Boracay Diary Part 1: To and From Boracay, in Transit With Tots in Tow

May 29th - 8:30 am, checking in for our flight to Caticlan.

Traveling with kids can be one tiring exercise, especially when they are so young and dependent on their parents for everything.  One would wonder what would possess parents to voluntarily subject themselves to the torture of carrying their kids to the beach - and not just some nearby beach - but one on an island that can be reached only after going through air, boat, and land transfers.  Oliver and I did just that a few days ago when we took Narra and Guijo with us to Boracay for a few days of baby-sitting in paradise. There were many things that went wrong on this Boracay trip (but that's for a different blog post on another day), but our precious children: Narra our impish little ingenue, and Guijo the godsend, my darling little boy; on many occasions throughout the trip, oh how they worked their magic to diffuse tension. In the end, our airport, boat, and land transfers, to and from our hotel in Boracay ended up being enjoyable because our kids were there!  

We started with a fuss-free check-in at NAIA Terminal 3.  We took a Cebu Pacific mid-morning flight to Caticlan. There was a short line (yay!) at the check-in counter. I had prepared in advance all the required documents for verifying our identities: Narra and Guijo's birth certificates, our valid IDs (Oliver's and mine), and our marriage certificate, and that made the process fast and easy. We checked in our one piece of luggage, then made our way through the security checks. The kids were wide awake and excited. They knew something was up. Oliver carried Guijo, while I pushed Narra's stroller.

Guijo, riding our 1-pc. luggage for check-in; and Narra on her stroller.

Deciding to bring the stroller was the best decision ever! You may be wondering, who brings a stroller to the beach?? But there were many other parents wheeling their young kids in Boracay. Parents may not be able to steer most strollers on the beach itself (unless you have the fancy all-terrain, super expensive kind) but it's quite indispensable getting them there.  The long walks at the airport, from the check-in counter to the boarding gates - and from the boarding gate to the plane - are made much easier with a stroller, which carries not only our toddler, but also a few other bags as well. And once we've landed, I like strapping Narra onto her stroller as we wait for our bags, so I'm sure she's not running around while I keep an eye on the conveyor belt. Narra's gotten heavy, and she takes frequent naps, so the stroller went to good use a lot during the trip.

Sleeping in heavenly peace as we rode the skies.

Speaking of sleep, I couldn't thank the heavens enough, for sending my kids to "snoozeville" at the most opportune times. On the plane, for instance, after the initial excitement over our plane's take-off, our kids were knocked out, and ended up sleeping throughout the flight. What bliss!!! I feared all sorts of things: a tantrum from Narra - coupled with inconsolable crying from Guijo.  But what we got instead, was this: blissful, peaceful silence all throughout the flight.  They woke up at the right time too, right when we were about to land.  I pointed out to Narra, through the window, the lovely strip of beach visible from above. 

Narra and Guijo's first tricycle ride! From the airport to the port.

Once we landed in Caticlan, we got our bags in a flash and took a tricycle to from the airport to the port (the cost was P120 per person - including tricycle and boat fare - kids get to travel for free).  It was Narra's first time to ride a tricycle and she was thrilled to have the wind on her face!  She excitedly pointed at a few cows, and hens, and bahay kubos we saw along the way. Once at the port, we had to pay the environmental charges and terminal fees, then we were ferried off to Boracay at last (kids 5 years old and below are exempted from fees as well).  

All throughout our transfers, there were many porters helping us with our bags and babies. Narra got lifted off the plane, and onto a tricycle - off the tricycle and onto a boat, off a boat and onto a tricycle again...and so on, and she got used to being carried by friendly strangers who all seemed to be very used to children. The vibe is just so relaxed - there's a pervasive island feel that turns off one's "rush mode" especially when one had just arrived.  It's sheer magic, how we succumbed, in an instant, to Boracay's touch. It is as though we all swallowed our chill pills and the effect on our minds, bodies, and spirits, took effect immediately. Guijo, most of all, exuded this cool aura... what a relaxed dude! I couldn't get over how cool he is... so calm, and collected - and not at all fidgety. I think he overdosed on happy hormones while gestating in my womb.

On Two Season's boat, being ferried from Boracay to Caticlan.

We did not book transfers on our way to our hotel, Two Seasons, but we made it there fast and cheaply too. On our way back to Manila, however, it was raining, so we decided not to take the tricycle and regular public ferry, and instead to book all our transfers via our hotel (P700/pax for 2 adults - kids traveled free - the fare includes land and boat transfers and all environmental and terminal fees). We took the hotel's air-conditioned van (or multicab) which offered comfort and protection from the rain - then we were dropped off to an alternate dock near Boracay's main port, where the hotel's private boat waited for us. We were the only passengers there. We were ferried off to the Visitor's Welcome Center of Fairways and Bluewater. Our hotel was a member-hotel so they had access to the facilities, like the private jetty, and well-appointed reception building with ample seating areas and a covered driveway.  Our hotel van was there, waiting to take us to the airport.  The trip out of Boracay island, despite the rain and high waves, was well-organized, convenient, and comfortable! I am quite glad we booked our transfer with our hotel.

