Walking Over Trees at Claveria

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For our next two days here in Cagayan De Oro, we have De Oro Mountain Explorers or DOME to entrust our lives to. Seriously! For the next two days, DOME shall take us to three ecotourism activities, namely: Canopy Walking at Claveria, Spelunking at Kweba De Oro, and Water Tubing (aka White Water Rafting Pinoy-Style) - I heard we are going to jump from a bridge too!

As early as 7:30am, DOME’s jeep picked us up at PNRoa. We met Jerome (DOME president), Meg, and a few more of our guides for the day.

"The Binary Tree"

At around 9:00am, we set foot at Barangay Magbais, Claveria and started trekking for 30 minutes. This was a rather pampered trek because we were provided walking sticks and we didn’t have backpacks to carry. We noticed a strange shrub whose leaves split into two, then each split into two, and again… and again. We named it the "The Binary Tree". (Please don’t think we are nerds okay… hehe!) Along the way, Meg showed us huge lumber that almost made its way to the furniture factory. I am glad illegal logging has stopped in this area. Now we have trees to enjoy and walk over! I enjoyed the relaxing scent of the greens and moist soil. We also passed by a stream (“batis” in Tagalog) of cold and clear water.

And the real adventure begins…

From a cliff more than 90 feet above sea level, we were donned in harnesses and ropes and zipped our way down to a huge tree! Weeehoooo! Tarzan, here I come!

One by one, we zipped down to the first tree, which we will be walking from first. So while waiting for the others (and making fun of them HEHE), I cherished every breath of fresh air I take. God you’re so great! You have created a wonderful forest for us to enjoy!

One be one, we walked through the hanging bridges built between huge trees amidst the forest. There were about 7 of these swaying bridges. I am lucky for not having any sense of fear of heights so I perfectly enjoyed walking these wiggling bridges, as I take pleasure of the vast view of the mountains and its flora. We were also being serenaded to by what they call dangis. They say it’s a cricket of regular size but makes the loudest sound in the forest. Honestly, I thought what I have been hearing was just an alarm for forest workers of somesort. Haha! Note to self: Google that intriguing cricket they call dangis.

My New Idea of an Ideal Lunch Break

We were all on the last tree by 1pm -- just in time for lunch. Boy! Anything they give me for lunch will be the tastiest ever! I was starving. We had puso, which is rice cooked inside weaved coconut leaves, and roasted chicken from Sr. Pedro. We were lucky it was not raining despite the cloudy sky. The air was cool and crisp. I wish lunch will always be like this -- atop a tree with a spectacular view of greens!!! Ahhhh....

We took our time eating lunch while we were told stories by our guides. We asked them about the history of this canopy walk which is also called Noslek Walk. (… which I won’t tell you. HEHE! You will have to hear it for yourself or better yet, just google it.) For one, I admire their passion for adventure and preservation of forests. They very much love their job of bringing people to this nature trip. Clearly, they are sending us a message of doing our part in protecting our environment.

Lunch was over and it was time to walk the same bridges back to where we started. From the first tree we walked on, we were pulled upwards by 7 strong men! (Shame on the city people who burn money just to sweat on the gym! HAHA!)

Still Feeling High

On our trek back, we decided to stop by the clear stream to take pictures. We stole some time to relax a bit before 20 more minutes of trekking. I had fun observing tadpoles helplessly clinging to the big rocks for dear life.

We were back in the city at 5:30pm. Tired but still feeling high (literally and figuratively).

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