Previously, I shared about our two-hour land trip towards Busuanga and the quick boat transfer to Calauit for our Safari experience on the said island. Check the article below:
I acquired a lot of information about the park from one of the park's caretakers, a local who loves her job but also felt very unappreciated due to the lack of support. However, she said she loves taking care of the animals thus she stays.
We hiked on foot a few minutes from the main welcome center. An old jeep was available but it was used to transport visitors to the park which was the case before but today, they only use the jeepney in bringing in feeds and those tree branches which are the Giraffe's favorite food. We will be feeding the giraffes with that too!
We passed by gorgeous, stunning trees with branches spread out and their leaves are healthy. There were even flowers on the ground and the grasses looked trimmed well! I wonder if this was caused by the numerous people visiting and stepping on the ground or if the animals had fed on the land that's why they are properly trimmed. We then reached a certain gazebo and its fence. There were also benches around the fenced area and another on which somehow reminded me of a pig pen! But no Giraffes around, nor Zebras. No animals at all!
Calling The Giraffes
We were advised to go inside the fenced gazebo, another caretaker came with a gong and then started banging, pounding it. This was the way of calling the animals' attention and it also means one thing - FOOD!
A few moments of silence came, we were looking right and left for any signs of an animal coming. The banging continues and then the caretaker pointed and we looked, a tall orange-spotted creature appeared behind the trees, running, then two smaller ones at its back, also quadropedaling, its neck long and they were heading towards the gazebo. According to the caretaker, they are already very used to the gong, they know that it's mealtime. They go into the forest for shelter and food but it is not enough, the island lacks specific trees and leaves needed for their diet.
We were told to not be afraid as there's a fence but also warned us that Giraffes can't walk backward, they only go forward but they bite and it hurts so we must be cautious of the distance between us and the animal.
Also, these animals love kicking and they kick hard enough to injure a human as it is their attack mechanism, they use it for fighting and protection. So we have to observe proper social distancing between the animals. It was recommended to be five meters away from any giraffes, tall or short, big or small because if they get frightened, they'll kick regardless if they see someone behind or not and you might not wake up the next day. But they do walk gracefully. They seem strong but the truth is that they are weak as well because when they get hurt or get wounded from roaming around trees and bushes, they can't help themselves. When they pass through bamboo trees, they usually get cut and so that explains why we saw purple colors on some of the Giraffe, these were wounds that were treated by the workers.
Feeding the Giraffes
As the tall animals came closer, we were given these with lots of leaves Mangrove branches called Bakhawan which are the Giraffe's favorite! The island is surrounded by mangrove trees thus they have a lot of supplies. We are going to feed them! This means getting close to the animals! I can't help but become excited! I have not fed an exotic animal my whole life, this was the very first!
The animal leaned towards the gazebo, peeking to see anything good. The caretaker came in first with the branches in her hand, she then offered it to the Giraffe. It started feeding and pulling the leaves out leaving an empty branch. Its tongue was dark and gray, actually closer to being black already, and boy, its eyelashes! I am quite jealous, they got thick and curly eyelashes, they look like they were wearing fake mascaras! It made them look very pretty! I forgot to ask how to distinguish a female from a male!
It was our time to feed them and I got a little scared because this shorter one here just pulled the branch off my hand, it was strong indeed and it uses its tongue to get the leaves! I wanted to hold its face, but I remember it bites too so I ditched the idea.
Every one of us was given time to feed the Giraffes. more Giraffes were coming and in fact, we also spotted some Zebras coming but they stopped to where the water supply and the feeds were placed, they just stayed there. I noticed that the Zebras were going by packs.
Zebras and Calamian Deers
As per the worker, Zebras are more lively and active. But even if they are already used to the crowd, they can still kick and bite just like the Giraffes. It was just cute to see the Zebras marching to the feeding area and a pack of Zebras means there's one male and the rest of them are females. The male has a lot of wives! Lol!
These animals showing their patterns and it was interesting to observe them, wagging their tails and moving their muscles. Most of them lie down on the ground after feeding! They might have been tired!
Another animal to watch out for here is the Calamian Deers. They are distant animals, they don't go close to the crowd or any other animal. These are endemic to the country and they multiply easily.
They arrived late, but since they only feed on grasses, they stayed away and graze on the ground. It was also cool to see them with those longhorns. These are the males while females don't have them. They seem calm though, we just stayed far from them, we used our camera to take close-up photos of these creatures.
More visitors arrived at the park, it was time for us to move on to the other animals and get to a spot with fewer people. We spent some time taking photos, observing the animals and film. We just waited for the signal that we should get back to the welcome center.
Conclusion
It was our first safari experience, our second was that in Cebu which I will also share with you in the future.
Our trip to Calauit was educational and amazingly beautiful that we were able to get close to these safari animals. If you are in Coron, make sure to book a trip to Calauit, you'll enjoy it there.
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xoxo,
mommy jean of momentswithmatti
Love harder than any pain you've ever felt.
The photos are great. And you're right. Giraffe eyelashes are to be jealous!