E.A.T.ing Danao

Being a peripatetic does not always mean one is inclined to extreme adventure. The first time I heard of EAT Danao (Extreme Adventure Tour Danao) was through a late-night Saturday sports program. What attracted me to EAT Danao was not the extreme adventures it offered but the beautiful early morning view of the fog-covered gorge with the park. My intent basically was to take pictures of the place.

During the planning stage however, I decided to take part in the adventures with my officemates. We selected an adventure package.

And so on one Friday night after office hours, with our provisions, three of us headed to Cebu’s Pier Uno to catch the midnight boat sailing to Tubigon, Bohol.

It was around 4AM when we arrived in Bohol. We took the local motorcycle ride (habal-habal) from Tubigon to Danao via Sablayan.

As a background, Danao is one of Bohol's municipalities and the town of Francisco Dagohoy.

Braving the Bohol roads with the hay-scented cold morning air was a visual treat. We coursed through dusty roads between chocolate hills and veering paths along the mountain side, all the while viewing the mesmerizing early lights of the morning sky and the breathtaking view of fog-covered hills and mountains.

An hour before the sun rose to the sky...



A few minutes before the sun finally came out...





We had a short stop-over to relax our legs with the long motorcycle ride and at the same time, take more pictures...

The view is "not so local"...



Trees covered by fog



A line of coconuts covered by fog, with a dash of rainbow...



Fog slowly thinning...



We arrived in Danao at around 8AM. We had breakfast and about an hour or so, we headed to our first activity.

We followed a path that led to the bottom of the park's gorge...



It led downwards still...



And finally, we reached the river bed...



And this is the site of our first activity: root climbing and rappeling.



One needs to climb the boulder through these intertwined roots...



And after the climb, one needs to go down by rappeling.



I find this activity quite strenuous. I had basically asked the guides for the tensile strength of the ropes being used. :)

After relaxing, we headed to the next site for our next activity. We waited for an hour or so for others to join our group. It is always advantagious to go in groups of five or more as the packages are set for a minimum of 5 people. The three of us simply "hitched" with the other group. :)

The next activity was spelunking. We entered a cave locally called as Ka Mira Cave. The picture taking inside the cave is controlled so as to minimize damage to the crystal formations. The guides are the only ones allowed to carry the cameras and to take pictures. Each group is allowed to use only one camera. We had no recourse but to leave our other SLR cameras.

The water inside the cave is refreshingly cool. And taking a dip is very enjoyable...

The three of us posing for the camera...



There were areas that one needs to crawl and even to dive underwater... Here's the crawling part...



Here are some of the formations inside the cave... It was like my Earth Science subject suddenly came to life. And I was holding myself back not to explain these formations least I usurp the role of the guides... And the guides were very good, they were well trained in their social skills and in the basics of earth science and spelunking...







After the wonderful adventure in one of the park's bowels (yes, there are many caves in the area, some are classified as "extreme" since they would require special skills such as rappeling), we headed back to the upper part of the park to have our buffet lunch...

After lunch, we headed to our room to prepare for the next adventure, perhaps the most difficult for my two partners (since both of them have acrophobia) - the SUISLIDE (short for suicide slide). The zip line is about 900m to 1km long in total length (back and forth) and is about 150m - 200m high from the bottom of the gorge.

The opposite side of the suislide, as viewed from the starting point...



I was the first one and perhaps the most excited to have the ride. After making the sign of the cross and with my camera in my hand, I gave it a go...



I took several pictures on my way to the other side, but sadly they were blurred. The view from the top was quite spectacular.

The other side. Some chocolate hills...



And I took pictures of the starting point of the suislide while wating for my companions. The starting point from the opposite side.



On my way back. I also took pictures. Again, all of them were blurred except for the one below. It is a promontory that bended the river. This is also the location of Dagohoy's cave... (Francisco Dagohoy led the longest revolt in Philippine history, right?)



After several minutes my two other friends finally decided to go through with the suislide... :)

Since the suislide was our last activity for our selected package, we spent the rest of the afternoon watching the others who took another extreme activity: The Plunge. I have no pictures however to show you. When the sun was already low, we decided to explore the paths that led to Dagohoy's cave and the promontory.

