The Philippines prides itself in being a multi-faceted destination for nature and adventure. It has a complete line up of adventure activities that ranges from tropical mountaineering, canopy walking, caving, white water rafting and surfing, to name a few.
Birdwatching is now a major offering in the Philippines as the country is home to an impressive number of bird species, many of which are found only in this part of the planet. With scattered islands forming an archipelago, a good number of species have become island-endemic or clumped in tiny habitats.
Cebu is blessed with an island such as Olango that is just under 20 minutes away from the island of Mactan, which is home to premium resorts and hotels.
Olango, best known as an important habitat and pathway of migratory birds, paints a typical picture of the Philippines’ numerous small island communities: low-income, densely populated and groaning under the strain of the ever-increasing pressure on its resources. The island has 20,000 human residents packed within 1,014 hectares of land.
It lies five kilometers east of Mactan Island, a major tourist destination in Cebu, but its residents realize few benefits from the influx of tourists in the area.
And despite its proximity to highly-urbanized Cebu city some 15 kilometers away, the island lacks basic infrastructure systems like water supply and waste disposal.
Not surprisingly, Olango residents are heavily dependent on fishing. Of the estimated 4,000 households, 75% are engaged in fishing or related livelihood activities based on the extraction of coastal resources.
Olango Island is also one of the Important Bird Areas (IBA) in the Philippines (Mallari, 2001). There are 77 species of migratory birds that use the East-Asian Austral-Asian flyways and Olango hosted more than half of this number. It is composed of 11 barangays with a total population of 32,527.
Not only is birdwatching offered on the island, but one may also experience the local culture that employs traditional fishing methods and is engaged in shell making, a natural industry on the island. I was also able to watch a coconut gatherer climb 60 - 80 feet as he showed us how tuba is made and allowed us to taste the raw wine juice.
Re- discover and explore something unique in the island of Olango. Enjoy!!!
