Cotivas

Cotivas sandbar

It must have been close to an hour when the CB radio came on stuttering noisily again, blasting intermittently that the shoot on Cotivas had just concluded and was now ready and open for visitors. The annoyance came continuously as I rose up rejuvenated from siesta.

To avoid being panned by cameras within the course of each shoot, sea crafts were prohibited passing through certain areas in the vicinity, thus, scenes captured by production cameras portray an approximation of isolation, of being “lost” in a faraway island. With sea-traffic resumed just now, we commenced our trip for Cotivas and transferred our belongings back to the outrigger. A little past two in the afternoon, we sailed to the nearby island where we arrived just in time to see a number of production crews busy dismantling a location set.

SURVIVOR crew dismantling set

Cotivas island is endowed with a nice white sandbar extending out some 200 meters towards the bigger island of Guinahoan. Most of the chalky tidal landform was knee-deep in water on account of the high tide, but otherwise, the exposed real estate spreads gradually akin to an ivory carpet towards the sea. What a soothing and charming sight to behold; a perfect getaway sending me in awe! Eena was so consumed, she frolicked, rolling incessantly in the shallow water while her younger sister leisurely etched the fine sand only to be eroded repeatedly with each oncoming tide.

Squall from afar

We had wanted to proceed to nearby Guinahoan island but a seemingly looming squall from a distance had prevented us of the opportunity. Striking some conversation a bit earlier with one of the production crews, whose countenance resembled the revolutionary folk hero Ernesto "Che" Guevara and, coincidentally, also happens to be an Argentinian, the Latin American narrated how fortunate he was for having been chosen and employed by SURVIVOR Bulgaria for their project in Caramoan, relating with blithe and pride how his difficult job is made a lot easier with the support and pleasant hospitality of the locals. Although the squall was coming from afar in the opposite direction, skipper Ramil, the experienced mariner that he is, had determined the odds and decided to hail everyone to board Princess for our trip to Sabitang Laya. It was a good thing that the summons came from him, otherwise, the kids would not have been receptive enough had the call came less authoritatively from me. Past halfway to our next island destination, the sky had caught up with us and turned overcast.

next page

My other blogs:

Jou San! Sham Shui Po

Traditional Hong Kong Herbal Tea House

Where Is Josephine Bracken?