A Pacific Rim Archipelago

Dreams of a tropical island escape inevitable conjure up visitor up vision of blinding white sands lined by swaying palm tress, perhaps framed by a backdrop of rugged  cloud-capped mountains, the sand lapped by a crystal-clear azure sea. Beneath the water's perfectly white-tipped waves lie spectacularly colourful coral reefs populated by shoals of iridescent fish of all shapes and sizes, an occasional frisson of excitement thrown into an otherwise blissfully relaxing scene by the shadow of a passing shark.

Such dreams could easily serve as a description of the Philippines. or at least significant numbers of its 7,000 plus island. Admittedly, to describe the whole of this island nation as a tropical paradise would be an exaggeration, but so many of its sandy, palm-lined beaches and islands match seem like a dream come true. Couple this with an unwaveringly enthusiastic and friendly welcome from the locals and it is easy to see how the Philippines rates as one of the world's great tropical island getaways. Not that the Philippines is about only beaches, coral reefs and sparkling seas, of course, Inland rise some of Southeast Asia's most rugged mountain range, many of them volcanic, some still cloaked in dense tropical rainforest. They are home to a huge diversity of plant and animal wildlife seen nowhere else on Earth. It is for good reason that scientist have classified the Philippines as one of the  world's nine priceless biodiversity hotspots. Diversity continues at the human level, though initially the country can appear to be ethnically rather uniform. However, this superficial impression masks a diverse and widespread range of peoples, particularly in the remote mountainous region of the north, among the Muslim groups of the far south and across some of the island groups. It adds up to a great human variety that lends an extra dimension of fascination to an already to an already beautiful and vibrant country.

Top: Typically rugged mountains of northern Luzon. partly cloaked in forest, partly turned over to agriculture, cut into steep rice terraces.

Above: The stunning Seven Commandoes Beach is typical of the many sandy bays, accessible only by boat, scattered around the island of El Nido, in northern Palawan.




Right: A Milithaea species sea fan thriving on one of the Philippines' many coral reefs, this one is the remote Tubbataha Reef, off the coast of Palawan.

A Philippine Volcanic and Seismic Landscape

An Alternative name for the pacific Rim is the Ring of Fire since the entire island chain from Kamchatka down to Indonesia is highly volcanic, with many hundreds of volcanoes dotting the landscape, 22 of them presently known to be active, The Philippines is a fully paid-up member of this club, Much of the landscape is characterized by these volcanoes, their slopes sweeping up in graceful curves, gently at first but then ever steeper towards the summit, towering ominously above the surrounding countryside or coast. Arguably the most spectacular of these is Mount Mayon, an almost perfect 'textbook, conical volcano looming above the city of Legazpi in southern Luzon. Unfortunately, it is also the liveliest, experiencing regular, but relatively small eruptions every few years. The biggest and deadliest eruption in recent times, however, was that Pinatubo in northern Luzon which exploded with devstating effect in 1991 after lying dormant for over 400 years. Fortunately, however, most of the time the volcanoes simply lend a dramatic, and often stunningly beautiful, aspect to the landscape. They are natural features to be admired and explored, although they should always also be treated with respect and some caution. All this volcanism is closely linked to the immense seismic activity that rumbles under the Philippines, which is the result of huge tectonic forces at work in the Earth's crust. The country sits on its own relatively small tectonic plate, Which is gradually being crushed between the very much larger Eurasian and Australasian plates, steadily pushing the island ever upwards. The result is a characteristically mountains landscape criss-crossed by fault lines and pockmarked with volcanoes. The highest peaks reach nearly 3,000 m, the tallest of them being Mount Apo at 2,956 m an inactive volcano in southern Mindanao.

Top: The shattered and flooded crater of Mount Pinatuboseen over a decade after its massive 1991 eruption.

Below: Mount Mayon, the Philippines' most active volcano, towers threateningly above the city of Legazpi, in southern Luzon

Left: Ardent Hot Spring, a popular bathing spot on  the slopes of Mount Hibok-Hibok, an active volcano on Camiguin Island, off the north coasts of Mindanao is one the benign gifts of a volcanic landscape.

Below: Seen from the rim of Taal caldera, the little Taal Volcano sitting on an island in Lake Taal, looks quite innocuous. In fact, it is one of the Philippines most dangerous volacanoes.

Top: A gigantic tree surrounded by bamboo, growing in lowland rainforest in Subic Bay, Northern Luzon.

Below: The instantly recognizable  Pompadour Green-Pigeon, Treron pompodora , is a quite common resident of many Philippines forest, particularly at the forest edges.

Top right: The Philippine Tarsier 'Tarsius syrichta'. at 8 cm long is one the world's smallest primates, Its is unique to Bohol and Mindanao but is related to a Tarsier in Borneo.

Below right: A young Philippine Dear, Russa Mariana , species spread thinly across much of the Phlippines.

Below left: This tangle of vegetation in dense rainforest, in El Nido Palawan, is typical of the Philippines natural vegetation, as it would be across much of the country were in not for human activity

Above: A typical rural scene, a stream flowing through verdant forest as it drops down out of the mountains interior. Seen on the slopes of Mount Hibok-Hibok, on Camiguin Island, Mindanao.