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OYSTER
AFTER ROWING
yourself to the
destination, an outrigger canoe fitted
for three greets you at the bottom of
the bridge. Paddles are passed around.
Slicing into the clear water, you then
begin a 2km, half-hour encounter with
a rehabilitated river that reflects clearly
on the evolution of Buenavista, a town
on the north-east end of Bohol.
Not your typical tour of Bohol, Jude A. Bacalso , s
trip to the Cambuhat River , s eco-village
involves one part D.I.Y, two parts village
theatrics. Photography by Cio Datan
A large part of the tour brings
guests up close and personal with an
industry on the rise: oyster farming.
“
We started farming oysters in
1999,”
shares Dodong Aparece, a
manager of the 50-strong Cambuhat
Enterprise Development and Fisheries
Association, a community-based
group that runs the entire tour
(
Cambuhat Eco-Village Tour, through
Travel Village, tel: +63 38 501 8078).
Seated precariously on the edge of a
makeshift bamboo raft, he lifts a piece
of rope to which cling — tenaciously
—
around 16 oysters, still dripping
with the estuarine water. “Before that,
dynamite fishing was rampant in the
area.”
BOHOL
ISYOUR
