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Published: February 3rd 2010
Sea cat is a fast craft that now has a regular scheduling plying from Cagayan de Oro City to Benoni in Camiguin everyday at 8:30am, cheapest ticket at Main and View deck for 400 pesos. I got there early to buy my ticket, as in Pinoy time of course it did not leave on time as there are late comers. It was smooth sailing, the day started hazy but cleared up and the sea was generally calm until we got out into the open sea and I got wet with sprays from the front as the wind picked up considerably, this did not bother so much as the pesky people smoking in the deck and 2nd hand smoke blows in every direction, then they throw out the butts in the sea! even the gringos do the same, the security officer on board was no help as he throws out his "suman" peel out in the water as well, when will people learn if they have no good example to follow.
As we approach Camiguin you see a lush green island full of coconut trees and other vegetation, such a sight to see from the distance making a nice contrast to
the deep blue sea. We docked at Benoni and right off the bat I got jumped on by touts trying to get my fare, I wanted to take the jeepney to Bug-ong where my accomodation is but the jeep takes time to fill up and people are confusing me with various informations so in the end I took a motorbike ride when the price went down from 150 to 100 pesos. Michael my driver seems to be a nice lad, as we drive on he explained the paved road goes around encircling the island. I noticed towns seem to grow on the side of this main road, we went through several towns along the way stopping at Mambajao the capital to get brochures and info from the DOT. Then he drove me to Jasmine by the sea at Bug-ong, 600 pesos for a spacious cottage with toilet and fan, a bit expensive for me but the room is quite airy and comfy I took it, plus I cant be bothered looking for anything else at this time. Janet the caretaker is very accomodating, I had lunch, they have good food, try the calamari! Then I walked the grounds, tried the
giant camel tree
apparently 300 plus years oldnative hammocks, a bit uncomfortable but makes for good fotos. I walked the "black"sand beach, it's actually dark brown and has a blackish hue when wet. The wind is strong.
I went passed several fisher folks mending their nets, this part is not really that attractive because communities use this beach to fish, not really isolated but quiet nevertheless. One old man was taking out his lobster traps made from bamboo I think, he said he won't go out as the sea is choppy. from a distance I can sea the sand bar called White beach which I intend to visit later. A bit knackered i came back for a nap and slept 3 hours! I went for a walk out to the main road and looked for an internet place but failed, meanwhile the streets are busy with kids going home from school, trikes with speaker phones yelling out something I thought they were campaigning for some candidate for election, turns out they are selling freshly caught fish! People on side streets started their grills, skewered meat and fish for sale at a cheap price,"sinugba" is the Visayan word for grill. I chose to get 2 pieces of
grilled tuna fish really tasty and as appetizer, seaweed salad, delicious!
Back at the resort, Ronald a guide came and talked to me about Hibok Hibok trek which I will do day after tomorrow, he gave me instructions how to get a permit from DENR to scale the volcano. had a great sleep, it was raining on and off the whole night and was worried it will spoil my day tomorrow.
I woke up to a slight drizzle and cloudy skies which gave way to blue hues and lazy sun that intermittenly shines. Michael my motorbike driver came back and I hired him for the day to go around the island to see the sights for 700 pesos. I wanted to have breakfast 1st so we went to a resort serving cheap breakfast. From there we stopped at the Sunken Cemetery,where a large white cross marks the old cemetery that got swept away to the sea after eruption of Vulcan Daan in 1871. this is in Bonbon.
Then to the old Camiguin volcano, the slopes of which have been turned to a steep Stations of the cross walkway. Great views from the top, there are plenty of camel trees
here, spiky thorny barks and stunted growth perhaps because of the terrain and they are abundant here. Next up to 17th century Spanish church(Gui-ob) remains of it's walls lingers and within the compounds they built a small chapel. There is a very old camel tree here next to a lighthouse, it is said to be 300 years old, and it is quite pretty and grand.
We drove up to Bura soda spring, I took a quick foto of the resort then left, they wanted me to pay the entrance fee, no one is there, I told them I am a travel writer and will feature their resort in my blog, it worked, got in for free. We skipped Tuasan falls and instead went to Sto. Nino cold springs but alas the trick did not work here and they won't let me take fotos without paying the fee so we left in a hurry, again empty. It seems I am the only tourist going around, off season at this time peak I heard is Holy Week when the atmosphere is festive. We kept on, the scenery is lush even despite communities living next to the main road, actually it seems
every nook and cranny of this island is occupied but they are well spread it does not really looked crowded to me. We stopped to watch a few farmers plant rice in a field on the way to Guinsalaban where Mt.Ilihan looms, hard work but they are very quick and patient.
