Ella, my good friend from San Miguel Brewery, Inc. in Darong, is an outdoor enthusiast who have been scaling several minor peaks in Davao Region. She is based in Davao now but her permanent resident is in Malita, Davao Occidental, a province blessed with natural resources which can be good sites for outdoor tourism. We have been talking about possible partnership with her family of political leaders in one of Malita’s barangays, the highland barangay of Sangay. She was asking me to help them put in place a hiking attraction that could catalyze tourism development program in her hometown. We set several schedules but unfortunately that never materialized due to COVID-19 restriction in Davao Occidental.
On April 10 we finally explored the place together with my adventure team from Sta. Cruz. It was the very first time I pounded a trail in Malita since 1994 during my freshman year in SPAMAST. And it was really good to be back to one of my most unforgettable places. The first of series of exploration started in Katulidan Peak, a panoramic heap towering 531 MASL with varied features such as rivers, forest, farmlands and waterfalls. This can be favorably considered for day hikes and even overnight camping because of some good plains ideal for an outdoor campsite.
The first part of the hike is crossing the small but mighty Ula River which culminates with a native coffee break at Ula River Resort. A more strenuous assault is waiting off a minute tributary stream of Ula River that also serves as channel for potable water pipes serving barangay Sangay and adjacent localities. Exploration climbs are always a challenging adventure because we didn’t just hike, we tried to locate good track to situate a perfect trail for ecotourism purposes. A good 3-hour trek brought us to a ridge view of coconut trees where we had good respite of buko juice but not without surviving that terrible river trekking and an assault off a newly-discovered trail where Jorax was stung by some angry bees. Lesson: Always religiously follow LEAVE NO TRACE PRINCIPLE during outdoor hikes.
The buko stopover site is also the most appropriate site for overnight camping. It only needs to be installed with water source maybe from Ula River, a simple comfort zone and few signage and this one is already a nice campsite.
The first peak measures 455 MASL. This presents another scenic platform, with the entire greenery of Malita visible. Froilan came up with some cup of hot native coffee here which was what we exactly needed to pledge a surrounding of striking winds. Few meters from first peak is the highest point of Katulidan. This could be a good conclusion of the trek but the locals utilize it as a family cemetery that makes it inappropriate to be considered for tourism.
The trail to first peak is a a bald farm which can be very hot during sunny days. A zigzag trail should be established here and it is important to be always hydrated when taking this area to avoid muscle cramps and heat exhaustion.
Our relaxing descent features huge corn plantation that served as start of a circuit trail using Ula River as reference. This time the trail is well covered with vegetation of secondary growth forest trees. We had short rest in an open rock with nesting Ridgetop Swiflets and a good sight of Naked-faced Spiderhunter, one of the few special birds I saw in Katulidan. Hosting a horrible slash and burn farming practice, I have not seen or even heard records of wildlife in the entire Katulidan mountain range. I hope ecotourism would become a tool to replenish the lost glory of this mountain. From the trail head onwards I recorded 34 species of birds highlighted by Mindanao endemic Mindanao Hornbill and a nesting Brown-breasted Kingfisher.
After a sumptuous lunch in Ula River we were right back on track to Ula River Resort all the way to Ibing’s Native Kape and Tsokolate, a flawless finale to that 6.8-kilometer exploration adventure trek. Ibing’s will surely make a good jump off point for visitors to Katulidan Peak because coffee always keeps us going, and cold beers proved to be really good post-climb refreshment.
For Malita residents who haven’t heard of Ibing’s you can take 30-minute drive westward to Sangay and experience the fragrance of native coffee and tsokolate here. They also serve variety of kakanin items and a complete range of San Miguel Beer products.