Leaving Boracay on a rainy day.  Staying dry inside Two Season's boat.

Once we got to Godofredo P. Ramos airport in Caticlan, we received the annoying news that our flight was delayed :-(  When the Cebu Pacific attendant handed us our boarding passes, we were given the standard spiel "please expect delays or cancellation due to bad weather" - yikes! No one wants to hear those words really.  At some point, Oliver was getting frustrated. He was looking at the flight schedules and pointing out how other flights originally scheduled after our flight were leaving before us! We were waiting for a good three hours already. We could have spent our sweet time at our hotel instead of checking out early!  I couldn't get frustrated too much though....Guijo was too charming to allow us to stay angry for too long.  Narra was asleep, and Guijo was wide awake and in a super sociable mode. Oh my, he smiled, giggled, and squealed at everyone! The guards and janitors; the salesgirls at the foodstalls; the passengers and flight attendants. So many people took pictures of him, or patted his head, or asked us how old he was.  He was disarming, and offered comic relief. Even the most frustrated stranded travelers seated behind us soon calmed down and cheered up after being subjected to Guijo's toothless grins.

Delayed flight in Caticlan: Oliver: annoyed. Narra: sleeping. Guijo: happy.

The hours we spent waiting for our delayed flight at Caticlan's tiny little airport weren't too horrible, really. In fact, it triggered happy memories of other memorable delayed flights I've had with family and friends in previous years, like when our Northwest flight from the US was delayed and we missed our connecting flight back to Manila and ended up having to spend the night in Japan as a result - oh how happy my family was to be given such a rare gift! We considered it as a free trip! And then there was the time our Singapore airlines flight in Cape Town was grounded due to engine trouble, and our entire debate team had to spend 2 extra days in South Africa as a result!  Enjoying your waiting time, and getting the chance to spend it with your loved ones, is part of the art of traveling.  I wanted to go through the motions of air, land, and sea transfers with my kids very early on so that they will be accustomed to the sequence, rhythm, and choreography of traveling. I want them to grow up knowing how to travel well, to be equipped with the right kind of skills that will let them enjoy the good moments and not get caught up on the many little pains along the way (like rain and flight delays - or missing our flight!). 

Father and son bonding at the airport. Waiting time well spent.

On this, our first trip as a family, I was oh so thankful that our kids were around to diffuse tension between Oliver and me. You see, I made a major blunder (let's just say we missed our flight and had to book a new one because I made a mistake with our plane ticket! Darn it! I am so mad at myself!)  I do believe if it was just Oliver and I, alone on this trip, we would have gotten into a heated argument already, and let our anger escalate.  But with our kids present, we restrained ourselves, and behaved towards each other better... and managed to stay smiling.... for them, and because of them.  Narra's witty wisecracks and funny faces; and Guijo's effervescence - they are enough to make us forget all ill feelings.  They relieve us from our pains, and erase our doubts, and fill us with purpose.  The whole trip has meaning, because they are with us.  Oliver travels far too much on business trips, and the last thing he needs is more time spent in airports, waiting! But this is different, because now, he travels with his hungry and pooping kids, whom he has to carry, and feed, and bathe even when he's tired and just aching for a massage on the beach.  And as he puts in the time, energy, and effort in caring for them - he becomes more and more their father, not just in blood and name - but in deed; as I too, reaffirm my being their mother, each time I wipe them clean off their filth, and wash their bottles, and wring their swimwear dry, and patiently put to words what they see with their eyes so they can make sense of the world. As we all put in the time and effort to be together - we become even more of a family, establishing the kind of dynamics that will govern our lifelong relationship.

A happy take-off, and precious bonding time between father and son.

So that is why we go through the trouble of traveling with our tots to places we've already seen. We make the effort to show them the world as we know it, to make the journey with them, the joys and pains included - so that in the process, they will come to know us, and we will come to know them better.  Travel makes for the best kind of memories - the special ones that have the power to stand out and last very, very long.  So we start our kids young, hoping the early imprinting will last a lifetime. I say this from experience, because travel was my parents' own expression of love, and all our childhood trips were journeys of discovery, not only of the world, but of each other. And this process of discovery, of the world, and of family, is worth the effort... and worth the trip.  

My father, a pilot, flew a small plane and took us to Boracay in the early 1990s, then we revisited Boracay a decade later, as a family, right before I got married; then Oliver and I returned on our honeymoon; and now we come back, as parents, with our kids! We continue the pilgrimage to paradise, tiring though the trip may be.

Related posts:
Boracay Diary 2: Family-Friendly Fun at Two Seasons Boracay
http://nikki-mama.blogspot.com/2012/06/boracay-diary-2-family-friendly-fun-at.html