Like the migratory birds, a lot of things are seasonal in Candaba wetlands. The road, for one,  "disappears" during the rainy season. You'll see the fields transform from  rice fields to fish ponds (and vice versa) depending on which month you go there.

I found myself wandering there again one lazy Sunday afternoon, on a hunt for a good sunset scenery. Most of the fields are underwater due to the recent successive typhoons.

The scorching heat that afternoon belied the fact that there was a typhoon the previous day. The trails going to the popular birding spots were under mud so I opted the cool shade of a road side tree rather than hike farther into the heart of the swamp. It later proved to be a great birding spot.


Several folks en route to their favorite fishing spots passed by, some carrying more than one bamboo fishing pole.  Most are on bikes since public transportation is not available.


"Large scale fishing" in Candaba is done by setting nets and then beating the water with sticks to drive the fish to the nets.  I watched two men did just that that afternoon. Their efforts yielded several buckets of tilapia and mud fish after a few hours.


Sunset that day was worth the wait and the heat.  As the sun went down, the sky glowed with warm shades of red and orange.


The best part the few seconds after the sun finally dipped below the horizon. The fusion of vibrant colors and reflections made it one of the most beautiful sunsets I have seen.  I was in a frenzy, shooting wide and zooming in, trying to get the best of the scenery in front of me.


When the color display ended, I packed my bag and prepared to head home.  I noticed that I was alone in the middle of nowhere, the fisher folks have long went home. At that moment I realized that I'll be walking several kilometers back to town, alone, in the dark. But with a sunset like that, such an issue seem like a minor inconvenience.