Reaching Crocodile Island from Cape Engano, our boat need to circumnavigate which took us an hour or two, (I believe ) to reach the place. The island looks like a crocodile's mouth from a far. As our boat came closer, the smell of salt water and "malansang amoy" welcomed us. The entire island is barren and the shoreline was composed of crashed corals while the back portion (facing the ocean) has fine brownish sand. Like a Stone Cladding Surface The Crocodile - shaped rock has a wall like stone cladding surface and so brittle. One can climb up to this rock where you can rest at the top flat ground. This island is not ideal for camping by the way because the shoreline on both sides disappears during high tide and the flat ground at the top of the rock cannot hold any peg for your tent and since it's situated facing the ocean, strong wind is mostly experienced. We rested and took our late lunch in the island while waiting for High Tide for us to cross going to Anguib Cove. Crocodile Island
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Woke up early the next day, prepared our packed lunch. The sky was so clear by the time we started the trek, paid a visit at the Navy's Office for registration (showed the Day Pass, no fees collected) then went to another house for another registration (For Hired Guide Purpose, no fees collected) We crossed a short bridge before reaching the fork (Leonardo and Lagunzad trail). Leonardo's Trail was considered a difficult trail among the 3 trails going to Cape Engano and for us to reach Baratubot Falls we need to trek on this trail. Touchdown The first time I heard about Palaui Island was when it was featured by CNNGo. Ranked 3rd among The Philippines' best beaches and island. According to CNN "This isolated island is a natural secret -- only the brave and persevering bother to visit. Glorious white sands surrounded by volcanic rocks on one side kiss blue-green waters on the other. Palaui is all about raw beauty. But it takes some work to get there." I got fascinated though curious to what this island offers to its visitor. Luckily, me and my friends were able to purchased a discounted fare from Cebu Pacific and saved ourselves from a 13 to 14 hours of Land travel. Electric Power Plant Mountains are my hide out...... I climb because I want to be free even for a day or two.... free from work, free from traffic and pollution from the metro. So why chose beach...... a beach for a person who doesn't even know how to float in the water.... simple... walang climb invites. A sudden urge of seascape brought me to Puting Buhangin. Favorite destination in Quezon Province for people who wishes to avoid crowded beaches.
Off to Brgy. Ipil
Potholing anyone? Marinduque is also the perfect place for you. Day 3 on our itinerary was Spelunking..... Remembering my first spelunking experience was way back in college when I joined Nature's Crusaders of the Philippines Foundation and had my first cave at Initao National Park, Misamis Oriental. Crawling, Bat Noise, Pitch Black. Located at Barangay Ipil, Sta Cruz Marinduque. The caves within the area are somewhat interconnected as per record there are 7 caves and 4 caves were explored so far. And so we were back...... Back to Masungi Rock Formation, Tanay Rizal. Sitio Tablon, Jamboree was still our jump off point since Letty's Cave is still under its jurisdiction. This cave is also known as Jamboree Cave. To explore the said cave it requires permit and our guides were still the previous guides during our Pinagpatong and Mt. Suso ng Dalaga exploration. Mam Charina The cave has a very small opening that requires one to craw to reach the wider path. From here one can stand up and stretch a little to further explore the inner portion. What lies next is crucial, another narrow path going down. Dark, slippery and muddy awaits everyone who wishes to explore the deeper portion. One by one, we grabbed the rope and slowly and surely dragged ourselves down. Our first guide already stationed himself below to secure the rope and assist the first member to go down, unfortunately it was me..... tired and shaking shoulder's I gave up after several attempts to either hug the wall from my right going down or skid down between the single-foot platform, were I stood, to the ground (hollow space in between) or rock climb using the cracks on my left. Mam Haydee's turn I traced my route back then Sir Jerome took his chance and successfully landed... then Mam Charine, Mam Ruth and Mam Lauren. Challenged and without hesitation, I grabbed the rope then bravely took another chance.... after several attempts for each path, shaking hands and shoulders, tired feet I ended up skidding downwards.... good thing the gap between was hollow that I swinged back and forth and thanks to Sir Jerome for grabbing me before a mishap happened. While waiting for the rest of the team to reach the bottom part, I tried exploring the other parts of the cave...... more crawling, more head bumping.... ahehehe. The caves of Masungi are also one of the sources of local's livelihood. Brave locals explores the deepest part of these caves (several caves are present in the area, some are unexplored) to harvest bird's nest (Balinsasayaw (Swiftlet) Bird). Cost around P500.00 per guhit.
