Philippines Tour 2024 – Apo Island

Performers Without Borders Philippines Tour 2024

Apo Island!

The Team

Gina (Bazzinga), Jamie (Mr Sunshine), Meg (Nutmeg), Ryn (Ryn Hooligan), Szymon (Sai), and JMS (The Goon)

Welcome back! This time the team is adventuring over the sea to our last stop on the remote and beautiful APO ISLAND!

Respected Ancestor

As we were forewarned at the interview stage about this next leg of our adventure, we came prepared with dive bags, cling film, bin liners, and nappy bags to be able to waterproof ALL of our luggage and equipment for the final destination of the tour to a tiny volcanic island in the western North Pacific ocean called Apo Island!

Apo Island is located in the Sulu Sea (yes, where real pirates operate); it is approximately 1.5 km from north to south and 1 km from east to west with a population of 920 people and two schools. It’s accessible by a small motorised boat—as long as the weather permits it!

Surrounded by the stunning Apo reef, it is a popular diving and snorkelling location for tourists, as well as a marine reserve protected by the National Integrated Protected Area Act (NIPA) and under the jurisdiction of the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB). The word Apo itself means “elder” or “respected ancestor” in the Bisayan languages, and the archaic wisdom of the dormant volcano, its namesake, is mirrored by a deep respect for the wildlife that feels very present amongst the island’s inhabitants and visitors. Like a grandmother bestowing her wisdom on the younger generations, Apo Island invites people to come closer and listen to her stories.

There are no roads on the island, only 4 hours of electricity per day, and most of the fresh water reserves come from collecting rainwater. The simplicity of this way of life creates a natural pace that is undoubtedly a relief; it allows us, especially those acclimatised to western city life, to finally sit still and be able to listen. It is impossible to not be affected by the sublime nature of the island.

This was PWB’s second visit to the island to work with the community and children there. The team was very excited that a connection had already been established, and an enthusiasm for circus art was already blooming.

We had been eagerly awaiting this part of the tour since the moment we signed up, as Jamie and Gina’s reviews of their time on Apo and the aptitude of skills in the children they met there the previous year had inspired us so much. The excitement of the journey ahead kept us looking forwards as we wrapped all of our fire toys in cling film, stuffed our clothes into several layers of bin bags, and bagged up our tech and valuables in waterproof dive bags. Our tour managers did not beat around the bush—we were going to get soaked.

Soaked

We were prepared to be travelling by a small boat, with no walls and therefore no protection from the waves that entered from every side. We were also aware we would be loading our luggage by wading waist-deep through the ocean, carrying it above our heads! The boat was going to be slightly larger than the year before to accommodate so much equipment that we were donating to the community on the island and the amount of props included in our fire show.

This was all very well when we were imagining tropical weather conditions, but we were in the Philippines at the end of the rainy season, and the thunder had not stopped from the night before; we had to adapt our final fire show on Bayawan Plaza, and the rain had been pouring ever since. We all glanced nervously at the sky on the day of our departure, confirming that despite all our hoping, the rain had not stopped.

Would we be able to make the crossing to the island today? Or did this mean a night of purgatory somewhere in between Dumaguete and Bayawan?

We piled into the van and drove to the port with crossed fingers. Nerves were noticeable amongst the team, some of whom had expressed slight phobias when it came to the ocean, and after swapping some stories, all of us confirmed that these fears were actually entirely rational. We tried to keep the conversation light as we made our journey to the water’s edge and loaded all of our equipment into a pile at the port next to the beach, out of the rain as best as we could.

However, this was an entirely pointless action, as five minutes later, the rain was even heavier, and the bags were already sodden. The boat had arrived! The men accompanying our crossing had given the all clear for the journey, and we were hauling all of the luggage up the beach in the torrential downpour. Within seconds we were all soaked to the skin, and the bags were even heavier. We could barely tell the sea from the sky. These conditions should technically have caused us to finally get fed up with the insane working conditions of a PWB tour—but the opposite happened. The situation was just so ludicrous, so beyond crazy, that we couldn’t help but laugh.

