Noah’s Ark in Zamboanga Sibugay is a

Noah’s ark in Zamboanga? In Lagpan, a sitio in Barangay Magsaysay, municipality of R.T. Lim, a rather not so curious thing, but something that can be of a bewilderment is built. Narciso Sardual, 66 years old, aka Tatay Jack started building his huge boat in 2002. Noah’s ark in Zamboanga is almost complete,  after ten years and built entirely by him.

The boat, originally meant to be a big fishing boat and costing about 2 million pesos, is 90.5 ft in length and about 20 ft high. Because of its size, residents and visitors have called it Noah’s Ark in Zambaonga. As Tatay Jack is already old, he wants to sell it to anybody who is interested at 3 million pesos in order for him to go back to his family who he hasn’t been with since 2000.

Zamboanga Sibugay is two hours from Zamboanga City, three hours from Pagadian City and four hours from Dipolog City all by bus.PAL flies to these three cities regularly. Transportation within Ipil and the rest of Zamboanga Sibugay is via jeepneys, buses, tricycles and ‘single’ or habalhabal, which are motors that travel for short distances. Pumpboats for island hopping and diving can be arranged.

Hotels in Ipil offer free wifi and the best so far for comfort, amenities and price is Casa Mea Hotel and Restaurant. Rates start at just P700 for a very spacious and clean room with a single queen sized bed. (062)3332-808/09228221657.

Southwoods Resto along the National Highway serves delicious and affordable Filipino and Chinese cuisine.

For tourism, it is better to visit the Provincial Tourism office at the capitol. They can give advice as well as arrange for guides. Provincial tourism officer is Eda Daarol, 09997369762.

This article originally published in the May 2012 issue of Mabuhay, PAL’s inflight magazine as a side story.