“The continued existence of wildlife and wilderness is important to the quality of life of humans.”- Jim Fowler

Definitely, Fowler! Running in the wild with giraffes and zebras seems to be a dream or a movie scene in Indiana Jones or George in the jungle.

But our Calauit Safari adventure on Nov. 18 was no dream. It was a reality.

The sun was still sleeping when we left Coron Town at 4 am for our first itinerary of the day: Calauit Island, which is located on the northern tip of Busuanga Island, Palawan.

After an hour and 50 minute-ride, our van driver Noel woke us up. It’s breakfast time at Karaenan (Cuyonin word for Kainan or Eating place in English) in Brgy. Salvacion, Busuanga. They served us hot pandesal, rice, hotdog and egg, and hot choco. The breakfast meal for each person costs Php 100.00.

We proceeded with our journey and reached Brgy. Buluang, where our boat to Calauit Island was waiting. It was  a 45-minute ride along the uneven and cemented roads of Busuanga Town.

Going to the boat was challenging. It took us about five minutes to go down to where the boat was and another five minutes to walk on stilts and reach the end of the wooden bridge. You need to take extra care with every step. It was a bit scary. Thank God for the guides who willingly assisted us.

We then sailed in the calm waters of Biniktikan River, which separates Calauit Island from Busuanga Island, for 10 minutes and finally stepped foot on the 3,700-hectare game preserve and wildlife sanctuary.

The tour guide and pier guard Florante Salvacion welcomed us in the island which was surrounded by lush mangrove forest.

Mang Florante, who has been working at Calauit since 1985, began telling us about its history.  In March 1977, eighteen impalas, fifteen giraffes, fifteen zebras, twelve bushbucks, twelve waterbucks, eleven gazelles, eleven elands, and ten topis arrived in Calauit from Kenya, Africa.

The Calauit Game preserve and Wildlife Sanctuary was the response of the then President Ferdinand Marcos to the appeal of the International Union of Conservation of Nature to save endangered animals in Africa.

“We have 32 employees here in the island. At night, we only have the caretaker and security guard living with the animals,” said Mang Florante.

At present, there are 20 giraffes and 40 zebras living with the endemic Calamian deer, according to Mang Florante.

“Lahat sila (giraffes and zebras) island-born na. The original imported animals from Kenya died already,” added Mang Florante, while we were walking to the area where the animals were.

The zebras were a little bit aloof so we were about 10 steps away from them. Mang Florante said that we were lucky since both the zebras and giraffes were present.

Mang Florante then gave us twigs of Maluandit or Bakhawang Gubat, which were the food of the giraffes.

As soon as I extended my hand, a young giraffe named Ted approached me and started munching the leaves. They were very friendly. But Mang Florante warned us: “Don’t go near their backs because they can kick like horses.”

The other giraffes have names too. I asked, “How do you know who’s who?”

He said, “Just by looking at their spots.”

They also have a hospital for injured animals but there’s no in-house veterinarian. The vet is on call. During our visit, there was one injured giraffe in the hospital. Mang Florante said that the wounds were caused by the branches of trees.

Aside from the zebras and the giraffes, the island is also home to the alamid, porcupine, monkeys and the Philippine crocodile. Don’t worry, the crocs are in a cage.

If you want to spend the night in the wild, there’s a guest house and a gazebo in the island, which you can rent for Php 200/night.

There’s an entrance fee of Php 250.00 for Filipino Adults and Php 350.00 for Foreigners.

Run wild and free! It was nice seeing the animals as free as they are. But I do hope that their population would still grow. We must protect them for the future generation.

Contact Numbers for Calauit Island:

Telephone Numbers: +63-2-4337532; +63-2-9282101; +63-2-9295671; +63-2-9941145;

Mobile Phone Number: +63-921-6553672