Yellow Submarine

Screaming like little children running through fountains in the park, we were all in surprisingly high spirits as we carried bags, boxes, and trunks up the sodden sand, like a group of merry pirates drunk on the rain. We waded through the sea with the bags propped on our shoulders and heads like treasure chests, with the aid of the sailors taking us across. On board, we settled into our life jackets on little wooden benches and realised how this was probably the first experience of being cold for our entire time in the Philippines. It was the first time hoodies or jackets had even been considered, although they were sopping wet, and JMS’s fingers started to turn blue. Huddling together, we made a giant sandwich of our bodies to keep warm, still giddy from the ridiculous nature of our latest commute to work, still giggling like children on a school trip.

We began singing and dancing to keep ourselves warm; we sang every song we could think of about the sea, the rain, and the water, a highlight moment being a high-energy group rendition of “Yellow Submarine,” as the rain plummeted into our faces and the waves lapped over the boat’s edge, creating puddles around our equipment. We felt liberated, unbridled, wild; the fear of our crossing had been replaced by an exuberant joy and pleasure in the work that we do, a feeling of intense camaraderie that we were singing in the face of adversity, and we warmed ourselves from the hearts outwards as we crossed the ocean. Sea shanties distracted us from the small pieces of debris, salt, and sand lodged in our eyes from the wind.

We Made It

Watching Apo Island emerge through the fog on the horizon reminded us of the opening scenes of “Pirates of the Caribbean”, or “Jurassic Park.”. Arriving, we immediately plonked ourselves in the warm ocean as we descended from the boat and then carried luggage up the beach again, this time hobbling over coral rather than sand, taking care not to step on the slippery emerald algae of the rocks. We were greeted by a smiling woman, who walked us through winding pathways to our accommodation. Mario’s Scuba Diving and Homestay, which would be our home for the next few days.

Rock, paper, scissors commenced as we did our weekly negotiations for our rooms. But at Mario’s there was no need really to barter with each other, as we were all granted our own room (unspeakable luxury after weeks without personal space) Some of us even had balconies, which was very useful in the upcoming hours as we dried all of our belongings—hilariously draping the inflatable dinosaurs and the parachute over the railing, which generated some intrigued pointing and staring from the other guests and locals. We each had giant double beds adorned with mosquito nets, fresh linen, and an ensuite bathroom providing buckets and rainwater. It was beautiful, and we felt blessed to punctuate the tour in style like this. Being informed that there was no WIFI and only four hours electricity between 6-10pm was actually welcomed news; an opportunity to immerse ourselves in nature. We did a quick check for spiders and scorpions as the ceilings and windows left a lot of leeway for visitors of this nature. We found only geckos, who accompanied our stay with crazy noises and who we unanimously agreed were welcome roommates.

Finding Peace With The Cockerel

The island was very quiet due to the lack of cars, but there was a perpetual chorus of cries from the cockerels around the villages, a constant noise that was noticeable on arrival and eventually tuned into the background. Cockfighting, locally named Sabong, is a traditional pastime in the Philippines, the origins of which date back to 3,000 years ago. While our first assumption was that cockfighting’s popularity was a result of Spanish and Portuguese colonisers, in fact the tradition of Sabong is a lot deeper, entwined with Filipino culture; an expression of its complexity and values. It is described as “a communal event where people gather to watch the fights, socialise, share stories, and celebrate.” Sabong plays a “role in reinforcing community ties and kinship… Concepts like honour, bravery, and sportsmanship are central to the sport” and are a “familial tradition” that has a “profound impact on the social fabric of the Philippines”. We became very familiar with the sound of cockerels in the Philippines, but the ratio of cockerels to humans on Apo Island was particularly high. We got used to them calling out at all hours of the day and night—that idea that they only do it at sunrise is very incorrect. As we walked around the village, we met such a variety of the impressive and beautiful birds, with excellent and colourful plumage, sitting on perches, tethered to posts, adorning every tree and surface, and we couldn’t help but be impressed by both the high population of poultry on the island (including many hens and baby chicks too!) and the aesthetic of pride and fierceness that they certainly did exuberate.

The nature was outstanding; our explorations on that first day were highly memorable as we left our equipment to dry and hiked up to the lookout point and stared at the ocean below us as we walked the beaches with unique and wonderful coral under our feet, and we listened to the electric buzz of the birds and bugs in the trees around us. The locals sat playing cards in front of their houses, children napped in hammocks during the afternoons, and people’s front windows doubled up as shopfronts that we frequently visited for ice cream.

