's the trip in photos.
Click on any image to start slide show:
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