Going through swampy settlements, a few mangroves and nipa palm swamps,we ended up at a village called Cantaan where they have the giant clam culture area run by NGO called CCMPC, their chairman Alona Cordero gave me some cool info at what they are doing here. this is a hatchery to at least 7 species of giant clams, their purpose is to propagate them and established a nursery near the coast along the corals to simulate their natural habitat. they slowly move them deeper in the sea as they grow, the biggest can grow up to 2 meters!! They have more than 2,000 specimens in their clam forest as I will call them to be. First i balked at the price to hire snorkel gears and the fee to see them in their natural habitat(only 250 pesos really) then I realized it will fund their projects so I
gave in. I was very excited having seen a few in their tanks, they are so colorful and pretty. have never seen them in the sea before so this will be a first for me. First we wade to the nursery, it was shallow so we can see them easily then we have to start snorkelling taking care not to touch them with your feet or hands, they can snap shut when bothered and you can lose a limb, they are very sharp them shells! I saw different colors of different varieties I was astounded how cool they look, we got deeper and deeper and the giant clams got bigger and bigger, it was such a cool experience unbelievably fullfilling. Around the are there are also some good snorkelling spots , we saw lots of colorful coral fishes of varying shapes and sizes, even nemo fishes! And corals so huge, I was astounded! You need a guide so they can point to you where the clams are as they are in different pens in the open water and also so you dont step on the poor creatures accidentally in shallow bits.
Grinning from ear to ear I came ashore
wanting to help them out to propagate these wonderful creatures, they need donations folks, so please visit them and see for yourself, try and donate direct to them, as government bureaucracy and red tape means when funds get to them it may be downsized already, Alona's contact # is 09057388376 if you want to know more about their works and how you can help, remember when in Camiguin never give this a miss!
Then to Benoni to visit the milkfish hatchery at Taguiness lagoon, we got there during feeding time and the fishes jump and fight each other for bits of morsels thrown out at them. Lunch was in town then we bought half a jug of "tuba" a local wine made from the sap of coconut flowers. For only 20 pesos for a half jug we had more than enough between the 2 of us. We sat on the sea wall opposite the lagoon and enjoyed an after meal drink. Tuba is delicious, it is sweet and hence you dont know you are getting drunk quickly if you are not careful. We finished the whole thing, I was worried my driver will be too drunk to drive but
he was fine. To the ostrich breeding farm in Mahinog up next. These ostriches are here to breed I believe they came from Bukidnon apparently. Just a quick look as I have seen them before in Africa, in the wild. We head off to Katibawasan falls, I believe about more than 70 meters high, really nice waterfall, the water is cold, I did not go for a dip but took lots of fotos, we pay to get in. A quick visit to DENR office to get my hiking permit for tomorrow then rode to the Philvocs station up the hill to learn about the volcano I will climb tomorrow. last stop is the Ardent Hot srpings, good to soak your weary bones after a day's sightseeing, only the water isn't as hot as it used to be but doable. Michael then dropped me off to get some rest for the trek next day, hoping for perfect weather.
Hibok Hibok is the only active volcano in Camiguin they have at least 7 volcanoes in the island. The 1250 meter volcano is a challenge to climbers as the trek entails maneuvers in loose rocks and boulders. There is a crater like
lake and steam outlets on the top of the peak. A clear view from the top of the entire island of Bohol and the sand bar island called White Island is among the rewards of making it on top on a perfect sunny day. Ronald my guide is picking me up at 5:30am, I was awake by 4:00am, very excited. There was a quick downpour before then and i was hoping the sky will clear up to give way to a bright sun. We rode in his noisy motorbike up to hi house in Yumbing where we dropped it off and started our walk from there. He and his father in law are the only guides that does the trek differently, instead of the usual Ardent springs starting point( this is the brutal hike everyone knows Hibok Hibok for) we begin in Yumbing through banana and coconut plantations slowly ascending the slopes, it was still dark and cloudy, pigs left and right of the path,roosters making their morning call and occasional dogs barking at us.
The air is still and despite the rains its uncomfortably muggy. There are a few lanzones trees as well and Ronald points out some
of his family's plantations . The soil here is obviously fertile, its volcanic after all and they produce the sweetest lanzones in the archipelago. As we go up further and deep in the jungle the trail got slippy, walking through dead leaves and occasional broken tree branches if not the whole tree itself blocking the way, Ronald and his bolo(machete knife) hack through the debris to clear our path. We were already well inside the forest when it poured down rain and it did not let up from then on, in a way its a good thing, it cooled us down, everything is green and lush, the canopy is thick so we did not get really soaked to the bone but occasional strong gust of wind blows our way. Resting at one point he pointed to me a dead narra tree, this tree is perhaps the best furniture tree in the Philippines, tough and long lasting and is endangered for that reason! I have never seen it ever before. There were a couple in the area, along with some rattan trees and abaca plants.
