Donsol is a third class municipality in the province of Sorsogon, Philippines located at the south of Luzon island
To visit Donsol from Manila, you may take any flight to Legazpi via any of the local airlines listed here. From Legazpi, take a van which offer direct trips to Donsol.
During our visit in Donsol, we asked the van driver to drop us off at Aguluz Homestay. The place is along the highway so it is very accessible. We contacted Ms. Marilyn Razo of Aguluz homestay prior to our trip and we reserved a deluxe non-aircon room. We met Kuya Raul when we arrived at the place.
To visit Donsol from Manila, you may take any flight to Legazpi via any of the local airlines listed here. From Legazpi, take a van which offer direct trips to Donsol.
During our visit in Donsol, we asked the van driver to drop us off at Aguluz Homestay. The place is along the highway so it is very accessible. We contacted Ms. Marilyn Razo of Aguluz homestay prior to our trip and we reserved a deluxe non-aircon room. We met Kuya Raul when we arrived at the place.
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| Aguluz Homestay Patio |
Aguluz Homestay
The room that we booked is very spacious with two (2) queen sized bed and own private CR. We opted for a non-aircon room to save on cost. We got the room for PhP1,000.00. Since they didn't have other guests, we basically have the whole house. :-)
I came to know about Aguluz homestay (formerly known as Razo's Inn) thru tripadvisor as one of its recommended places to stay when in Donsol at a cheaper price. Aside from the very nice place, Ms. Marilyn, the owner made us feel at home and she coordinated all of our tour and made sure that we enjoyed our visit even though she was in Palawan.
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| Aguluz Homestay Deluxe Room |
You may contact Ms. Marilyn Razo of the Aguluz Homestay at this number: 0918 942 0897. I highly recommend her place If you are looking for an accessible, very nice, and homey place to stay in Donsol at a cheaper cost with the most awesome host/tour guide. You will definitely not regret staying at her place.
We headed to Donsol Market for our lunch. We looked around for a place to eat and we found one. We had bicol express and fish (pakan) for lunch.
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| Pakan and Bicol Express |
We also went around to search for local kakanin for dessert, but we found none so we went to a nearby bakery to buy some sweets. We then headed to the tourism center in Brgy. Dancalan via a tricycle which costs PhP30.00 to register for the Whale Shark Interaction the following day.
A single boat costs 3,500 and fortunately, we can be squeezed into a group of 4 other guests so we only need to divide the whole cost equally among the 6 of us.
We went back to Aguluz and Ms. Marilyn (via phone) offered to coordinate for a firefly river cruising that night. She was able to haggle for the cost of the tour so we decided to go for it. We spent the afternoon sleeping. We woke up around past 4 in the afternoon and we went out to explore nearby areas.
We listed a few local food to try in Bicol and while we were exploring the neighborhood, an old lady happens to sell one along the highway. Here's a picture of a local kakanin that we bought:
Sinapot is a Bicolano version of the famous "maruya". Maruya are a type of fritters from the Philippines usually made from bananas. It is prepared by coating thinly sliced and 'fanned' bananas in batter and deep frying them (wikipedia).
<picture of mangrove park>
We were able to visit the mangrove park which is located a few blocks away from where we are staying. We bought food and water in preparation for the fireflies river tour that night. We went back to Aguluz before 6:00PM. Kuya Raul escorted us to the bridge where we had to meet the boatman and guide for the fireflies tour.
Kuya Raul introduced us to kuya Zaldy for the fireflies tour in the river. Kuya Zaldy is a tour guide for the fireflies encounter. He is very friendly and approachable. He gave us his calling card which, according to him, was sent to him by a previous client from England. Kuya Zaldy gave us a short intro about himself and his experiences as tour guide for the fireflies tour. We finished the tour in about 2 hours. The view was amazing. It feels like christmas because the fireflies seemed to appear like christmas lights on a tree. It also has a magical feeling to see fireflies dance in a tree like as if they're little fairies flying all over the branches of a tree.
