The Pawikan Experience (Pawikan Festival 2015)
Monday, November 30, 2015Pawikans going to the shore |
I was amazed how the day turned out, I
thought it would just be an in and out program but I enjoyed it a lot. There’s a
lot to see and a lot to do. So first off. Why is there a Pawikan Conservation
in Bataan? Some of the care takers and advocates of this center are past
Pawikan poachers. When they realized that the Pawikan are one of the endangered
species in the planet, they had to stop and help save the Pawikans.
Pawikans to be released |
The festival started 14 years ago,
officially… hahaha well those are the words I’ve been hearing the whole
morning. The conservation is at Brgy. Nagbalayong in Morong, Bataan, there is a
small swimming pool at the entrance for the Pawikan. Although they do not
encourage to keep the Pawikans in the center, they had no choice because the
Pawikan itself keeps coming back to the area whenever they release him. Beyond
the pool is the hatchery where the eggs are buried for their incubation period.
Although they can be released anytime they hatch, the ceremonial
releasing of them is during the festival where lots of people are able to
watch. When you go here during the festival there are no entrance fees, if you have to spend something, they are for the souvenirs and food that you want to buy.
Kid touching the Pawikan |
There are many activities to watch
during the event, there are body painting exhibition, boat painting contest, sand
sculpture contest and of course the much awaited street dancing competition
which is performed at the beach. (hehehe should’ve changed it to beach dancing
competition but anyway…) I looked forward to swimming at the beach of course!
And when we are hungry, there are a lot of food stalls and souvenir stalls
along the beach of Morong.
There are also photo booths and
Pawikan painting backdrops where you can take a lot of pictures and store it
with the enjoyable and jam packed activities you had all day.
Photo op with the body painting models |
Activities for the day |
You can visit the Pawikan Center
anytime when you visit Bataan. Here is the Map, You can take Manila to Bataan bus, either Genesis or Bataan transit to Balanga then ride a mini bus from Balanga to Morong at the Terminal, you can ask the conductor to drop you off the Pawikan Conservation Center.
For more info about Bataan you can
Like their FB Page www.facebook.com/bataan.tourism
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