tamarind beach gallery

I bought the first 800 square meter beach lot in barangay Ligaya in February 1995, and the beach house I dreamed about was ready for occupancy by Easter the same year. We named the place Tamarind Beach, after the more than a hunded year old tamarind tree which stands on the southern end of the property. During the following seven years I bought four adjoining lots, and ended up with a fairly big place with three houses, a garden pavillion and a shed, and some 4600 square meters of beach land stretching from the national road down to Balayan Bay.

anilao and tamarind beach

Barangay Ligaya with Tamarind Beach a little to the left of center. This picture shows then first development, however after the second lot was bought (behind the tamaraind tree). There was originally a small local house on that lot. Good hardwood was used in most of the house. The picture shows the first version of the guest house. It was later rebuilt with a veranda upstairs fronting the sea. The sign was made from a piece of driftwood. The second floor veranda had a panoramic view of Balayan Bay. The sliding windows were made of capiz - a tranlucent seashell. Both inner and outer walls were made of sawali mats (flattened bamboo weaves), however I panelled the external walls after some years. The stairs to the second floor were originally not walled in, however a semi-open wall of carved planks were installed later on. There were two bedrooms and a sala upstairs. The peaceful view from the bedroom. The beach front was of course Tamarind Beach's biggest asset. The dive just outside the stair was not a great dive site, but it was pleasant with sightings of baracudas, rays, turtle, bat fish and many other fishes. Paddle bankas at the sea wall. The neighboors landed their fishing bankas on the big lot I bought on the right side of the property. This lot was never developed. The garden pavillion became the favoured place to eat and relax in the evenings. I planted many trees over the years, however some like this acacia just grew too big and had be cut down. A small fishpond was always fun to work with despite frog invasions, bayawak attacks and other calamities that happened regularly. The banaba tree has nice flowers and the leaves have proven medical applications. Bougainvilla grew willingly, but always got out of hand and had to be removed due to its nasty thornes. Lotus from the fish pond. Chubby, the dalmatian, spent a good part of her life on Tamarind Beach. The beach had an apparantly unlimited supply of boulders used for the many walls on the property. The construction of the access road from the national road was successfully handled with Mang Udin as foreman: Wayfarer sailing dingy moored outside the beach. Tamarind Beach fully developed. The main house after all improvements. High tide along the sea wall. Dusk at the veranda. Enjoying the last hour of the day - Tagayaty Ridge In the background.

www.ligaya.net Jens Hintze Holm jens@ligaya.net