LOST IN THE SUNRISE PROVINCE

SERENDIPITY IN MINDANAO, A DETOUR TO KINDNESS

📌 Baganga, Davao Oriental, Mindanao

PROLOGUE:

This is the story of how I accidentally wandered into the easternmost seaboard of the Philippines, outside my planned itinerary. A kind Samaritan came to my rescue.

Davao Oriental, the easternmost province of the Philippines 

Backpacking is not easy. You must plan your itinerary yourself, from transportation to selecting hotels and destinations. While numerous affordable travel agencies can organize your tours, I have always preferred the DIY approach. It allows me the freedom to explore without the pressure of time constraints that often accompany organized tours. Moreover, traveling independently fosters courage, resourcefulness, and adaptability, providing opportunities to learn something new and challenging.

However, there is a significant downside to DIY travel: the commuting issues. This led to my unforgettable story of courage, decision-making, and quick thinking.

Mount Apo as seen from Samal Island, Davao Del Norte 

On Day 1, my original plan was to conquer Mount Apo in Davao Del Sur, the highest peak in the Philippines at nearly 3 kilometers above sea level. Climbing it would take three days, consuming half my week in the "Land of Promise." Therefore, I switched to Plan B: exploring the natural richness of Mount Hamiguitan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its incredible biodiversity.

Mount Hamiguitan is located on the southernmost tip of eastern Mindanao in Davao Oriental, about a six-hour bus ride from Davao City. It straddles the administrative boundaries of Mati City, San Isidro, and Governor Generoso. However, I soon faced my first challenge: climbing Mount Hamiguitan requires a minimum of 20 hikers, even with a guide. To reach the peak, you must stay at base camps for at least two days to fully appreciate the mountain's grandeur. This experience taught me that no mountain can be tamed easily. You must study and respect their majesty, as these mountains are the crowning glories of Mindanao.

Consequently, I redirected my efforts toward Aliwagwag Falls, the longest and highest waterfall in the Philippines, composed of numerous powerful cascades that create a perpetual mist. Unfortunately, there was only one direct bus from Davao City to Aliwagwag at 2:00 AM, which was impractical after a long day. I chose to take a bus at 7:00 AM instead.

I took a dilapidated bus from Davao City Ecoland Terminal to Compostela Valley, Davao De Oro Province. The journey was grueling, lasting nearly seven hours. By 2:00 PM, I arrived in Compostela, looking haggard. Once again, I faced a lack of public transport to Aliwagwag, so I had to hire a habal-habal (a motorcycle taxi). The fare of 800 pesos for a one-way trip felt like a rip-off, but with no alternatives, I accepted his "take it or leave it" condition, despite the rain pouring down.

The beauty of Mindanao Island

Along the way, I found some consolation in the breathtaking beauty of the Mindanao valleys, cloud-covered mountains, and lush tropical rainforests, dotted with hidden waterfalls along the winding road. After a back-breaking three-hour ride, I finally reached Aliwagwag Falls.

The falls were astonishingly powerful, unlike anything I had ever seen. Named after a remote village in Cateel (pronounced as ka-TE'-el), Davao Oriental, it is the country's highest waterfall. Aliwagwag Falls is a protected landscape rich in biodiversity situated in the Eastern Mindanao Biodiversity Corridor, containing one of the largest remaining blocks of tropical lowland rainforest in the Philippines and home to the endangered Philippine eagle and the tallest trees in the country, the Philippine rosewood, known locally as "toog". There in my way, tons of logs and lumber could be found.

The massive force of the Aliwagwag Falls

I intended to spend the night at Aliwagwag but discovered, due to inadequate research, that the park had been closed for renovations since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and swimming was prohibited. With no cellphone signal, no data, and no transportation options, I felt frustrated, my heavy hiking gear rendered useless. Fortunately, sightseeing and photography were allowed.

As dusk approached, I sought refuge in a small coffee shop near the falls while waiting for a ride to Cateel, where I hoped to find a hotel for the night. After an hour of waiting with no success, I learned from a vendor that no regular vehicles were plying the area. Desperation set in, and I considered the possibility of sleeping in a waiting shed, as there were no nearby homes.

Should I have awkwardly asked the vendor if I could stay at her home? I silently prayed for help.

