Dagohoy's Danao

Bohol: Day 2 of 5.

Up to that day, it never occurred to me that getting tired of being scared sh*tless for your life was attainable.  Plus I don't think I've hiked on THAT much terrain in rubber slippers this entire life.

DANAO.

A little bit of trivia:

Francisco Dagohoy (born Francisco Sendrijas) initiated and led the longest insurrection in Philippine history.   He was joined by leaders Ignacio Aranez, Pedro Baguio, and Bernardo Sanote of Tagbilaran, Baclayon, and Dauis.  The revolt lasted from 1744 to 1828.  Caves played an important role in the uprising, serving as very effective hideouts and shelters.

Danao Adventure Park used to be Dagohoy's base camp.  Looking at how rugged, wet, and somehow wild this place is, it's no wonder that they were able to evade capture (by foot!), with the revolt lasting 85 years.

Danao Adventure Park

Again, we had Rikrik to take us to Danao Adventure Park.  It takes two hours to reach the park by car from Panglao, so again, everyone but Rikrik was in a coma for most of the ride going there.

The Plunge was unavailable because of the earthquake damage the platform sustained, so we decided to do the Sky Rappel instead (on Rikrik's recommendation), and moderate caving in Kamira Cave.  After settling fees, we changed clothes, slathered on sunscreen, and headed to the Sky Ride for the rappel.

Suiting up (c) Lica

The "before" photo. (c) Lica

 Yes, we mishu Claud.

So there were major major bloopers whilst on the Sky Ride.  Apparently what we THOUGHT we were gonna do was far from what was about to take place. (By "we" I probably mean Lica and I.)

Okay, what we understood was that the Sky Ride will be taking us to the other side of the mountain, and the three of us would rappel down that mountain, cross the Wahig River, and trek all the way back up to the reception office.  Easy peasy, right?  I even volunteered to go first.

Our Sky Ride then stopped right in the middle of the 400 meter zipline.  Addressing it as a minor technical difficulty at first, we brushed it off, even laughed about it.

That was until manong hit us with this moment of truth: "Dito na kayo, ma'am."

Such ladies we were, Lica and I.  I'm impressed how Abi seemed so calm.

**Sky Rappelling nga naman.  Wala naman dingding sa sky.**

We were to rappel right between the Magtangtang canyons with nothing else to hold on to, but the rope.  I'm not really sure if I have my facts straight about the distance from the rappelling point to the landing point at Wahig River, so I based it here.  But that's including the zipline, so I'd guess we had to rappel a good 140 meters down (around 460ft).

Imagine going from this...

...to this...

...to (insert expletive here) THIS!

The hardest part is going out of the tram, actually.  The next task would be keeping yourself stabilized for the entire way down, because aside from winds being quite strong (that it sends you into either a spin or a violent swing), you can't actually be heard yelling "tension" or "slack" when you're nearly halfway down.  At this point, you're no longer scared,  just really impatient to get down because your arms are killing you.

Keep an eye on your lines

Always keep an eye on your lines.  On this day, the winds were quite strong, and my safety line (the one hooked to the back of the harness) was loose (because they really can't hear me shout "tension"), and was snaking around my main line first, then around me.  Always watch where that loose safety line is, and get it out of the way of the main line as soon as possible to avoid them getting horribly tangled with each other, and always keep it from snaking around you (or your neck) for obvious reasons.  You don't want to die that way.  Dagohoy would be so displeased.

Soon enough, we all made it down!

Moi.

Lica followed suit...

...then Abi!

Nervous laughter for the "after" shot.

Acrophobia: the next fear that Lica crossed off her list.

After rappelling, we had to go through an agonizing trek back up the mountain, onward to the Kamira Cave briefing site. The trek uphill wearing bloody tsinelas was dangerously close to setting one of us off into a massive mood.  Guess who.

...may helicopter ba ang Uber????

akyat pa more!

Once we reached the briefing site, we changed guides to lead us inside Kamira Cave.

Kamira Cave was named after it's owner, Mira.  In most provinces, the prefix "Ka" is used when addressing someone they respect.  Inside the cave is pitch black.  Other than the lights on our helmets, nothing else illuminated all 477 meters of the inside.

Abi's light shining away

The cave was far from how I remember it when I was last here in 2005.  It seemed like everything inside was narrower.  The entrance to the cave seemed steeper.  But of course, 2005 was before the earthquake.  Kamira obviously took a hit.

The cave had streams of flowing freshwater.  Inside were lots of sparkly (even sparklier than Twilight's Edward) stalactites, stalagmites, and columns.  It's awesome to see something terribly ancient out there "growing", as these stalactites and stalagmites take centuries to add a bit of height.

Kamira cave was one of the caves that Dagohoy and his men used as hideout.  Our guide claimed to have found some of the tools they used during the rebellion, already half buried, all donated to museums.

At the end of the cave was a pool of freshwater deep enough to swim in.  It was a dead end.  It was also at this point that our guide asked us to switch our lights off, to experience how dark it really was inside.  It was pitch black.  There was no light source, not even the faintest one that the eyes could adjust to, to be able to adapt to the darkness of the cave.

It was the kind of dark that could make one go from hopeful to hopeless in seconds.  It was the kind of dark that made you feel alone, even if you could feel and hear your companions.  It was the kind of dark that will probably make you question if what you stand for is worth fighting for.

Not everyone was born brave.  Surely not everyone in that revolt was brave.  However, the Boholanos had one thing: courage.  It was courage that made them take that leap of faith, to trust their leader, even after  understanding the risks that came with going against the Spanish rule.  It was courage that made them fight for their children's future, even if that meant that they may never have theirs.  In spite of their doubts and fears, they soldiered on, carried on, battling their oppressors with all the fight they have in them, that even when the revolt came to an end (with the Spaniards being the victors), most of Dagohoy's men opted to die in caves than surrender.

It's why they say that a lot of human remains dating back to the Spanish era were found in most of the caves surrounding the area.

After spelunking, it was another mandatory trek back to the reception area, making it to the "summit" after a lot of death threats, loud sighs, and expletives.  Took a quick shower, pigged out for lunch, and decided to go back to Doljo without going to the Sagbayan viewing deck.

Sagbayan

Sagbayan wanted us to see her beauty, as we were greeted by such an enchanting view.

so much greenery

Chocolate Hills

Turns out that we didn't need to go to Sagbayan Peak's viewing deck (and god forbid, climb more stairs).  The view of the drive going home was so mesmerizing, that we didn't mind missing it.  

Salonpas, please!

...that, and we were really hurting everywhere.


"Sa lahat ng mga indio, ang mga taga-Bohol ang pinaka-mabangis at pinaka-magiting." --Pedro Murillo Velarde, SJ, Historia de la provincia de Philipinas de la compania de Jesus, Manila, 1747


Related links:
The Beauty That Is Bohol
Balicasag's Underwater Paradise