I CLOSED MY EYES AND CAUGHT the smell of summer wafting through the air. A May breeze, gentle and warm, swelling up like a piece of wild fruit bursting with colors, its tiny seeds exploding with aroma. It's a perfectly beautiful Friday afternoon in El Nido - the light of the sun hammered down to its heart's content.
Sitting at the edge of the beach, Bong (our tour guide) and I looked across the water toward the gigantic karst walls surrounding this small haven called Hidden Beach. The summer breeze stirred the leaves of shrubs and trees behind us, rustling faintly and raising small ripples on the surface of the shallow waters, ebbing ever so slowly like time.