Just then, a meat delivery truck from Compostela pulled into the coffee shop. Two men got out and ordered durian coffee and baguettes. After their break, I humbly asked if I could hitch a ride with them to Cateel. To my relief, the younger man, RJ Lumpas, agreed.

RJ and his father drove me as far as the crossing to Cateel since they were headed to Baganga, which lies to the south. From the crossing, I wasn't sure if any habal-habal or tricycles were available to take me to Cateel, especially since it was already late afternoon and the area was sparsely populated.

Pilot's View Beach in the town of Baganga

"Why not come with us to Baganga?" RJ suggested. "There are hotels there, and many more places to visit than in Cateel."

After considering the situation, I decided to trust RJ and his father and accepted their offer. I learned much about life in Mindanao from RJ, who had never been to Manila or Luzon. I expressed my gratitude, telling him he had saved me from a difficult situation. He assured me that helping those in distress is a common value among his community.

To make the most of my time, RJ stopped at Ban-ao Beach, the second easternmost point in the Philippines, where we enjoyed a stunning view of the Pacific Ocean and a serene islet.

Ban-Ao Beach, facing the tide line of the Pacific Ocean 

After nearly two hours of winding roads, we arrived at RJ and Jane Meat Shop, where they delivered their products. Before parting ways, RJ contacted his friend, Nonoy Hapitan, to guide me the next day to various tourist destinations in Baganga. Nonoy, with his unique tricycle, took me to Habibi Pension House, about five minutes from the town center. I went to bed early, as I had a 2:00 PM bus to catch back to Davao City the next day.

Lake Carolina surrounded by mangrove forest

At 7:00 AM, Nonoy took me to a local restaurant for breakfast, where I enjoyed balbacua, a hearty soup made from cattle skin. It was delicious, and I couldn't resist devouring two kilos of durian, which is rare and expensive in Luzon.

At Lake Carolina, I marveled at the lush greenery and mangroves surrounding the brackish lake, where the crystal-clear waters allowed me to see the limestone beds below. Being a thalassophile, I asked Nonoy to take me to the beach. We arrived at Pilots View Beach, a tranquil spot with immaculate white sand and turquoise waters. Gazing out at the vast Pacific Ocean, I realized that the Philippine Deep, one of the world's deepest trenches, lay just beyond.

The long stretch of uninterrupted white beach in Baganga

Davao Oriental is the easternmost province of the Philippines, with Baganga being the second place in the country to greet the sunrise daily, next only to Pusan Point in the neighboring municipality of Caraga.

As we traveled, we stopped at San Victor Island, a small elongated sandbar resort, one of the 7,146 islands in the Philippines and a major tourist destination in Baganga. From the map, San Victor Island is actually the second easternmost island beach resort in the country next to the bigger Poo Sand Bar and Mermaid Atoll. 

Sunrise Boulevard truly lives up to its name as the first boulevard in the Philippines to be kissed by sunlight. Compared to Manila's Roxas Boulevard, it is quieter, cleaner, and more natural. The shores are lined with white sand and mangroves, creating a stunning scene in the morning. Despite the devastation caused by a recent typhoon, which left some mangrove forests in ruins, the landscape was still breathtaking.

Since the eastern Mindanao faces the massive Philippine trench, a product of herculean geological forces that constantly happening within the Earth, it is no wonder that the area has numerous hot springs and vents serving as outlets from the heat within the Earth. The Balete Hot Springs at Kinablangan, in the municipality of Baganga offers such hot bath and pampering using the healing property of nature.

The pampering of natural hot springs in Kinablangan 

Sunrise Boulevard at Brgy. Kinablangan

By 2:00 PM, it was time to catch the UV Express van back to Davao City. I couldn't afford to miss it, as it was my only means of transportation, and I had plans to visit Samal Island the following day. Although I wished I could have explored Baganga longer, I was grateful for my unexpected detour. This province, where the first sunlight of the day occurs, was a hidden gem I never expected to discover.

Reflecting on my journey back to Davao City, I realized how small our world is and how short our lives can be. We should strive to make our lives meaningful and uplift others as well. Kindness costs nothing, and we never know when we might find ourselves in need of help.

If you ever find yourself in Baganga, Davao Oriental, consider reaching out to Mr. Rex Guhayon (real name RJ Lumpas), owner of RJ and Jane Meat Shop, or Mr. Nonoy Hapitan, a local who became my guide during my adventure. They are friendly and willing to help, embodying the generosity that the region is known for.

