The Camiguin Dream

Just two weeks ago, I have made one of my dream destination a reality.... I was "bragging" about it for like weeks and wow.... it was real... Camiguin was only a dream destination..... and I made it into reality... Strange but it's just near my hometown Bacolod City and yet it was so elusive to me...

When my mountaineering big brother/friend Oggie and I left Bukidnon for a day of exploration (not much of interest,, sorry but I got bored in Bukidnon though the pineapple is the sweetest that I've tasted!), I looked forward for our Camiguin adventure as we fetch a fellow IM 13 groupmate Dennis and friend Flor from Cagayan de Oro airport. When we boarded the sea ferry going to Benoni port in Camiguin, I can smell the adventure through my system... and yes true enough when I got a look of one of the islands (Mantigue Island), I knew Camiguin is a paradise... After eating at a "fishing village/resto" Tanguines Lagoon, we headed towards Ardent Hot Spring where we plan to stay for the whole of our Camiguin trip.... Good place, if not the best place to stay in Camiguin(around P1100/room).. Aside from the fact that it was seated below Hibok Hibok and provided cascading pools and a unique hot spring straight from the crater (38 degrees), it's a peaceful and nice place to relax...
Day 2 is more of rest and relaxation, that is getting ready for the next day's tight IT....

Day 3 -- First we went to the Old Vulcan where you had to climb the Mt Vulcan and got to witness the 14 Stations of the Cross... Quite interesting for the nature lover... Above, you get to have a glimpse of the famed Sunken Cemetery... Mt Vulcan was a good tune up for Mt Hibok Hibok trek that we planned for Day 4... After descending, we headed towards White Island which is what I am looking forward in Camiguin... On board the boat going to a small island (really, it's all white sand... nothing but whitesand..so pure and powdery white), I was so awed and mezmerized at the beauty before my very eyes... I don't want to sound overacting but really it was so unbelievable that such a place existed in my our country... So beautiful, unbelievably beautiful... Our IT only includes a 1-hr stay in White Island as we need to go to Katibawasan Falls and Sunken cemetery for the sunset view. After an hour of staying in White Island (spotted a couple of celebrities), we have to bade goodbye to a paradise that we promised to visit again... Going back to the shore we saw the active Mt Hibok Hibok and the Tres Marias, we headed to Katibawasan falls which was so tall and powerful, having one of the coldest water in that island... After an hour of stay, we were set for the Sunken Cemetery to get a glimpse of the sunset.. True enough, Sunken Cemetery was a simple yet a symbolic structure in Camiguin... Dennis and I climbed through the large cross.... On top was a nice view of the sunset... Quite scary though because the handle seemed rusty and I was holding it too tight -- afraid of falling, that is... Sunset was incredibly beautiful... We took our own pictures of sunset with Oggie on the shore to take photos of us on the cemetery...... Then we headed home... As we were having dinner, we had sort of problem as we never anticipated that climbing Hibok Hibok requires getting permit from the DENR (due to an incident involving a group of students who got lost on the mountain) ... That's where we had to decide whether to climb Hibok or not... Our IT has a 5AM start trek... to be able to descend early to buy "pasalubong"... Flor and I were obviously disappointed... For one, I really wanted to pushed through climbing the mountain as we were already there... We thought of finding ways until we decided to have the "shopping" in the morning -- which includes Lanzones and other stuffs (thanks for Joseph, the Ardent Spring attendant who helped us for the information that we needed) ... and an 8AM DENR appointment for the permit.. Luckily it was not that difficult and we had to spare only a small time... Take note also that climbing Hibok requires a P100/person (for Filipinos) registration fee and P500 for foreigners..

Day 4 - After a 6AM lanzones shopping and an 8AM appointment with DENR, we got ready for the trek at Hibok... And thanks because the jumpoff is right behind our duplex... just on the vicinity of Ardent Hot Spring... We started trek at 9AM and reached the summit at around 1AM... We got to explore the summit and the ridge part where we saw the lake (a small one, that is) , got to meet 2 foreigners from England and Canada & a local, and had an exhilarating view of Camiguin... Mt. Hibok Hibok trail was initially a steep ascend, then a gradual one, and an open trail with cogon grass & boulders just before the summit... We started descending at around 2PM and reached the jumpoff at 530PM just before getting dark... Perfect timing... The rest of the night was more on packing our stuffs getting ready for the early ferry boat going back to Cagayan then to Manila ... It was our last day in Camiguin and we promise to come back again... 1 week is not enough to explore Camiguin... There were a lot of Cold and Hot Springs that we never got to explore much and many more beautiful islands and beaches... (I am planning to take my parents and siblings in Camiguin when I come back)

Day 5 - After our last breakfast in the ARdent Resto, we headed towards Benoni port and I was quite interested with the "jumping boys"... I tried to take some pictures of them having their signature leap... and it was really fantastic... We then talked about how lovely Camiguin was when we were already onboard the ferry, promising to come back again... Indeed it was fulfilling adventure... a memorable one... Though our pockets were a bit more "holed down", we did enjoy the trip...

Now, my Camiguin dream is no more a dream, it is now a reality ....a memory to reminisce.... and I am happy because I made it come true...... Some people just dream and never got to make it real... I dared to change it.........