Wonderful attractions in Colan

On August 26 I visited sitio Colan for a customary monitoring routine every long weekend. Instead of the usual desander climb I took the other route to witness several attractions of the upstream portion of Baruring River. With me was Artur, the Sibulan Porters Association's President.

Little did I know that Colan could be a very good adventure tour destination for a day or two. Just a little over 5 minutes from desander we saw the pristine Colan River in its finest state as it is spared from obliteration, perhaps the only one left in the area. A cold stream is being intersected by the hot river accumulated from the spring that flows directly from the volcanic waterways above Colan. The magnificent blue water was mixed with brown color from a distant channel, good enough for a transitional range of vision.

Over at the eastern part of the river is a three-layered waterfalls being laid out in a verdant setting of Colan’s tropical rainforest. The highest part is estimated 30 feet. Artur told me that a lot of locals have been visiting the waterfalls already and the land possessor where the waterfalls belong is bent on developing the area to cater to a wider audience.

As we trekked further we reached sitio Mararag. Situated just a hill apart from Tumpis, Mararag is a vast farmland planted with high value vegetables and abaca. Sitio Bolyo is another area bordering Mararag, a site that offered us vantage point of the scenic Kapatagan mountain range. Bolyo is a name derived from a local water source in Colan.

A short trek from Bolyo brought me back to Palaka Hot Spring, one of the three hot springs in Colan. My last visit to this site was way back 2002 and I was amazed by how this attraction retained its natural characteristic. We followed the hot water trail from Palaka and reached another good site, the more-popular Mundo Apo Hot Spring.

Our 2-hour trek with Artur enabled me to document few good reasons to visit Colan other than climbing Mt. Apo. For those who love to commune with nature without unleashing so much physical strain I suggest you take this foothills loop in Colan and I am pretty sure you will be rewarded with its wonderful attractions. 

The Mabini Protected Landscape and Seascape

The second installment of the series of experiential visits conducted by the Mt. Apo Natural Park Protected Area Management Board had us visiting the Protected Landscape and Seascape  of Mabini in Compostela Valley last July 27-28. This came as a pleasant surprise because the Mabini Protected Landscape and Seascape (MPLS) is a model PA that every locality should imitate. We were fortunate to have been led by a dynamic PENRO in Mr. Pablito Ofrecia, the new and tireless Mt. Apo Protected Area Superintendent (PASU) because he was the one capable of transforming MPLS into one of Mindanao’s well-managed PAs during his tenure in the town of Mabini in early year 2000.

MPLS is a 6,106 – hectare terrestrial and marine protected area established in 2000 basically to safeguard the diverse marine ecosystem in Davao Gulf particularly in the shores of Compostela Valley province.  It was created by virtue of Proclamation No. 316 dated May 31, 2000 and Republic Act 7586 otherwise known as the Integrated Protected Area Systems Act of 1992. The park extends along the coast of the municipality of Mabini from the mouth of Pandasan River up to the southern tip of Kopiat Island.

The Mabini portion of Davao Gulf where the MPLS is situated serves as feeding ground of eleven species of marine mammals which includes dolphins, sperm whales, killer whales and diverse breeds of sea turtles.

Another interesting feature of MPLS is the mangrove reservations identified in the major portions of Mabini stretching to as far as Kopiat Island. The dominant variety of mangrove is the Rhizopora apiculata that houses several endemic birds.

On the second day of our visit we were exposed to the PA’s rich underwater environment. It was my second time diving using a Self-contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. During the dive we were informed that the coral reef of Mabini is one of the three in Region XI being classified as having excellent condition, the other two in Samal Island and Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.

In an effort to create sustainable management of MPLS, the MPLS-PAMB has considered ecotourism a vital tool, paving local community to operate minimal impact tourism activities while also promoting measures to maintain the unspoiled mangrove forest of the area.

With its attributes featuring healthy fishing ground, mangrove reserves and coral formations; there is no doubt that the Mabini Protected Landscape and Seascape is one of the most unique Protected Areas in the country.

Batuno-Sibulan-Tibolo Double Traverse

Official duties prompted me to lead a double traverse climb in the mountain ranges of Batuno, Sibulan and Tibolo together with other local stakeholders to scout for possible bridge projects that may connect small sitios in far-flung areas of Sta. Cruz. The presence of major rivers in these areas necessitates putting up of bridges and even wider roads to cater to the needs of the community in terms of agriculture and education. Local residents also see potentials for tourism because there are unspoiled waterfalls, beautiful sceneries and caves that could be future destinations.

  

The 2-day climb happened last May 8 and 9. Our first stop was Mt. Batuno located in Barangay Jose Rizal. The long and moderate trail from Jose Rizal proper to Batuno can be a good day hike and can even be an excellent route for trail running given with the uphill single tracks. This mountain is occupied by the Bagobos and although almost all portions of the area are titled lot, biodiversity is still a thing to consider in establishing program interventions especially infrastructure projects.

While taking our lunch in Batuno we chanced upon a century-old man doing chores in his farmlands. His house was a vantage point where we saw the panoramic sites of Davao City. Some agricultural farms made up of coconut, banana and fruits trees are in abundance for which the old man also retained.

As we headed to Sibulan via sitios of Gurem I was refreshed by my experience more than 10 years ago of the European-funded project called Upland Development Programme (UDP) especially in the areas of Tabug, Gurem and Dariango where we used to climb with my UDP colleagues. The vegetation in Tabug remains lush and the river bordering Tabug to Dariango is still very attractive even if some of its features were eliminated with the passing of time when the hydropower plant progresses in the area. 

We took a short break in the Christian church of Dariango and had some native coffee break in the house of Tribal Leader Datu Gideon Tolentino. From there we hiked up west to see the other target site for bridge project in the circumference of sitio Tabug and sitio Landig and later went back to the Datu’s house. It was already late afternoon when we left Dariango. A 30-minute descent to Sibulan River was equally interesting, as we crossed Sibulan river in a twilight zone, passing several familiar sceneries in Sibulan which includes sitio Cagas Compound, Sibulan Proper and sitio Piping.

On the second day we took a 270-degree turn to Lower Tibolo via Kapatagan road to do ocular inspection of an even extreme upstream portion of Sibulan River, the Cabarisan-Lower Tibolo border. This is place I am used to because we always take this as a venue of the Mt. Apo Boulder Face Challenge specifically the trail where mountain bikers carry their mountain bikes from the river to the open road of Tibolo and Kapatagan. Surprisingly, we were greeted by a juvenile King Cobra on our way back.  

Lower Tibolo is an approach to sitio Tudaya up northwest, sitios Landing 1 and 2 in the southeast and Barangay Kapatagan in extreme north and Davao City in the northeastern part starting from sitio Cabarisan.

Establishing bridges in all these places will definitely enhance connectivity and beef up accessibility in transporting the abundant farm products and at the same time enable barangay authorities to propel ecotourism.