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APAYAO, THE LAST ECOLOGICAL FRONTIER OF THE CORDILLERAS

APAYAO, THE LAST ECOLOGICAL FRONTIER OF THE CORDILLERAS

📌 Katablangan, Conner, Apayao, CAR

Making up the northern portion of the Cordillera mountains, the Philippines' second most extensive range, Apayao province is an ecological anomaly, despite being the youngest in the Cordillera Region and the least densely-populated province in the entire country.

Yet, it is this sparsely-peopled characteristic that makes Apayao the last ecological frontier in the Cordilleras, almost untouched by the madness of even the seasoned travelers, though still out from most adventurer's itinerary. It is this remoteness, the thickness of its tropical rainforests, mostly uncharted, out-of-the-way and trail-less terrains that preserves its dynamic nature frontiers and unique wilderness, incomparable from most provinces. It is the region's landlocked environ; clasped between the immense Cagayan Valley in the east, the narrow strip of Ilocandian plains in the west and the equally lofty Caraballo range in the south that sculpted the multi-faceted milieu of the grand Cordilleras.

Highlands of Conner, Apayao Province 

A remarkable inventory of nature's bounty can be found in the municipality of Conner, the southernmost town of Apayao, sharing its border with the province of Kalinga.

Staring stunned by the verdant atmosphere, the outskirts of Conner, where the predominant ethnic group known as the Isnegs thriving very well in harmony with the nature, is a place of richness to behold; richness that are tangibly rarer on the entire solar system than the precious diamonds - trees.

Richness of the tropical rainforest of Apayao

The westernmost, the last, the largest and the wildest of all barangays found in Conner, the outskirts of Katablangan is a majesty of a kingly nature wonder. It is surrounded by glass-clear, potable rivers, super-ethereal waterfalls, most of which still undiscovered by many and mountains adorned by lush tropical forest canopies, a perfect thriving ground for the endangered, and national icon Philippine eagle. In fact, one specimen was caught by a local Isneg hunter, turned it over to DENR Baguio before finally transferred to an eagle sanctuary in the province of Laguna; a testimony of how nurturing the thick jungles of Apayao to myriad forms of wild biodiversity and other players of the fragile ecosystem.

Apayao is surrounded by glass-clear, potable rivers

The unpolluted rivers of Barren, Alawing and Lakkong that emanate from the headwaters of Katablangan near the border of Abra province render fishes and other bounty for the local consumption; sometimes the exotic but tasty igat (river eel), the crispy-when-fried palileng (goby fish) and the delectable agatol, alternately called kappi (forest crabs) are served to visitors who happen, or atleast brave enough to let the night pass in Katablangan, a once covered-in-darkness barangay, longing for illimination at night; until the success of their hydro power plant (Katablangan Micro Hydro-Power Plant) that powered, lighted the village.

The power source of Katablangan Mini Hydro-Power Plant

The small community of Katablangan is off the target in terms of tourism industry because of its craggy-muddy roads, exclusively for horses or sturdy-bodied motorcycles, precipitous cliffsides posing perils to people when raining and its kilometric distance from the main town center; all contribute to its seemingly unnoticed, unheard reputation but a silent refuge of insurgency - atleast to people who have little or worse, lacking knowledge about the truths of the place.

A view of the outskirts of Conner, Apayao

That is not the real case however; if one could just able to commune with what Katablangan could offer - nature. Its consolation: a combo of supernatural nature's allure and the hospitality of the local people joining as one in celebrating one's presence that figuratively, happens once in a blue moon. It is uncommon to see unfamiliar faces in this village, much less if the person is a foreigner, because outsiders visit Katablangan only for reasons of certain projects, surveillance, humanitarian efforts or concerns in relation to the environment and nothing else, but absolutely not for leisure travel.

A supernatural nature's allure 

But a true traveler knows no boundaries; be it in the heavily thronged Tagaytay mountains, bustling metropolis or in the hardly reached uplands anywhere in Apayao. A real traveler chooses the harder paths without hesitation; he is always on the run for the vast unknown; he wants to be different, not the sorts of a commoner...

A true adventurer always chooses the hardest paths

I call it attraction and love at first sight. I have not been in a community as far-flung as the outskirts of Conner - in Katablangan, and though, the sugarcane wine or "basi" played some supporting role with that statement.

