Fourth Stop: Zamboanga

The next day was spent in Zamboanga, the southern tip of Mindanao. Its capital is nowadays known as the Sotanghon City, referring to a kind of noodle that is a fair representative of what is to be found its barter market. We went to visit my aunt who lives there. I watched the kumpits (long deep covered motorboats) carry cargo between Zamboanga and the ports of Borneo. These cargo stock the barter market at the beginning of the wharf. The barter market sells food, toiletries, batik and other goods from Borneo.

Our family tried dining on curacha, Zamboanga’s culinary specialty. It was a half-crab half-lobster which tasted yummy and native at the same time.
The vintas are showcases for brush and brain corals, cowrie, cone, conch, clam, tambuli and turban shells. Aboard these vintas are bundles of pandanus mats that display geometric patterns in mauve, purple, violet, green and yellow. My mom and aunts bought five of these mats woven by the Badjao women who are the finest mat weavers in the archipelago. Past the Lantaka Hotel is Fort Pilar where a bronze plaque tells its dramatic story and the history of Mindanao. Built into the eastern wall was the open-air

shrine of the patron saint of Zamboanga, the Lady of Del Pilar. Here, the faithful light their candles and make their vows. I tried to do it and prayed in reverence to the Lady of Del Pilar.

We then visited and relaxed in the Greater Santa Cruz Island’s “Pink Sand Beach.” This beach has beautiful pinkish sand from the coloration effect of pulverized rare Organ-pipe Coral from eons of surf erosion mixed with white sand. This beach is one of the very few pink sanded beaches found in the entire world. My cousins and I snorkelled and we saw lots of colourful marine life in excellent water visibility according to the weather conditions. The island is covered with natural island vegetation and grass, with some flowering trees. It is also home to numerous red mangrove crabs and other sea creatures that seek shelter inside its protective lagoon.