Zamboanga - Basilan Adventure

(Warning this is a long post but I promise you it will be worth it)

Tonight I leave Zamboanga and basilan with a heavy heart, not because of the 18hr bus ride back to Cebu but because I felt I needed more time to explore the area.

But never the less I was happy to have visited the places (Dapitan, Dipolog, Ipil, Zamboanga City, Basilan {Isabela, Lamitan} ) I only heard on the news

It is truly disheartening that people are missing a lot of these wonderful places just because they feel threatened to visit Basilan and Zamboanga. It could be that I was brave and open-minded enough to not feel any threat during my stay, or could it be that Basilan is no longer as dangerous as before?

Initially I only planned to stay for 1 day (day tour in Basilan) but ended up staying for 3 days because I fell inlove with the place, the food, the culture and most of all the warm and kind hearted people of Basilan.

Everything was totally peaceful and quiet I haven't even heard a single gunshot during my 3 day stay, a world away from how the local and intetnational media is portraying Basilan, since most of them just come here to report about an ambush, kidnapping, bombing or any other negative thing. Their sensationalized drama-oriented reports are exaggerated and out of bounds and have been destroying the morale of people living in the area for decades.

Maybe this is the reason why travelers/backpackers like me exist, to clear the minds of people brainwashed by sensationalized media reporting.

There is truly some kind of satisfaction upon finally seeing the place normally tagged as a warzone in its true state.

For the conclusion: Is Zamboanga peninsula and Basilan safe? Overall, Yes an absolute big YES! What is dangerous is for us to judge something, someone or a place just based on what other people say ( Where in most of them haven't even visited the area). But I am not turning a blind eye on the reality on the ground here, yes there are some lawless elements in some parts of the area but to generalize the entire zamboanga peninsula and province of Basilan to be tagged as such is unfair. Unfair to the residents who are trying to live peaceful lives away from the conflict areas.

I leave you all with a quote from Mark Twain "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."

I would like to extend my greatest and sincerest gratitude to UJ and Rod for letting us tag along in your trips to Buluan, Ipil and Sta Cruz island in Zamboanga city, to sir Marvin from WMSU and his wife for letting me stay in your home, to maam michelle from Isabela, Basilan tourism office and Sir Jayson of 97.5fm/ LGU of Isabela Basilan for being such good hosts and friends during our stay and adventures in Isabela, to mayor furigay, vice mayor furigay, maam cora and her staff from the tourism office for acomodating us during our stay in Lamitan and inviting us in your private beach resort.

To the 4th special forces battalion namely Capt. Cayton, Master SGT. Amparado. Special forces 15th Company Captain Abay, 2LT. Butali, Brgy captain Jimnu Hammad, CAFGU/citizen active auxiliary commander mahod 'kamung' abduraman, cross commander aparo abao and
Billy abduraman for making sure we were safe during our stay in Basilan.

Special thanks to kuya zeus, venissa and BJ for being such good travel buddies in Basilan.

All photos where shot using samsung s7 pro mode. No filters were used as it was unnecessary :)😉 also to avoid the Expectations vs reality :D😀