It was not true nevertheless, that the Isnegs are notorious and fierce head-hunters. In fact, they are very reserved, able to get along with other ethnic groups and have that unique beauty which is different and doesn't blend or compared well with the sightliness of other Cordilleran ethnicity such as the Ifugaos, Kalingas or the Igorots.

Sugarcane wine or "basi" is a chief local produce in Apayao

During our course of agenda, we attended a traditional Isneg party that night of our stay in the village of Katablangan. There is beauty and amazement in the sounds of the Cordilleran night, exciting my heart with its beats in congruence to the clanging "gangsa". The folksmen and women gracefully danced under the moonlight; every movement has meaning in a sacred drumming of the sweet-clangoring "gangsa", yet I was so fascinated by the warmth and friendliness the Isnegs have shown.

Apayao's wild nature (captured by Jovie Tangilen)

That night, before we leave by morning, the echoes of the Cordilleras resounded through the tropical rainforests from dusk until dawn. I know there is a part in here that captured my very heart...

A typical Isneg beauty: capturing a wanderer's heart

Apayao's wild nature is the well spring of its beauty, and the reason that travelers, wanderers and poets will continue to probe for what the province never can give but always offers. I have a memory of that feeling in day one from the bumpy motorcycle ascent through the rainforest terrains of Katablangan, down to our last night with its welcoming people; a woman, epitome of the unique allure of the Cordilleras, an embodiment of a modest lady now rare and rarely seen, passed by before me, and for a brief moment, I stared her coy, glimmering eyes.

Wilderness, the essence of Apayao

An instant later, she disappeared, melted in sight of the night leaving with me a look into the eye of unknowable wilderness that is the essence of Apayao, the last ecological frontier of the Cordilleras.

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SICALAO, THE LAST FRONTIER

 THE ENIGMA OF NEGRO CAVE: UNCOVERED

📌 Negro Cave (Cueba Negro), Sicalao, Lasam, Cagayan, Philippines 

"The array of geological formations at Sicalao was preternatural. So was the wildlife and its countless natural dignified wonders not so known to the ordinary."

I spent so many years roaming the great outdoors and into the wild in pursuit of how I would be able to quench the thirst of going outside where I can truly find the world of enchantment I am looking for. Not in gigantic malls. Never in crowded parks. Neither in romantic theaters, nor in fancy restaurants.

I was not so coerced and impressed with modernized marvels created by human technologies but rather by the sceneries  sculpted by the Earth's innate forces and the nurturing of Mother Nature.

Over the years of exploring into the wild and the great outdoors

I was dreaming of  trekking the vastness of the Amazon, conquering the peaks of the lofty Kilimanjaro, enduring the aridity of the Australian Outback or even braving the hostility of the Antarctic realm. But I could never fool myself into thinking I was in some dream place of nowhere. After all, I was in Sicalao, the incontestable and the last ecological frontier of Lasam, Cagayan.

The last, the largest and the wildest, Sicalao lies east of the still formidable Cordillera hemlines and southwest of the municipality; amid of it, runs the prowess of the life-giving Zinundungan river, paving the way to the geological rise of the great Zinundungan Valley . 

Colorful gecko, a testimony of Sicalao's rich biodiversity 

Much, if not all of Sicalao's inventories of its natural benisons are tucked hidden on the massive  tropical rainforests and limestone mountains near its border in Flora, an adjacent municipality in the province of Apayao. 

This positioning cleaves a realm where  potentiating extremes engage in one of nature's most fascinating dramas of duality: wetness and wildness; the wetter, the wilder. And the continuous barrage of alternating wet and dry shapes the indefinable landscapes of Sicalao that conceal its unknown charms only the seasoned outdoorsy could find.

Tropical Sicalao supporting myriad of wildlife

That one fine, misty morning, accompanied by my support team led by Ka Ali Cabison, I pinned my map and geo-tagged my GPS to the unknown of Sicalao, the last frontier; uncharted and unfamiliar. It was strange; unnerving to explore one of the most fearsome, unnoticed, unpublished caves in the entire town.

Explore Lasam™️ Team, with lead guide Ali Cabison (2nd from left)

But the magnanimity of my spirit with my insatiable quest for new amazement has brought me into the hell-like interior of the blackened Negro Cave...

It was a huge mystery relief that I was eventually able to uncover the enigma of its namesake, "negro" which meant "black".

