Napo to Babag Half-day Hike

Hello again! It's been a year since my last post. I've been too busy on and off the internet: sweeping mines, coloring books, running errands, posting stamps, dog grooming, getting into accidents and what have you; and... yeah. I just deliberately unplugged myself from here. I realized I left this blog with just 2 posts for 2012 so I decided to breathe life into it again by posting one (probably the only one for this year) while I'm racing against the horrors of internship. 

Last September I went hiking with my schoolmate, Gerard, and his mom whose age quite surprised me and probably you too. It was a weekend and we were told by our professor that we deserve a half-day break per week (seriously!?) from all the schoolwork. So half-day break we did.

We met at Guadalupe Church at 7 AM on a Sunday morning. All of us wore orange (unplanned, if you're curious) which was kinda telling of that day's weather -- I got sunburnt. We walked from the church up to this place called Napo.

Gerard and his mom. Murky waters.

That's a kid whose happiness shoots up on the sight and sound of fresh water.

 Tub time. Water was pretty cold 'coz it rained the night before. 

We were supposed to have someone else come with us but she didn't push through 'coz her mom feared the river might be flooded due to the rain. And trust me: you don't want to deal with flooded rivers. I've gone to an it-just-rained-and-it's-dangerous-but-let's-push-through-since-we're-already-here flooded river trekking and it was a stupid move albeit realized too late.

This is a caterpillar who also wore orange to match us. I've never seen a caterpillar as colorful and as big as this. I don't like insects (alive). Sorry for the blurry photo. My camera was not cooperating.

My company also introduced me to plants, butterflies, and ants of different kinds. One ant had these claws that give off a sound you can really hear when they click. Amusing but I hate them on trails. They feed on you regardless if you're hanging on to dear life or just comfortably walking. Wicked minute vampires.

Lots of steep climbs. Almost like knee to your chest kind of thing.

It still amazes me how people from the mountains walk these paths on a daily basis, some of them carrying logs or baskets on their heads and yet still keep their balance. Barefoot at that.

We came from behind those mountains next to where we were standing on this photo. 

Since there were only three of us we finished the course by noon. Usually it takes a whole day for a large group to reach here. I don't have a photo of the RCPI towers but there's nothing much to look, really.

Them fields getting ready for All Souls' and All Saints' day.

Our view over lunch. That peak on the left is called Sirao. It's a nice view from there too.

Cebu City

From here we walked our way to the road that leads to Mountain View Resort and took a jeepney back to the lowlands of Cebu City.

Total expense for the trip: Php50.00


Happy summer, everyone!