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.