“March winds and April showers…” goes the kids’ rhyme “bring in sweet May flowers…” Meaning there is fun in summer. Everyone’s excited making plans about vacations at the onset of summer, country hikings, outdoor campings, beach adventures, mountaineering and many other summer activities. As we grow older however, our activities become more subdued and mellow. Otherwise, we content ourselves with just sitting in one corner and relive the days of old to the kids. Think about this, when we are labeled ‘young once’ we still enjoy sharing the things that used to fascinate us and those that we have enjoyed as well. Oh come on, most young ones love listening to older generations too as long as they don’t keep repeating it so often, you know.
My kids were planning about their summer activities as my husband and I listened passively. Sounds familiar? Right, every couple with already grown up children will understand. Anyway, the eldest asked, “What activities have you enjoyed much when you were younger, by the way?” Without batting an eyelash their dad and I answered almost in chorus – country hiking or mountain trekking.
My husband was once assigned in the town of San Enrique. In his every assignment he made it a point to reach out to the youth and barangay leaders and see them in their local habitat. To achieve this end there were week-ends when he goes to the far flung barangays to visit these guys… a task he can’t do on the working days since many other important things need to be done too in the office. Whenever he went to these areas, he’d take me with him (when I am free of commitments) and we’d go on his motorcycle. Sometimes he’d leave his motorcycle in the office since some of these places cannot be traversed by any vehicle except by foot. Hence, one of the last mountain hikes we had was with the youth leaders of this town. They were members of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) of the municipality.
The hiking party was composed of six SK chairmen from the different barangays, the two of us, and one barangay resident of our place of destination. We started off at 7:00 in the morning with our backpacks containing packed lunch and things we found handy to eat as we hiked. Those were merely corn chips, some candies, a little salt, and gelatins. No, we didn’t take bottled water because along the way there were springs and wells where water is potable and sweet tasting. Our purpose was to see the waterfalls of Barangay San Antonio which the SK chairman said their team hopes to develop as a local attraction of the place. From the dusty national road, we turned and passed through the feeder road until we reached the spot where we have to cross a river for the first time. I thought it was some sort of a joke they told to confuse me but it’s true. Hahaha! We crossed the same river seven times as we walked for about three hours… all pathways were going up passing the narrow trails at the side of the hills, climbing up the boulders as huge as dining tables or more, and going by about three little falls whose source is the one we wanted to see. Each of the waterfalls has its own natural beauty to boast. We reached our target at exactly one hour before 12:00 noon. Up there was all the embodiment of what “peace’ is. You’ll hear nothing but the rushing water cascading down the big rocky side of the drop and the sound of the birds that are not heard anymore in the lowlands
We enjoyed the swim in the cool water of the naturally curved pool below the falls with the diameter of about 10 to 12 meters and the depth of about up to over five to six feet. The big trees surrounding the area provided the shade that the welcoming coolness can warm the heart of anyone. Some of the guys went up to the source of the water yet. . More or less, the ascent towards the water source was about 30 feet high. They climbed up there through the huge, tall boulder itself where the water spills. Most of us though, enjoyed the time taking in the view of the water that drops down as much as we loved to see the places in lower grounds and the fresh breeze that carried the sweet teasing aroma of some wild flowers that may have been blooming somewhere in the area.
We descended at 1:30 in the afternoon passing another route. This time it was through the ravines, rice fields, coffee and coconut plantations and the rivers. The sceneries here were rustic and idyllic but so relaxing. About 3:00 in the afternoon we passed by several groups of houses. In one household, we were treated to a party of boiled camote and young buko meat with its sweet water. They offered their special menu too - chicken binakol cooked in a real bamboo. According to the man of the house they saw us coming down the slope and he knew we were heading in their direction so they prepared the meal to refresh us. He said they offer anything to eat to everyone passing their place because it will take them a long walk yet to reach the highway. This seldom happens too because no one seems interested to be in the mountains. We reached the town at about 4:30 that afternoon… tired but enriched with beautiful memories.
No comments:
Post a Comment