Masungi Rock A Back2Back "Mt. Irid - Mt. Tukduan Banoi" turned "Masungi Rock - Mt. Suso ng Dalaga" weekend adventure happened last July 7 - 8 due to NPA-AFP activity at Mt. Irid. As an alternate plan, Masungi Rock Formation specifically "Pinagpatong" did not failed us. Masungi Rock Formation offers a lot specially to people who loves outdoor adventures... from Rock Climbing to Spelunking. For our itinerary, we chose "Pinagpatong", Our guide actually chose this one because according to them, these 2 stone pillars were like huge bricks piled. "Pinagpatong patong na bato" where the name Pinagpatong was derived. First stop is to secure permit and guide for the said adventure. One has to visit Brgy. Cayumbay for the said permit and a courtesy call as well. From highway to Barangay Hall, a 30.00 per pax habal habal ride will take you there. Once secured, take another habal habal ride to Sitio Tablon, Jamboree for 50.00 pesos per pax. Sitio Tablon, Jamboree will serve as the jump off point. Bumawi ako dito dahil the last Tree planting activity I was invited sa La Mesa Nature Reserve hindi ako nakasama sa kadahilanang late ako nagising. I was with the same group pa din, Pinoy Volunteer Group (a Facebook Group), pero marami ang new faces sa na volunteers kaya new sets of pagkakaibigan na naman to. :) We hired a bus kaya masaya ang trip at medyo mahaba ang byahe papuntang Malalim Communal Forest Park sa Baras, Rizal. When we reached the jump off point, medyo marami na din mga tao na nagvolunteer din pero mas marami na ang nauna sa amin sa area kung saan maglilipat na ng seedlings. May isang group na puro mga Police, sobrang dami nila and they were the first batch na nagtanim then another group of individuals tapos kami naman. Bilang kami ang nahuli sa magtatanim medyo kunti nalang ang natirang seedlings kaya nakadalawa lang ako. :) We need to climb sa medyo mataas na part since eto nalang ang natitirang area kung saan magtanim. Luckily medyo may natira pa and at least hindi nasayang ang pagpunta ng group. Maputik pero masaya ang mga oras na yun. Bilang isang aktibong namumundok, marami na din akong naakyat na mga bundok na wala ng mga puno kaya Tree planting activity is very much important para sa akin since hindi isa o dalawang tao lang ang nakikinabang sa mga Puno, kung hindi tayong lahat na nakatira sa mundo. Daranak Falls We took our chance na magGroup pics after sa activity then headed to Daranak falls after lunch para magbonding sa group at magrelax. BatadWeekendWarrior is a VolunTourism activity organized by Photography with Difference with its advocacy, to revive Ifugao's "Bayanihan Spirit" and Rehabilitate Batad Rice Terraces. After reading the article "Voluntourist to rebuild the Batad Rice Terraces" sa GMA News website, I searched the official FB page of BWW then shared it right away to my fellow Bundokeros and friends who might be interested to join me. Many acknowledged my invites yet it ended na 8 lang kami ang nakapunta at nagparticipate. Nonetheless, it was an awesome adventure with a cause. BWW (Batad Weekend Warrior) activity needs at least 20 participants in order to finished a bigger portion of the entire damaged area of the Terraces and also to lessen the contribution specially on shared expenses during the 2-day Adventure. Batad Weekend Warrior - Batch 2 with Sir Lawrence As for me, I was part of the BWW - Batch 2 who went up last February 25-26, 2012 then later on became the Team Lead for the batch...... (ayun naman!) Prior the said activity, we had a meeting with Sir PJ Enriquez (one of the organizers) sa SM North. He gave a short orientation about what to expect when we get there and the things we need to do. Pinakita nya sa amin ang mga pictures ng group na unang umakyat for the launching of the said activity and also the part ng Terraces na nagkaroon ng landslide dahil sa mga nagdaang bagyo at kung saan ang BWW will rehabilitate it. We learned a lot from the said meeting and Sir PJ even helped us revised the itinerary. We had high hopes on the said activity kasi this time it will be a meaningful climb. |
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