Boy Scouts in Burot Beach, Calatagan

From the trip back in time in the town of Taal, we slow motioned on two tricycle and three jeepney rides to the present: Burot Beach in Calatagan, on the northeast of Batangas. Our camp for the night.

There are no eateries and resorts in Burot Beach, but we were boy scouts: we bought food for dinner and breakfast at the town before heading to the beach.

There are no resorts in Burot Beach, but one of us was a boy scout: he brought his own tent. The rest of us rented a three–person tent for Php 400. We chose our spot under a tree and a nearby table.

There are grilling areas in Burot Beach, but one of us was a boy scout: the person who brought his own tent also brought his cookset and a can of butane. We cooked our dinner and ate on the table that was encroaching in our camping area. (The encroaching table was for rent.)

There is a washing area in Burot Beach, but we were no boy scouts: we didn't have dishwashing soap. The enterprising caretakers though had a little sari–sari store and we were saved.

There is no electricity in the area, but we were boy scouts: we brought flashlights and headlamps (and extra batteries too). This was most especially useful when one had to go to the crude toilets/bathrooms in the middle of the night.

There are open cottages for rent, but we were boy scouts and had set up our tents and so didn't need any cottage, open or otherwise... until it rained in the middle of the night and we had to get out of our partly–flooded tents (ha! fake boy scouts!) and seek shelter.

There is a wide sandy beach, sufficient tree cover along the shore, and a good view of the sunset. We, boy scouts, cleaned up after our early dinner, explored the length of the beach, went for a swim, watched the sky turn orange, and then retired to our tents. It was a nice breezy night and we all succumbed to sleep not long after.

There is a quiet and a darkness in the wee hours, with only the sound of the sea lapping on the shore and an occasional snore from the boy scouts who slept like rocks. But I did not sleep like a rock that night, and woke up at around 3AM to the sound of clanging cooksets. I listened a little more and decided to investigate. I grabbed my headlamp, unzipped the tent, took two hurried steps, and shone the light on the table where we had conveniently and stupidly left our leftovers in a covered–and–handles–folded cookset—it was gone. I tried to follow the sound of the clanging but my headlamp did not spot anything. This boy scout was a bit of a chicken and decided not to venture in the wooded areas out back just for a cookset. I waited til daybreak to tell the owner of the cookset, and then we set off to find it. We scoured the grassy areas and the woods. We eventually found the cookset still in its covered–and–handles–folded state, but with the food inside gone, and with, mysteriously, no marks on the cookset.

There are no ghosts and monsters in Burot Beach, just dogs. Dogs that know how to snatch a cookset (that had handles folded) from the center of the table, without leaving teeth marks. Dogs that could open a cookset and eat whats inside it, then leave it covered again. Dogs that we imagine had used its front paws to grab the cookset and ran away on its hind legs. Dogs that are smarter than these so–called boy scouts.