Finishing school is not a priority for many island families, and the decline of the fishing industry left young islanders unable to earn an income. The Lost Boys training program has served as their higher education and livelihood. These are young men have many innate island skills. Mixed with what they learn in Tao, Tourism has offered the perfect opportunity for them to grow into some of the best guides in Palawan.
Every year we invite 10-15 young men from the islands to train with our seasoned crew.
We train them to be expedition leaders, guides, boat and basecamp crew, cooks, farmers, and bamboo carpenters.
They work with and learn from each other, in much the same way they’d learn from their fathers on fishing boats and mothers at home.
It is through spending time with travelers like you and talking about their lives (with the confidence given by a few glasses of rum) that these boys learn to speak English.
In our off-season, they get to be the tourists. We send them on excursions around the Philippines as well as South East Asia to open their minds and make them realize what’s so special about their home, Palawan.