Leyte Island
Sunday, March 20
The Mactan Airport is modern, air conditioned, and fully plumbed. This time we were headed for Tacloban on Leyte–a short flight. At the Bethany Beach House we had a buffet breakfast and met our personal escorts who stayed with us the rest of the day.
We stopped at the white marble Capitol building where there is a bas relief sculpture of McArthur’s landing on the façade. We continued with sirens screaming to the Divine Word University. Here we were led into the crowded auditorium and up to the platform where chairs had been placed for our group. So with our muddy jeans, uncombed hair, sunburned faces, and field boots we looked out upon those eager young faces. They were so clean and well groomed compared to us.
Stan addressed them, explaining the purposed of the National Audubon Society, and calling on them to practice conservation and suggesting that birth control was the basis for all conservation. This was disputed by the Catholic priest present.
Then our caravan headed into the country north of Tacloban to the straits of San Juenico, where the new President Marcos bridge arches gracefully over the blue water. This is an important connection to the island of Samar and we tossed our leis into the strait to insure our return.
Our destination was Saba Basin where the Village of Hope Rest House is on a hill 300 feet above the valley. Mr. Lauro Costillo is the administrator of the Saba Basin project. W found it was a complex of beautiful bamboo buildings, with adequate sleeping rooms, airy porches, a kitchen, bathrooms (without running water, but who would mind with such a view) and a large dining pavilion that had been decorated for our visit with plant material brought from the forest and the villagers’ gardens. We had a demonstration of the age-old preparation of rice.The gracious lady who was in charge told me that when she arrived the day before she did not like the plank seats along the edge of the pavilion and had the villagers cut bamboo to face them.
We never ceased to be amazed at the elaborate meals that were served to us in remote areas. My enjoyment of the food was diminished as I saw the villagers lined up around the dining hall watching us eat. Surely a feast such as this would be a rare treat for them. After we left the area I saw from my window that some of them slipped up to the decorative arrangements and took the fruit.