MATINLOC ISLAND Part 2 (the second visit)
Read Part 1
here.
There's so much more that I wanted to see in this island which I wasn't able to see during my first visit. That is why, I was filled with so much excitement when I learned that the next stop of our island hopping tour will be in the island of Matinloc.
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| View from the view deck |
Just to correct the information that I've written two years ago about the origin of this island's name, the word Matinloc is eventually not from the native Cuyunon word "matinlo" which means maganda in Filipino or beautiful in English.
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| Marble figurines, chairs and tiles |
Last June 2015 as I was going thru that of which was left from the mini museum's displays, I was able to discover that the word Matinloc actually came from it's root word "Matins" which means divine office morning prayer and not from the said Cuyunon word where I thought it came from.
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| Some of the life size angel figurines in the chapel |
I was very sad to see how the old mini museum looks like now. It's as if it was ransacked by some vulgar visitors or some people we don't know. Most of the displayed photos there before are no longer there. And some of them, if not ruined are not very appealing to the eyes. The small museum is now dirty and not really well maintained, if I may say so.
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| Some of what's left in the museum. |
Going back to the history of the island, this island was once used as a venue for religious activities such as retreats and the like; And according to my sources it also served as a home for the nuns and some other religious people.
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| Angel structures |
Some people say that this place is haunted. It may look like one but we really don't know if it really is such.
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| A small chapel dome |
According to my sources, during the old times there were a lot of nuns and other religious people who live in the mansion. While residing in the island some of them caught illness and because of the remoteness of the island, food and medicine supply become scarce and when they got ill, some of them just died in the island due to lack of medicine and other needs. They also do not have any means of transportation to get themselves back to the town when the need arises. They were said to be visited only once a month for their supplies and other needs.
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| The Famous Shrine |
From what I heard, there was a lot of people who died in this island, and maybe that's the reason why they say that this place is haunted.
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| Matinloc Shrine |
Aside from being home to some religious people before and being the venue of some religious events, this island is also popularly known for having a Shrine and an old abandoned mansion. Aside from that, it also has a very nice viewing deck with an amazing view of the ocean and its neighboring islands as well.
At the left side of the shrine, you will find this small prayer cave. Inside it, you will see a small statue of the Sto. Niño, I think.
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| A prayer cave |
From the platform, you will see this carved limestone staircases which will lead you to the viewing deck.
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| Limestone staircase |
The stairs are quite steep so you need to be very careful climbing up and down it.
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| Simplicio Family |
Don't worry or hesitate going up the view deck as the view in there is really awesome. It may be a bit of a hassle though if you go there with a lot of tour groups with you, as the small viewing deck may become a little bit overcrowded. So make sure that the other groups already went down before you climb that up.
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| Going down from the viewing deck |
Aside from the amazing view from the viewing deck, you will also be mesmerized with the beauty of the place by going on the roof top of the old abandoned mansion.
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| View from the top of the mansion |
From there you will get to see the beauty of the courtyard, the shrine and the limestone mountains.
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View from the third floor
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First time to see this view
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The first time I visited the island, I wasn't able to visit the mansion. This was my first time to see what's inside the old abandoned mansion.
Seeing all the scraps and the interior of the property, I was really so disappointed on how it looked like. They just wasted all their money for what? I don't know. This place is really something. It will really pinch your curiosity, for real.
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| Inside the abandoned mansion |
It was also then that I discovered that the mansion used to have an elevator installed in it. My goodness, what a luxurious house this is. Why did they just abandoned this?
There were still some double deck bed frames left in one of the big rooms, I think there was a total of 3 double deck bed frames in there. I wasn't able to visit each and every room and all the area in the mansion because there was a lot of mosquitoes in there specially at the third floor, which made touring inside the mansion very uncomfortable.
The elevator in the mansion is not there anymore, what's left in there is only the hole/space where it was used to be installed into.
The mansion has a total of three (3) floors and it's really big. The rooms are very spacious with a nice view of the forest at the back. Uuuuugh, the place is really really sayang!
One of the interesting spots in the whole Fernandez' property is this fence! At the side of the mansion is a cemented fence. It's an optical illusion where you will think that the fence is closed but in reality it's not.
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| Optical illusion |
You will need to walk a little bit more towards it to see the opening. You will not see it at first glance.
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| The entrance |
I was really amazed with this. I even thought it was made for a reason. And that reason, again, we don't know. This place is really super duper interesting!
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From the other side of the property
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Not only is this property interesting, it's also annoying at the same time because you will have a lot of unanswered questions running through your mind. Why is this here? What's that for? All the why's and what's will run on your mind all throughout your stay in this island.
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| An addition to my been here travel photo collection |
They also even constructed in there a mini chapel (a replica of the shrine) before, which they used to call "Sacred Heart of Mary, Shrine of the New Jerusalem".
The replica was eventually destroyed by some people and they discovered a huge pipe under the statue.
Again, the purpose of that, we don't know.
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| Another collection |
Aside from all the interesting stuff in this island, what will make it more amazing, is it's naturally beautiful underwater seascape.
The island is blessed with a rich marine life with an amazing array of beautiful corals. The fishes are also abundantly living in there.
We even saw a big blue starfish, sea snake, a lot of different fishes and some other marine life.
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| One of our boatmen touring us underwater |
The first time I visited the island, we weren't able to swim in its waters and I really regretted not doing so. The underwater view is really nice in here.
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| Blue Starfish!! |
There was really a lot of fishes and you may go fish feeding here to attract more fishes to go near you.
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| You can go fish feeding in here too! |
It's an amazing experience to go snorkeling in Mantiloc Island's waters. Don't miss it.
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| Lots of fishes!! |
This time during my second visit in the island, there was a lot more that I discovered. The islands of El Nido never fail to amaze me even though I've already visited it once.
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| Add caption |
These two stray dogs bid us good bye as we leave the island of Matinloc. By the way, I don't know how they got there, there's no one residing in this island, not even a caretaker or something.
Make sure to visit this destination on your next El Nido island hopping tour.
ADIOS!
-The Palawenya Explorer ;)
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