The Children Of Apo Island

Many of the children in the village recognised the arrival of this group of clowns from the previous year; cries of “BAZINGA!!!” could be heard echoing around the village as Gina was spotted. Children gathered curiously to peek around corners at us as we walked around the streets. Unfortunately, we were informed that we were only able to deliver sessions outside of school hours; this was a change from the previous year. We were all eager to play, but we had to respect the school’s needs and agreed for our sessions to begin at 3pm each afternoon and to include a show. We had all the more time to prepare ourselves, concluding that we would now be able to provide the most high-energy delivery to take full advantage of every last moment—as this was our final location and the kids were anticipating us with so much excitement.

We were travelling with our friend Bethal (an important friend to PWB, a fire spinning student, youth leader from the previous year, and a newly appointed marine biologist), and so we took the opportunity to spend our morning the next day snorkelling with sea turtles, which was an absolutely unforgettable experience! We made friends with the people staying in our accommodation and piqued their curiosity about all our drying equipment, and so we gave them introductory lessons in staff and poi.

Prop Making

Ryn had diligently collected the materials necessary for making juggling balls, and now we had the time; we sat filling bags of sand and encasing them in balloons. (Note: If you are making homemade juggling balls, do not use rice as a filler! The balls that were made the previous year were wonderful sensory toys that doubled up as music shakers, but unfortunately the rice inside fermented in the heat, resulting in a very disgusting juggling workshop and the need to remake them for the kids on Apo Island! Ryn made the valid point that juggling was so fundamental a skill to teach while we had the opportunity, and as we were donating equipment, it made it all the more worth it to be able to leave some juggling balls behind for the kids to practice with.

Time For The First Session

At last, the time had arrived to meet the children and begin our session! On a basketball court in the centre of the village, surrounded by cockerels and curious locals coming to watch, we began unpacking our equipment for a small group of excited, giggling youngsters. Staffs, hoops, and juggling balls were presented as we began some call-and-response games to walk through the workshops together. Bazinga had gone off to parade around the streets, singing and calling for more children and within minutes, it felt like we had gone from a group of 6 kids to a group of 106… The entire playground was filled with excited laughter as all of the toys were pulled from the kit bag. As the group was made up of such young children, we let go of workshop structure and opted for an open box session. Embracing the chaos and tailoring our sessions to the needs of the group in front of us is a big part of PWB. Play is such a transformative skill that is based on the freedom to explore and create without instruction, and we encouraged this as a form of learning circus. Allowing everyone the opportunity to explore each prop and play at their own leisure, excitement was high as all of the kit was presented – including flower sticks, diablos, spinning plates and levi wands. The levitation wands were met with a lot of enthusiasm, particularly with the SEND children in the group, who were grinning with pride watching their wands levitate in circles above their heads.

With a loud call from Bazinga, we all gathered in a circle and watched as a parachute was unwrapped. Gleeful giggling started up as Nutmeg and Bazinga lifted and lowered the parachute, and colours bended and folded above our heads in the wind created. Laughter turned to screams (as it often does with parachute games), and after a few turns running underneath, we quickly gathered it in and spread it on the floor in front of the stage as a giant, colourful picnic blanket to sit on to watch the show.

The Kids Show

This was our last ever run of the kid’s show! The team was united in our desire to give it all of our energy and enjoy every second. By now, we had settled well into our clowns after a month of bringing a basketball game to life with circus skills on stage. We got a lot of people laughing at our silliness and even had friends from our accommodation and the neighbouring scuba schools come to show their support! It was a pleasure that we got so many people to dance with us on the stage, and our acro pyramid ending felt really well received with audible appreciation from the children, community members, and cockerels in the audience!

Some dogs had also come to enjoy the session and were running around during the free play and watching from the audience too. This was appreciated by the team, until the unfortunate moment when we discovered that one pooch had relieved himself on our show bag, meaning we had an intense session with disinfectant wipes after we packed down.

Bazinga and Ryn Hooligan stayed on the playground making balloon animals for all of the children until it got dark, and everyone was sent home for dinner and sleep, with the promise that we would be back again the following day with even more circus and magic for them.

