Trek to Anawangin Cove via Mt. Pundaquit

Few months ago, there was a group of hikers who coordinated with us about a 2 days outdoor outing with our children. At least 25 children from 9 to 15 years old were able to join plus adults to look for them. Orientation was given beforehand by these hikers, inculcating to the children these phrases "Kill nothing but time, take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints", before we packed our things and headed on to our meeting place.


Anawangin cove is in the province of Zambales particularly in San Antonio.

At around 1 in the morning of May 14, we left Manila boarding our own service van and a rented jeep to accommodate us all. It took us almost 5 or 6 hours travel to the municipality of San Antonio where we met our other companions. We had our “breakfast” (egg sandwich and water), distributed the children’s shoes for hiking and extra water before we walked to the mountains.

We started around 8 in the morning but it was very hot already.

We rested for a while to fill our dried throats then proceeded climbing the mountain. An additional phrase rose as we went on "Burn nothing but calories". :)

After almost 4 hours of trekking under the sun, we reached the peak of Mt. Pundaquit. The overlooking beauty of Anawangin eased our tiredness.

The view was really magnificent but when we realized it was still far from where we stood, we looked down, thought for another hours of walking and just let out a big heavy sigh. :)

Finally, we arrived at the camping site. There were already some who went by boat since there were a lot of things to bring to the site like tents, utensils, foods etc. The tents were already set up so we just  had a short nap while the children went for a dip. They were just so excited that they even forgot to rest for a while.

just resting on a hammock

The sun hid already when we walked around, took pictures and had some activities on the sand. Evening was fast approaching so we had to go back to the camp. Some of us roamed around the other tents, obviously curious about the bonfire which our neighbors were setting up.
The following day, we all enjoyed swimming until 12 noon before we left the island via boat. Everyone did not want to return walking through the mountains.

Anyway, if you want to get away from your busy and stressful city life, try considering this place. It may not be a secret hideaway anymore but you will still enjoy the place as you enjoy the nature.

Trekking the mountains would not be easy even for some mountain climbers because of the hot weather. There were no trees to shade the way from the heat of the sun which made it a hard row to hoe.

Once you reached the cove, you will have to go back to basic life-no electricity, cellphone signals and no other modern facilities. You need to bring your own tents and field in under the pine trees for your overnight stay since there are no hotels around. A hammock can also be tied on the trunks of the trees. 

Foods, lots of drinking water and flashlights are the most important needs in the campsite. You can also bring your acoustic guitar which you can strum while singing around the bonfire during the night.

You can also go boating and hopping the nearby islands.

Or climbing beach cliffs...it seems the rocks are a bit tricky here.

ENJOY!!