Borawan and Dampalitan Island

Padre Burgos, Quezon

March 24-25 2012

And here I come, Borawan and Dampalitan Island of Padre Burgos in Quezon province. A very quiet and calm sea of Padre Burgos has its own unique diverse island and islet. Too pricey chartered boat will bring you to the pride and undeveloped islands of Padre Burgos.

Borawan Island

From afar, it really looks like Boracay-Palawan because of white sand and rock formation. Upon reaching the place, it’s not really white or fine sand (like in Calatagan) and the rock is not really like the rock formation found in Palawan. But I’ll give +1 and thumbs up for Borawan.

Mt. Banahaw- Ocular Inspection

Mt. Banahaw

Trail: Kweba ng Diyos Ama - Summit - Tatlong Tangke

October 24-28 2008

With the help and permit from DENR-PASU. The UE Mountaineers Alumni Association Inc. (UEMAAI) conducted a cleanup drive and afterward became an ocular inspection in Mt. Banahaw, the grandest of the Southern Tagalog Mountains. This climb made possible thru the effort of Sir Eric Pinlac. Permit allotted 15-20(?) slots only. Therefore, first come first serve basis.

Day 1 October 25

We assemble at San Pablo Public Market in Laguna. We purchased some foods and had our breakfast. The chartered jeep took  us in Barangay Kinabuhayan, Dolores Quezon. After an hour ride we reached Brgy. Kinabuhayan then we looked for the Barangay captain for courtesy call. We presented our permit and gave the list of climbers. We secured our guide and porter before proceeding to climb. 

We started our trek before noon time. During the trek, ma’am Tenten accidentally slip on rock and caused her lips bleeding but luckily, she’s fine and continued trekking. We reached cristalino falls and took our lunch there. Some locals were present at cristalino falls (knowing that Mt. Banahaw is closed mountain). We had our lunch and rest there. From cristalino falls the trail was steeper. There are stations along the trail. Some believed it is the New Jerusalem that’s why they called it Holy or Scared Mountain. After a couple of hours of trekking we reached kweba ng Diyos Ama then we took a long rest.

We climb the 15-20 foot rock wall. The trail was more challenging and narrow. The sun was setting down and the darkness loomed. Moonlight was bright. The moss glow when the lights hit toward it. The wind blew so hard and the coldness feels like breaking you down. But still, we keep on pushing. We wanted to push through the campsite (durungawan) but it was getting too late and we felt so tired. We decided to have an emergency camp and the others pushed. The campsite can only accommodate only 3 tents (1 Dome & 2 Tadpole). We slept after a quick dinner.

Day 2 - October 26

The next day, we woke up with a smile and took our early breakfast. Steep assault started the day. Few meters away from the e-camp, we saw the others. They also took an e-camp. It was funny because they told us they want push up to camp site (durungawan) but they were only 15 minutes away from our e-camp. Then, we headed toward to durungawan. The mountain has challenging trail to offer. Finally, we reached the campsite near the summit. We pitched our tent and cooked for our lunch. 

We were cheerfully enjoying the beauty of Mt. Banahaw. The summit offers the great view from below and above. The wide crater of Banahaw is dramatic. We celebrated then.

Day 3 October 27

Third day was a full descent (basagan ng tuhod) via tatlong tangke trail. There was garbage in kapatagan campsite. Someone or a group of people made a compost pit for garbage so that others would just put their garbage there instead of bringing down what they bring up.

We headed to tatlong tangke falls or batya-batya falls and took our late lunch there. Before the sun hide, we continued trekking. Unfortunately, darkness loomed and we move faster despite of not having enough batteries for headlamp. So we used my emergency light stick. These 6 inches lights stick can last for about 6 or 12 hours or even 24 hours depending on its light duration. It helped us to keep on the trail until we reached the jump off - safely and successful.    

It was a great and remarkable climb. The challenging trail, stunning view, good weather and most of all, the moment we had in Mt. Banahaw. We had dinner and clean up in Ma’am Abby Tita’s house in San Pablo.