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Thursday, May 9, 2013

Trip: Coron's Calauit Safari

Date Budget: PhP 5000 
Actual Spend: PhP 4600
Quality: 4/5
Service: 5/5
Accessibility: 1/5
Fun Factor: 5/5
Overall Experience: 5/5
Highlights 
  • Experience a taste of Africa in Palawan
  • Wide open space for grazing animals
  • Calamian Deer's recovery from near extinction
  • Giraffes: the island's gentle giants
  • Unlimited zebra stripes
  • Crocodiles, wild boars, porcupines, monkeys, and more!
    Update (11/24/2014):Coron Galeri now accepts online booking.

The Experience

For almost a year, we were very excited for one particular tour in our Coron trip: the Calauit Safari.
Calauit Island is a wildlife sanctuary established during the Marcos regime. Animals from Africa were brought to the island alongside endemic species.
The island is paradise, though getting there is close to a polar opposite. We originally wanted to go to Calauit via boat but the wind was quite unpredictable that no boatman dare sail. We instead went by land and endured the bumpy but fun 3-hour "safari" ride.
Nearly half of the roads going to Calauit is still unpaved, with some steep and rocky parts. The roads were so rough that our vehicle accumulated dust almost thick enough to plant on.

We finally got to the tip of Busuanga Island where we had to cross a nearly waveless strait to Calauit Island. 
The boat ride across took less than 5-minutes. 
Before the tour, we got the chance to take pictures with the Island's Land Rover Defender used for smaller group tours.
But since we were in a large tour group, we boarded their big and powerful safari truck.

We first went to the part where deers were grazing. We learned that the Calamian Deer is a specie endemic ('native') to the Calamian Islands. Decades back, these deers nearly faced extinction. Today, there are hundreds scattered all over Calauit.

We then went to the area where the giraffes were. There, the trees were umbrella shaped due to giraffes doing the pruning. 

The giraffes look really goofy. Despite the funny look, we were told that these gentle giants have horns as hard as stone. The horns don't make them look any fiercer though.
The giraffes in Calauit now were all born in the island. The original animals brought in the 1970's are now all gone. This might explain why they are very much at ease with people.

One young giraffe named Tristan can even be hand fed!
We  also got to see the giraffes in some of their daily morning routine.


All 22 giraffes there have names. Their handlers identify them by looking at the patterns on their skin the same way they identify zebras by their stripes. I really have no idea how they do it as all the patterns and stripes look all the same to me!

Next to the giraffes are the zebras: the black animal with white stripes (not the other way around).

Unlike the giraffes though, zebras can only be viewed from a safe distance as they tend to kick hard  (literally) on perceived threats. They're really not different from your usual wild horse.  


The unlimited stripes in zebra flocks are still a great attraction though.
They also have a big fat smiling crocodile in a cage. This guy might be one of the very few predators in the island.
Calauit also has monkeys.
 Most monkeys look friendly but this one seems to be in attack mode.
 
They also have some sample caged animals like porcupines and wild boars. According to our guide, there's a lot more of them out in the open.
We also got to see a camouflage tree from which army uniforms are patterned after.
Our safari ended at around 10am, giving us enough time to get back to a Busuanga town for lunch. 

Unlike in our island hopping tour, we were served a much better set this time.
The ride back was still bumpy as expected. We had a side trip at a local falls and were back to Coron town late in the afternoon. Calauit may not be as  accessible as your local zoo, but I guess that's how a wildlife sanctuary should be. The long travel was all worth it though. We'll definitely be back here (likely with kids) in the future!
More Calauit Safari pictures can be viewed in our Facebook Page.
Spend Breakdown
Calauit Island Safari (@2300/pax)
4600
Actual Spend
4600

How to get there

  1. From Coron town, take a pre-arranged 4-hour van ride to the tip of Busuanga Island.
  2. Take a quick boat ride to Calauit Island (takes less than 5 minutes).
    Note: You can also go to Calauit Island by boat (a bit more expensive option). It is subject to wind conditions though as the waves may get high at times.

    Landmarks: boat terminal with blue floaters, almost waveless strait
    Address:
    Calauit Wildlife Sanctuary
    Calauit Island, Palawan
    Philippines
    Address (Contact)    :
    c/o Coron Galeri
    San Agustin St.Coron Town, Palawan
    Contact Number/s:
    (632)     984-7795
    Website:     http://www.corongaleri.com.ph/

    3. View Larger Map
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