An Unforgettable Adventure

While the children were at school, the next morning brought another adventure for the team—scuba diving! Half the team are certified divers, and half were experiencing this activity for the first time ever; however, all of us were in agreement that the Apo reef was a must-see. Excitement outweighed nerves as we were given a brief 101 on safety and equipment. Wading into the water with all of our gear, we learnt how to use the regulator and how to flood and clear our own masks. The Apo reef is considered one of the top 100 diving sites in the entire world, and it was an immense privilege to be able to witness the insane technicolour world underneath the water’s surface. Coral, sea anemones, giant ecosystems bursting with life on the rocks, and cliffs and trenches offering an eerily dark and empty underworld to explore. We were surrounded by wildlife; incredible fish, sea snakes, and sea urchins surrounded us as we absorbed the colour and the movement under the water. A highlight was sitting cross-legged on the ocean floor, watching a giant sea turtle eat its salad! (it was at least one meter in diameter across its shell!) We shook hands (figuratively speaking) with the entire cast of Finding Nemo and bonded deeply with the clownfish.

Rejuvenated and inspired, we were ready for our final session of the 2024 tour! One of the most magical things about the Philippines tour was the understanding that we were part of a 5-year plan, as well as continued efforts to make the project sustainable after our visits ended. Therefore, we knew that we would be back, and we knew that we were watering seedlings that were already beginning to grow, as we looked around the communities we were working with and could see the enthusiasm for circus arts beginning to prosper. We got ourselves ready for the afternoon of workshops by doing a roaming parade around the village, all of the toys on a wooden trolley borrowed from a local, blasting silly music and chanting, “Join the circus! Are you ready?” We gathered dozens of children around us as we moved through the streets.

Our Final Workshop

This time, to avoid interrupting a basketball match on the court, we took our session to the other public basketball court and incredible stage area, with concrete pillars and a view of the incredible beaches and mountains that surrounded us. The energy was high again as we brought out the equipment, and as the crowd was a little older for this session, we set about dividing ourselves into groups to teach.

We were again blown away by the physical literacy of the young people, how capable they were picking up tricks so quickly and such an aptitude for learning visually. It felt as though we just had to demonstrate the trick, and some of the kids were able to pick them up! The learning felt so visual that our differences in language did not act as a barrier. It was incredible watching JMS teach behind-the-back weaves with poi, watching Ryn teach balances and globes, seeing Meg successfully teach hoop isolations, and Sai teaching three-ball cascades. We were blown away at the competency of these kids and how insanely advanced the tricks were for their introductory lessons! Of course, all the youngsters came and joined the session too, and we had a memorable game of “Islands,” where we danced around hula hoops on the floor, jumping into one as the music stopped to shelter ourselves from the sea monster (which this time was a very convincing creature with a crazy tongue played by JMS!).

The Fire Show

The time had arrived: our final performance in the Philippines! We gave our last fire show everything we had, and the entire village had come out, thanks to the noise levels of the kids and the efforts to get them hyped up by Ryn as she ignited her fire hat for the opening act! We moved through our choreographies with ease, as by now we had performed this show over a dozen times, and we were feeling comfortable and playful as we danced with each other and performed our tricks.

Smiling like crazy, we prepared for our biggest grand finale yet; not only the giant fire star, not simply the two lycopodium torches… We prepared the children to take giant steps backward and created a safety belt of several meters, and the anticipation grew… Sai ignited the steel wool poi, and as they spun and sparks flew in spirals into the darkening sky, we all cheered and danced with genuine emotion. Coming together on the stage to take our bow, there were tears in our eyes, and the bow turned quickly to a group hug as we acknowledged our time together, the magic that we’d created, and how much we had experienced in just 4 weeks with this incredible team of humans.

Until Next Year

Exhausted but deeply content, we slept so soundly that night. The entire team was filled with a huge sense of accomplishment, a deep understanding that we had profoundly impacted the children we’d worked with. The laughter and screams of delight when they mastered a new trick would continue to echo in our minds until we got home. Gina and Ryn dropped our huge kit bag full of circus equipment at the high school, a massive variety of donations for the children and whole community to use at their leisure.

We have absolutely no doubt that their skills will have progressed by the time we meet again next year, as there’s not much to do on the island apart from chores and playing on the beach, and we are beyond delighted that we will be returning to Apo Island in 2025 to continue to play so soon!

And that’s a wrap, folks. Thanks so much for reading our story. We hope it’s inspired and uplifted you. Look out for a feature-length documentary coming soon!

Applications for The Philippines 2025 tour will open in March!

We will also be collecting equipment to bring over and donate to the other groups we will be working with over the next 5 years! Please email [email protected] if you have anything that might be useful.

Salamaat! ❤️

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