The Negro Cave lives up to its namesake: "black"

Not so many people know about the Negro Cave though, even among the people of its locality. While Sicalao is the most visited destination in Lasam because of its clean rivers, majestic waterfalls and the iconic Sicalao Bridge popular to the mob, its caves remain as the less frequented ports of call to any visitor.

For decades since its first footing, no more than a dozen of single individuals have invaded Negro Cave; probably fewer than the humans that went to the moon. It was almost hidden and creepy.

More people went on the Moon than in Negro Cave 

This narration by Mang Jerry Lomibao, one of my guides and among the first known raider of this dark, black cave only stirred my curiosity and craving for "pioneerism".

For me, it is always been great to be the first, if not among the firsts; the very few firsts.

It's not all about feeding our egoistic tendency but rather, it's all about our delicate chance to see the most raw, the most beautiful, the most natural and the most untouched form of that wonderful place taken into account before they could be vandalized, defaced or humanized.

Documenting the Negro Cave before it will be totally humanize

"There is a mystic and a magic to this place", I sighed.

Negro's spacious double domes  are empty in many ways and yet, full in others. There's nothing so special as to be inside pointing my torch into its walls full of draperies, some flowstones, columns and helictites - all in monochromatic black to grayish hue. Its commanding dark color was so bizaare for a cave that is found in Sicalao. Most of the others, including the Isus Cave and Abot de Sicalao Cave (both previously featured) are white to brownish due to the natural hue of the calcite and limestone. The Negro Cave lacks the usual defining characteristic of a cave - stalactites and stalagmites; the major speleothems in general.

Lacking the usual speleothems or cave formations

Therre might be some, but not that conspicuous or very pronounced. It is bleak in its natural state, yet it has something grabby inside - a gushing and cold river stream seeping and oozing from somewhere else underground. 

Its ceilings are not adorned by imaginative formations of stalactites, anthodites or other speleothems. But rather a regularly arranged circular depressions in light color decorate the overheads, with protrusions in a sea waves resemblance.

Extravagant ceiling of the Negro Cave

From its nothingness, life still teems silently. Forest crabs could be seen in the streams of running water inside this vastness of unending night. Whip scorpions, crickets and frugivorous and insectivorous chiropterans not on swarms are the normal residents.

The cave walls  are constantly wet, and not too many bats find Negro as their comfort dwelling of choice.

The dark, black, constantly wet interior of Negro Cave

Resembling as lava rocks, the black, darkened scapes of Negro could have been due to fungi growth, atleast for one reason. Breathing caves pull in air from the surface as barometric pressure rises so there are fungal spores in the cave. A fungus can live without any sunlight as long as it has a source of energy. That source is  biomass that gets washed into the cave, so we normally see no life deep within cave except for the rare forms of extremophiles that have adapted to some source to replace breaking down biology, such as sulfur or hydrocarbon feeding.

The black hue may be due to mineral lints or fungal growth

Another reason for its charcoal-charred appearance could be due to the byproducts of bacteria that can photosynthesized in total darkness. Or could be the natural state of the sedimentary rocks that formed this specific cave.

Or does it suggest a possible coal deposits?

Regardless of the reason, Negro Cave is stunning in its bleakness. It is more interesting in its lackness than in what it has to offer.

The Negro Cave, beautiful in its nothingness 

This abyssal landscape possesses an alien, other-worldly feels, worse to compare - the Hades, literally the underworld. Gray and black dominate a minimalist spectrum ruled by walls of rocks and very little else. Soil hardly exists. The flooring is cobbled with limestones, with occasional cave corals or coralloids.

This barren immensity of the underworld was beautifully crafted by the Earth's fiery eons ago.

Sculpted by time millions of years ago

In 1961, the "Sicalao Limestones" was defined by scientists Durkee and Pederson in reference to the limestones that can be found in the western flank of Cagayan, facing the Cordilleras. Sicalao thus, sits on unconformable volcanic rocks and can be traced continuously from Luna, Apayao to the north, southward to Salegseg in Kalinga province.

Its stratigraphic position suggests a probable Late Oligocene age or about 30 million years ago.

Millions of years old

And so, this timeless splendor of the land before time continue to exist to amaze us. Negro Cave, an underrated outdoorsman's paradise has never failed me to project an awesome sight, exhilarating and utterly breath-taking extravagance of nature.