Since the entire park is actually Dagohoy's headquarters during his revolt, there is a historical tour being conducted for free every morning. The tour is also physically strenuous as it includes the trek to the promontory above - a treat for those who fear heights and have the difficulty of climbing steep slopes...

The pathway leading to the promontory.



The opposite end of the suislide from the pathway.



We completed the trek to Dagohoy's cave (which we were not able to enter as it is already collapsing) the next morning. The gorge as viewed on top of the promontory.



And of course, I did not miss the first motivation for this trip, the early morning fog across the park...



I'm planning to go back on July to check out their 1.5km zip line... And by the way, on the suislide, once you have reached the other side, there is no other way but to take again the slide to return to the park, otherwise you will be forced to walk 5km - 6km downhill to Danao's town proper and take the motorcycle ride to return to the site. :)

For more details about EAT Danao, you can visit their site:
www.eatdanao.com

Along Mountain Roads: San Carlos - Don Salvador Benedicto

The global economic crisis has pressured our company to have forced vacation leaves on the last week of January. I was off to the fields of Negros. For the first days of that week, I indulged in the eat-tv-sleep routine. The outdoor activities were limited by the continuous rain.

The heavens cleared up for two days and on that second day, I headed off to Mierkolesan, a rural area within the mountainous Barangay Prosperidad in San Carlos City. This is approximately 71 km away from Bacolod City. My aim: to take silhouettes of Mount Canlaon during sunset.

I arrived there at about 3PM. I specifically selected this area because I can stay in the "nice but cheap" Nabatang Peak Mountain Resort for the night. Nabatang is situated along a hill's slope. The golden hour of photography started at around 5PM. I went to the higher adjoining hills to have unobstructed views.



And then, it happened for the second time! While I was scouting for possible perspectives, a cow was rapidly approaching me. I had no time to do some metering to adjust my exposure, or even compose for the scene. All I was able to do was to decide for a vertical shot. As a result, the cow was washed out in her portrait together with my shadow. Fortunately, its leash is not long enough for the cow to really reach me.



While waiting for the sunset, I strolled and saw this pathway along the grass.



When I arrived in Nabatang, I already noticed black clouds moving from the northern skies. Just as the golden hour was about to end with the sun slowly slipping behind Mount Canlaon, the clouds have reached the mountain.



I have not made a single, clear silhouette of Mount Canlaon. While it was behind the dark clouds, I decided to move to the highest adjoining hill and waited until much of the clouds have passed for pink-orange lights to be visible. After I took this picture below I then called it a day.



I was up early the next day. It was an overcast morning. Armed with banana chips, biscocho, 1.5L of water and a painkiller ointment, I decided to trek the rising and falling slopes of the national highway from Prosperidad, San Carlos City to Talos Falls, Don Salvador Benedicto.

Six kilometers away from Nabatang is a natural formation slightly similar to that of Bohol. Against the boring, uneventful, and cloud-covered skies here's our version of Chocolate Hills.



After about 5 hours of walking some kilometers (I purposely did not count) and many, many rests in between, I finally reached my final destination: the Talos Falls.



Talos Falls is actually on the other mountain opposite of the viewing deck where I took the picture above. The pic was shot using a 300mm lens - exactly 6x magnification. From the viewing deck, the base of this waterfall could be reached within 30 minutes but it would take at most 2 hours to come back. The viewing deck actually has clean comfort rooms. Due to this, it has become an established bus stop. It has also offered opportunity to local folks to sell bottled mineral water and other snack foods to passengers.

From there, I walked a little further along the road to have another angle of the waterfall.



This is another shot using 300mm lens from the same angle.



After hours of walking, I decided I deserved some comfort. I waited for about an hour for the airconditioned bus and headed home.

Note: Nabatang Peak, where I spent the night, is ideal for short summer vacations for people who want to stay away from the noise of the city. The place is simple, rustic and windy. They have no electricity during the day. At night, one may opt to have generator powered lights or their solar battery powered LEDs. I opted for the latter to somehow relive my childhood days. The rooms have no fans or aircon units. They are not needed. The place will give you a chill. Water supply is abundant. Travelers may opt to bring food or call ahead for their preferred meals. I did neither. I just requested the caretaker to buy a kilo of rice, a can of corned beef for supper, 4 eggs and another can of corned beef for breakfast. Well, part of the preparation for those kilometers of walk is that I have to stuff myself ahead.  :)