We arrived at an old DENR rest house it's listing to its side old and
falling apart, used to house locals planting trees and of course DENR people when they are in the mountain. Ronald told me there are a lot of colorful birds here and occasional poachers come and trap them to sell as pets, sad reality. They make a gooey concoction from a certain plant sap then they stick it on tree trunks around the area, an already domesticated bird will be left in one tree to call the other birds and of course they come and if they are unlucky enough to perch on the sticky goo they are caught! It is illegal and DENR will fine them if caught or even imprisoned, but of course it never scare those bastards. occasional wild pigs graze the forest as well. Labuyo, a native chicken in the forest we can hear and Ronald says its abundant here but people seldom hunt them, good thing. Phyton and cobras are common here too, yikes!!
Further on up we arrived at what he call Pandan forest. this are huge grass like plants and they have equally enormous root systems that actually what constitute the forest, it is covered with green moss. It feels eerie to walk
through the forest, did not stop me from taking goofy fotos though. Once we got past it we started ascending slowly, I slipped more than once, damn dead leaves! More rains came but i wasnt disappointed, I actually enjoyed walking inside the forest in the rain, it's something I have never done before, true it will ruin the possibility of having perfect summit fotos ahh screw that, I came here for the experience.Vegetation is so lush at the rim of the volcano, we headed down to the crater and rested at the camp site, we saw a cute"edible frog" its small but Ronald says people hunt them as they are delicious, I shoeed the frog away discretely in case Ronald gets hungry! Some people chose to stay the night here, I can see why, its a tranquil place next to the lake that I could barely see due to heavy fog.
We continued on, the winds picked up and we struggled to hold on to branches as we near the top, there is a boulder forest we have to go past to get to the top, its slippery and was pouring down rain again we are exposed to the
elements and I felt cold for the 1st time. Once at the top we can't see a thing, it's all white due to the heavy fog but a great feeling to be there. Took some fotos and headed down slowly, this is the hard trail, going down down to Ardent springs, it's tricky especially when it's wet if getting up they say here is difficult so as going down i tell you my knees were buckling we're not even halfway through. Reaching the Philvocs monitoring station we are halfway, resting a bit before moving on, it's full of graffiti and some rubbish, Ronald announces, darn kids come here to neck and get drunk. We entered the fern forest now, it went on for awhile. reaching a corn field I was relieved the path will be straight now, well almost. The rain has stopped and the sun came out! Ohh I was able to get a good view of White island near the fern forest as it cleared up by then, really great view! Arriving at Ardent hot springs we had a good lunch then hit the pools. A couple of old Germans and their young girlfriends spoiled the view, another
young foreign dude was there and he was rolling his eyes in disgust.
The sun came out now and so last minute decision to head to White Island, Ronald and I got dropped off at Jasmine by the sea to get my stuff, then we took a reela(modified tricycle) to his relatives' village in yumbing where we rented a boat to the island. there were several people there but mostly fisherman. I was so dissapointed to realize there was no snorkel gear to rent out, the boat we passed from Paras beach resort has them but they have left. The island takes on different shapes and spells the letters of the alphabet depending on the tide and the season, C, J, I, S, this time its a C. I walked around the island and took heaps of fotos, trully beautiful sand bar, I see people fishing around. Then the rains came a sudden downpour had us all huddling at the DENR tent. After maybe 15 minutes the sky cleared up and the fishermen, mostly young dudes ran to their boats and tried to corale the fish herd that the birds had been diving for during the rain. Its fun
watching them fish.
Meanwhile another boat came ashore and they were sorting their catch, I bought some and Ronald invited me to have dinner at their place so we can cook them. Another boat came up the other end and we watched them clear the nets of their catch, this is a smaller fish we call"dilis" some folks eat them fresh as is, raw.
Just before the sun set we headed back, at the shore in the main island lots of people came to chill and get drunk perhaps, a usual everyday occurence here, I see a lot of young men sat around doing nothing"istambay" is the local term, no jobs, nothing to do but drink"tuba". At Ronald's place I met his father in law, another guide and he told me a story how his dog was eaten by a python! He also said these snakes go to the sea to hunt for fish, they are agile swimmers. Dinner was served of dep fried crunchy sardine like fish and "kilawen" dilis. so good, so fresh, this is what I miss the most, eating fresh seafood straight off from the sea. He dropped me off at my hotel and I
slept well that night, sore and tired.
The next day is cloudy and rainy, I made a decision to leave the island, had a great time here though despite the unpredictable weather. At Benoni bought a litre of "tuba" to drink when I get to Cagayan de Oro, it was raining and already dark when I arrived in the mainand and took me awhile to find a taxi, luckily Parkview Inn still has the cheapest rooms available, 325 pesos with cable and fan not bad. So am back again in CdeO.
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THE ISLAND OF YOUR IMAGINATION
I LOVE CAMIGUIN I WILL SPEND MY WHOLE LIFE LIVING HERE VERY PEACEFUL,CLEAN AND NATURAL FRIENDLY PEOPLE SIMPLE LIFE LIVING IN CAMIGUIN ISLAND