Extravagance of nature

As we left the place, there in my unflappable mind, I was already anticipating prospect of another memorable day on a land not as perfect as the Amazon, Kilimanjaro, Australia or Antarctica but equally intriguing and fascinating.™️

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SANTA PRAXEDES: AN ANOMALY OF NATURE

📌 Likid Falls, Sicul, Santa Praxedes, Cagayan

https://youtu.be/Hxy9hW3Ckps

PROLOGUE:" So lovely, must have been gazed upon by angels in heaven on their flight".

The upper part of Likid Falls

As I took a deep breath with the fern-scented saturated air of the wild tropical rainforest, I sighted a couple of bird pecking through a barely ripened water fig (tebbeg) donned with tangling vines and other epiphytes (lanut). So flamboyant as they were that I was startled by their sheer beauty, captivated by their colorful beaks and plumage, illuminated by the morning sun's rays that added drama to the spectacular view.

The dense jungles of Santa Praxedes town

Before my sanity has backed into normal and hurriedly prompted me to peek into my camera lens, the birds panicked as they were distracted by the sound of splashing waters created as I waded against the stream's rapid current . They frantically flew out of sight, engulfed by the unending vastness of the impenetrable thickets and tangled mass of the tropical vegetation of the Cordilleras.

Exactly, that I was in the geographical north of the formidable Cordillera mountian range extending from Bangui and Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte eastward to Sta. Praxedes and Claveria, Cagayan.

Few know that some parts of Cagayan touch the hemlines of the Cordilleras. 

Sta. Praxedes, the geographic north of the Cordilleras

At the point where this tiny speck of serenity confined deep within the jungle to where I wandered was in Sicul, Santa Praxedes in Cagayan, the province where adventures appear to never end.

And if you have not looked at Cagayan, particularly in the seemingly sleepy and not-so-bustling town of Santa Praxedes lately, then look again...

Santa Praxedes is an extreme northern Luzon anomaly of nature, a relatively peaceful, sparsely populated municipality located northwest of Cagayan province. Golden sand and white pebble beaches tucked within tranquil coves give way to a rugged forested interior; some more than half of the land area is still covered in forests, with its parts which are among the richest and most diverse on Earth.

Just one of the several tropical beach coves of Sta. Praxedes

In fact, the scientific journal "Frontiers of Biogeography" concluded that the island of Luzon is the most biodiverse on the planet.

The rainforest of Santa Praxedes is virtually part of the massive and life-teeming Kalbario-Patapat Protected Area Natural Park, a key biodiversity (KBA) and an important bird area (IBA) declared by the DENR under the NIPAS or the New Integrated Protected Areas Systems.

Much of the protected area however are located primarily in the towns of Adams and Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte with buffer zones designated in Sta Praxedes and Claveria southern grids both in Cagayan.

The emerald basin of the Likid Falls

The sheer totality of the natural assets within these zones including known species of high concern (Luzon endemic frog, horseshoe bat, flame breasted fruit dove, whiskered pita, green faced parrot finch etc.) as well as animal and plant forms yet to be discovered, is incalculably large. This KBA is home to more than a dozen of different fern species endemic to the country, not found anywhere else.

On that fine July morning, our team paid a courtesy visit to the town hall of the municipality of Sta. Praxedes prior to our excursion to enchantment.

The municipality's center of governance

Our destination was mapped to Likid Falls in the far flung village of Sicul, about 8 kilometers from the town hall. The road is less traveled. Dusty, narrow, bumpy and hot as we hiked through screes on dried stream beds, devoid of tall vegetation.

Still far from the shady forest floor, nearby we cut a broad palm leaf called "labig" and transformed it into a sun shade covering our delicate heads. 

Our approach to a small stream now signified our coveted adventure under the enormous tropical rainforest. Sicul is rich in Earth's rarest commodity; even rarer than diamonds- tropical forests little touched by humans.

Upstream along the way going to Likid Falls

Clicking for a series of striking photos of the understory and canopy, I shot an indescribable extraordinary biological richness residing in the trackless rainforests, the remote mountains and the glass-clear stream waters.

I was blown away with the sounds of nature along the river lined with supermassive tree trunks and scrubs dominated by creeping vines; the caw of a kingfisher (salaksak) scanning the stream for food, the song of a sunbird (sawsaw-it) perching on a raintree (akasia) branch, the gushing murmur of the river flow or the sleep-inducing chit chats of the cicadas (kuliglig).

