T–minus 1.

Our day in Basilan was not the only thing that was coming to a close, but our visit in the island province as a whole. It was a jampacked day, but every place we visited was worth it. We definitely enjoyed our Basilan adventures, but at the end of it all, the need to stop and rest became inevitable. We returned to our accommodation after a whole day of exploring the Treasure Islands of the Southern Seas.

After a while of rest and as soon as the sun has set, we went for a walk through downtown Isabela. The evening walk was meaningful, as doing so was something unimaginable to do just a decade ago. As we walk through the streets, we heard loud music coming from somewhere nearby. Our curiosity then led us to Plaza Rizal, the plaza just across HAPIsabela Plaza. Turned out, there was a night celebration for the Sakayan Festival.

There were lots of food options in the plaza already, but the loud music and the crowd did not sit well with our preference that night for a quite meal. With an entire day spent to travelling, we would want our dinner to be rather restful as well. We hence continued walking, and we ended up in Jo’s Chicken Inato.

Chicken inato is a version of chicken inasal but with a sweeter profile. Both recipes, however, originated in the Negros Island, with inasal coming from Bacolod and inato coming from Dumaguete. Inato is known to be marinated, while inasal is popular for being basted with anato-based oil.

Apart from the chicken, we also ordered a beef dish and fish kilawin.

It was a filling meal, and after we took another last quick stroll in Isabela, we finally headed back to our accommodation. We arranged our items for the next day’s early ferry ride back to Zamboanga City. Our night in Basilan would be our final night in Mindanao.

T–minus 0.

We were up and about before 06:00 AM in order for us to make it to our ferry ride that would leave at 06:45 AM. That was it. We were leaving Basilan.

We reached the port just in time for us to board the ferry, just as the morning’s first light was beaming through the sky. The scene was very much like when we arrived a day before: people, boats, and sea nomads going to and fro. The Yakan were just minding their own usual business, oblivious that at that point in time, there were at least two souls aboard a ferry who are thankful to the them and for the experience of being in the island that is truly their home.

A fellow traveller must have already felt it: there is a nuance between arrival and departure that is difficult to explain. It could perhaps be plainly explained that one was excited on the way to the place and a little sad over the prospect of leaving. That would be too simplistic though. I believe there is something more to that; a certain inexplicable dynamics of human emotions that makes one too attached to a certain place despite having been there for the first time and for a short while. Whatever that is, that was how it felt when we were leaving Basilan.

In about an hour, Zamboanga City was already visible in the horizon. We were almost back in the peninsula. Our adventures in ZamPenBaSulTa are about to end.

We finally reached the Port of Zamboanga shortly after 09:00 AM. The next and final stop of the group would be Sta. Cruz Islands while it was already a goodbye for us. Our flight was earlier compared to the rest of the group, hence as soon as we got our luggage, we bade our farewells. We opted out from the last destination lest we be left behind by our flight. Thankful to the crazily happy Aura Adventures bunch, the Renegade Duo was back to being a duo.

As the port bustled with the rhythm of arrivals and departures, we carried with us not just bags, but memories stitched with memories, stories, and the fleeting yet lasting bonds of travel. The farewell was not an end but a pause, a reminder that journeys are measured not only by the places reached but more so by the people who color them along the way. With hearts full and spirits steady, we stepped forward—once more, just the two of us, yet never truly alone.

Speaking of color, a fitting colorful goodbye was about to come our way.