For those of you who might be interested to see the fireflies, you may contact kuya Zaldy at this number: <pic of me and kuya zaldy>
We woke up at 6:00 to be ready for the Whale Shark Encounter. We finished preparing at around 7:00AM but the tourism center representative has not yet sent us an advise whether the activity will push through so we decided to just head straight to the tourism center. When we got to the place, the representatives told us that the Whale Shark Interaction will not push through because the sea is not calm and very windy because of the "Habagat". To avoid getting disappointed, we just proceed with whatever is available. We agreed to go swimming instead since we are prepared to swim. We went to a nearby resort next to the tourism center to take a dip in the pool.
We had to pay for 100/pax to swim in Vitton's Beach Resort. It is off-peak season so we had the whole place practically to ourselves. There is also a restaurant inside the resort which is a few steps away from the pool. We decided to have our lunch there and we pre-ordered food for our lunch.
We ordered grilled bicol express and sweet and sour pork for lunch. We had a sumptous meal after swimming and went back to Aguluz to pack out stuff to travel back to Legazpi that same day.
We were happy that we decided to stay at Aguluz homestay in Donsol because aside from the fact that it is a cheaper alternative to staying in a resort, we were also able to experience the warm hospitality of the locals. Best of all, Ms. Marilyn guided us in our tour even though she was not around and even took extra efforts to call me from time to time to check if we are enjoying our vacation in Donsol.
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| Registration Form and Guidelines |
We went back to Aguluz and Ms. Marilyn (via phone) offered to coordinate for a firefly river cruising that night. She was able to haggle for the cost of the tour so we decided to go for it. We spent the afternoon sleeping. We woke up around past 4 in the afternoon and we went out to explore nearby areas.
We listed a few local food to try in Bicol and while we were exploring the neighborhood, an old lady happens to sell one along the highway. Here's a picture of a local kakanin that we bought:
 |
| Sinapot |
We were able to visit the mangrove park which is located a few blocks away from where we are staying. We bought food and water in preparation for the fireflies river tour that night. We went back to Aguluz before 6:00PM. Kuya Raul escorted us to the bridge where we had to meet the boatman and guide for the fireflies tour.
Fireflies Tour
Kuya Raul introduced us to kuya Zaldy for the fireflies tour in the river. Kuya Zaldy is a tour guide for the fireflies encounter. He is very friendly and approachable. He gave us his calling card which, according to him, was sent to him by a previous client from England. Kuya Zaldy gave us a short intro about himself and his experiences as tour guide for the fireflies tour. We finished the tour in about 2 hours. The view was amazing. It feels like christmas because the fireflies seemed to appear like christmas lights on a tree. It also has a magical feeling to see fireflies dance in a tree like as if they're little fairies flying all over the branches of a tree.
For those of you who might be interested to see the fireflies, you may contact kuya Zaldy at this number: <pic of me and kuya zaldy>
Whale Shark Encounter
We woke up at 6:00 to be ready for the Whale Shark Encounter. We finished preparing at around 7:00AM but the tourism center representative has not yet sent us an advise whether the activity will push through so we decided to just head straight to the tourism center. When we got to the place, the representatives told us that the Whale Shark Interaction will not push through because the sea is not calm and very windy because of the "Habagat". To avoid getting disappointed, we just proceed with whatever is available. We agreed to go swimming instead since we are prepared to swim. We went to a nearby resort next to the tourism center to take a dip in the pool.
Vitton Beach Resort
We had to pay for 100/pax to swim in Vitton's Beach Resort. It is off-peak season so we had the whole place practically to ourselves. There is also a restaurant inside the resort which is a few steps away from the pool. We decided to have our lunch there and we pre-ordered food for our lunch.
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| Vitton Beach Resort Restaurant |
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| My All-time Favorite: Sweet & Sour Pork |
We ordered grilled bicol express and sweet and sour pork for lunch. We had a sumptous meal after swimming and went back to Aguluz to pack out stuff to travel back to Legazpi that same day.
 |
| Before we left, we took a photo of the "whale shark" inside the resort |
We were happy that we decided to stay at Aguluz homestay in Donsol because aside from the fact that it is a cheaper alternative to staying in a resort, we were also able to experience the warm hospitality of the locals. Best of all, Ms. Marilyn guided us in our tour even though she was not around and even took extra efforts to call me from time to time to check if we are enjoying our vacation in Donsol.
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