culion

Tao Philippines Sailing Expedition: The Palawan Adventure to End All Adventures

Posted on July 14, 2017

The portentous weather of a passing storm delayed our departure from El Nido in northern Palawan, the pencil-thin Philippine province repeatedly lauded by glossy travel magazines as the #1 best island in the world. The clouds finally surrendered to the midday sun, spotlighting a scenery that I thought only belonged to the realm of dream sequences or desktop wallpapers. A deserted islet lay before us, fringed with coconut trees sprouting from talcum-white sand and embraced by water that glimmered inRead More→

Culion Island, Palawan: The Legacy of Leprosy

Posted on May 14, 2013

Culion Island was once the site of the world’s largest leper colony. After three days in Coron with Coron EcoLodge, I took a side trip to Culion Island in Palawan. During the American Occupation, people across the Philippines afflicted with leprosy, then an incurable disease and once thought to be highly contagious, were separated from their families and forced to live in isolation in leper colonies. In 1906, the biggest colony was established in Culion Island, Palawan. By 1931, thereRead More→