A Visit to Camiguin with my Mom and Sister

Where is Camiguin?

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According to Wikipedia:

Camiguin, officially the Province of Camiguin (Cebuano: Probinsya sa Camiguin; Tagalog: Lalawigan ng Camiguin; Kamigin: Probinsya ta Kamigin), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Bohol Sea, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) off the northern coast of Mindanao. It is geographically part of Region X, the Northern Mindanao Region of the country and formerly a part of Misamis Oriental province.

Camiguin is the second-smallest province in the country in both population and land area after Batanes.[4] The provincial capital is Mambajao, which is also the province's largest municipality in both area and population.[5]

Source: here

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I was a fan of piso sale from a local airline in the Philippines. Somehow, I was able to snatch a very cheap airfare to Camiguin, which is called the island born of fire. Well, Camiguin Island has different volcanoes and hot springs, that's why it's called an island born of fire.

Since the flight was cheap, I booked a flight for my mother and my sister. Some of my friends joined us as well. They booked the same flight schedule so we were on the same flight and accommodation. The more, the merrier.

I miss my mama so much. She lost her life in February 2019 due to cancer. So, I'm writing this in memory of my mother.

When mama was alive back then, she was busy doing some errands for her sister who lives abroad. My mom was the caretaker of her sister's house and other properties her sister has in the Philippines. She did so many errands for her. Somehow, our family survived because of the help of her sister, my aunt.

This travel happened in August 2014.

It seemed like my mother had no time for herself. I've been traveling around since 2013 so every year or every month, I have several places to go. I was eyeing Camiguin island and booked a promotional flight to go there for a few days. Again, I announced it on FB and some friends were interested to join.

I asked my mother for her details and I told her I wanted to book her a flight to Camiguin. At first, she was hesitant because she was worried about who would look after the house. I told her she can ask her niece, my cousin, to look over the house. I told her she needed a break and it was seldom for me to treat her for an expense-paid trip. LOL

My mom went to Manila when she was a teenager as we had some relatives living there. I think they took a boat to reach Manila. So, that was her first time going to Camiguin but I don't remember if that was her first actual flight. Another friend canceled to go with us so my sister took over that's why she was able to join the trip.

A friend on FB recommended me a person to tour us on the island. So this tour guy had a multi-cab that we could rent as well. He suggested accommodation for us to stay. As budget travelers, I asked how much was the total budget for each person. I think it was about 5,000 PHP.

White Island

My mother fell in love with Camiguin. Also, when we arrived at our accommodation, she actually had a good sleep at night. She really enjoyed the place. We know someone from our town who actually born in Camiguin. She settled in Cebu because she got married to one of my mother's relatives. My mom loved to tell her story about her Camiguin trip.

This photo taken using an iPad mini, no need to edit. Mount Hibok-Hibok as the background.

Part of the tour was to go to White Island. It was near to our accommodation so all we had to do was to go to the beach and meet the boatman. We woke up as early as 6 in the morning. The boat was small as it can only accommodate up to 4 people.

photo using a Nikon D5100

I brought my DSLR camera with me and it was also risky so I have to take care of my bag. I took several photos and the photos were nice.

Sto. Nino Cold Spring

My mother also enjoyed the cold spring as she found it very relaxing. I think my mother was very stressed at that time, but she never told us. So the cold spring was really a nice treat for her. She told us she could stay there for the whole day.

Soda Swimming Pool

A swimming pool with a smell of sulfur.

Ardent Hibok-Hibok Spring Resort

Some people said that you can actually boil some eggs here. But we never tried it. I think there was a certain temperature that it was effective to boil some eggs there. Not sure when it was. But when we got there, the hot spring had a nice temperature, not too very hot. My mom once again enjoyed the hot spring.

Katibawasan Falls

It was perfect timing that we went there in the nice weather because we were able to swim at Katibawasan Falls. The water was clear so we were so feeling refreshed. It's not good to go there when it's raining because the water gets muddy.

Some of the places we visited were:

• Walkway to the Old Volcano

• Sunken Cemetery

• Old Church Ruins

• White Island

• Sto. Nino Cold Spring

• Soda Swimming Pool

• Ardent Hibok-Hibok Spring

• Katibawasan Falls

• Kibila Giant Clams

If my family goes back to the Philippines, I promised to bring them here. For sure, my husband will enjoy this island.