Glass-clear stream waters rich in prawns

It was already noon. Broad daylight. We were still far to our destination- the brilliant and splashy Likid Falls waiting for us. Our excitement has been halted by thirst and so together with our team, we laid for a couple of minutes for a gasp of air and a sip of water. Not so far, we noticed a lonesome hive, probably that of a bumble bee or a yellow jacket wasp. It was so fascinating; the insect gathering debris and constructing its abode.

Indescribable serenity

Through the silence that brought my heartbeats to the ears, I was beginning to hear the faraway rhythm of rapids or swooshing waters, like a sound that drifts into a dream. Strenghtened by the air of the surrounding verdant greeneries, we continued to thread the river, heading to our aimed target. The shallows are rich in thumb-sized forest river prawns and fishes.

The landscapes, at any angle were so breath-taking you will be forgiven for thinking you are really existing in the land that has been created before time.

So lovely, must have been gazed by angels in heaven on their flight

After an enduring, not so walk-in-the park journey, we have reached our bingo- the serene and lovely first tier of Likid Falls, all for the first time except for our kid local guides who, accordingly have been here for the third time around.

The first and lower tier of Likid Falls

I was astonished with how the water plummets, up from 10 feet high cliff into a bluish-green gaping hole below with the same depth creating a deafening sound of gush that is pleasant to the ears. The depression is also fed by constantly raining waters that ooze from the rocky wall that surrounds it about 50 feet high.

Jumping below from that pinnacle is so euphoric and adrenaline-rushing only the intrepid might dare to try.

Cliff-jumping in Likid Falls

Truly, scenes so lovely, must have been gazed upon by angels in heaven on their flight.

It was like a fairy tale came true; that of a heaven placed on earth.

The falls embraces a wealth of pristine waters and its vicinity harbors wildlife lurking inconspicuously up and below.

A small speck of tranquility in the heart of the tropical rainforest 

So clean and clear directly seeping out from a crevice, we tapped our tumblers into the sprouting water and wetted our parched throats.

Not far from the first tier, we crossed through a more-than-human deep karst water to reach the colossal rock where the second tier of the Likid Falls is hidden.

You have to climb and get pass through that rock ledge to have a glimpse of that jaw-dropping nature wonder. The feat was not easy however. The rocks are constantly wet and slippery. There were hardly any rough surfaces to cling on, there were no protrusions to hold on, there were no ropes to grip into and the rocks below it are sharp deep underwater.

The dangers of trekking the forest going to Likid Falls

Perhaps it was the adventure on the trail rather than the comfort in the final destination that still beckons us to roam into the great outdoors. 

There on the top, the magnificence of Likid Falls mystified us once more right infront of our eyes; the others stunned and explicitly bewildered by the massive volume of water falling from a 20-foot high cliff side. As it plummeted to its deep aquamarine basin, mists blown by the wind drenched our faces into our eagerness for a quick dip.

Upper Likid Falls: mystifyingly beautiful 

Thriving undisturbed on the cliffs are taro-like plants called "bilagot", an edible local food.

Different ferns, bromeliads and water plants outlined the surrounding rocky area and all we could see to the horizon, in every direction, was unbroken canopy on its thousand shades of green and through it, a thin slash of the immaculate white river.

But Likid Falls beauty has faraway qualities that can change to a devastation on close scrutiny: The long grass blades and certain thorny vines will snag and prick, the slippery and sharp stones cut the unprotected feet, the emerald green but clear waters are deep and there maybe fangs, stingers and itchy hairs I hope I would never encounter.

Different ferns, bromeliads and water plants outlined the forest 

On our way back to reality, my brief detachment from the world to explore the paths less traveled brought peace and contentment in my heart. My intense desire to feed the urge of roaming the great outdoors has kept me alive and view the wild world through the lens of a deep, unwavering adventures into its most subtle, most appreciable form of beauty.

I still recall when I first felt the allure of Santa Praxedes through my getaways in one summer at Mingay beach, a tiny speck of tranquility tucked between mountains and the seas.

And I say it again.

If you have not looked at Cagayan particularly in Santa Praxedes lately, then look again. ™️

"Perhaps it was the adventure on the trail rather than the comfort in the final destination that still beckons us to roam into the great outdoors"

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Supplemental posts:

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