I GAVE A PROMISE to Manwel Roble, my young friend and future trail guide, that I would visit him on the occasion of his graduation from elementary where he invited me earlier to celebrate with his family. It had been a long time since I have last seen Manwel and his siblings Jucel and Juliet and it was on December 27, 2009.
We have been obsessed since January of a discovery of a new route from Guadalupe to Napo wherein we were afforded of a good trail that will not trudge on a hard surface of the concrete road to Napo. Given that, we tried to link this route to that of the trail passing by the Roble homestead going to Mount Babag. It wasn't easy. By the time we reached Napo we were already spent.
We tried hastening our pace one time but we turned back and spent a very late lunch in Sapangdaku River instead where there is a natural spring. At another time, in my solo sortie on February 28, 2010, I was able to reach the Roble homestead and delivered mangosteen and lanzones fruits but the children weren't there and I backtracked, too tired to go on to Mt. Babag.
So on this special moment – today, March 31, 2010 – I took a half-day from work since it was a weekday and go out to the hills again. I will have a perfect company in the person of old buddy, Ernie Salomon, and we met at the back of Our Lady of Guadalupe de Cebu Parish at 1:00 PM.
I bought two kilos of well-milled corn and 50-peso worth of bread for Manwel, Juliet and Jucel. It should be hot at this hour just after lunch and I feel the heat bouncing off the asphalt pavement. We decided instead to ride motorcycles-for-hire for Napo to save our shoes and our feet from walking on a hot surface.
Reaching Napo, we immediately set out to crossing the now-dry Sapangdaku River and into the Napo Main Trail going into the second river crossing. We reached it in 27 minutes, the fastest time we have done so far. As we took rest, I refilled my drinking bottle with the natural spring that still gush water even when this has been one of the hottest summer.
After this, we set to climbing the ascending route towards the house of the Robles with its mango-tree lined trail giving us shade from the glare of the high afternoon sun. We reached the Roble homestead after a little more than thirty minutes of climbing and it is 3:00 PM. This will still be our playground even when we have added a new interest in bushcraft and survival.
Both me and Ernie enjoyed our well-deserved rest on the bamboo benches and I happily parted away the milled corn to Manwel's mother who immediately arranged the firewood in her wok. Jucel claimed his deserved place with us and began to badger me with several probing questions until I could not handle it anymore and surrendered away the bread to him.
Fele, their father, slew a rooster for the occasion while me and Ernie decided to boil water for coffee. A hot coffee always give you that added pep to keep you awake and enjoy this moment with joyous vivacity. Manwel, meanwhile, is all smiles as he hurdled the last of the barriers in his elementary studies with his graduation. He is floating like he is in heaven right now.
From my backpack, I produced a long bottle of local brandy and two bottles of a popular soda energy drink and mixed these in a pitcher. It is a perfect match, smooth and non-volatile even without ice and magnify conversations into a lively and animated affair. I love this drink and the brandy glass moved like a tennis ball bouncing back and forth between me and Ernie.
An hour later, the meal is served. Free-rein rooster is best cooked in soup with horse radish and green papaya and it is steaming as it is laid down in a small table. There is also the chicken adobo to contend with plus the steamed well-milled corn. There was silence as everyone helped to himself until we stuff ourselves full.
Afterward, we resumed and finished the brandy to help digest the food we ate. It is already late afternoon and the sun made long shadows among the hills and valleys. Before we left, I parted away a cash gift for Manwel courtesy of Camp Red and we made this day memorable for him.
We left at six in the evening towards the lower valley and we didn't use flashlights. Even when there is no moon rising, the trail we followed are very clear in the dark. We didn't hurry but we walked cautiously and raised our feet higher so we would not trip onto something. Just the same, we reach Napo an hour later.
From Napo, we walked down into Guadalupe on the concrete road until we reached the back of the church at 15 past seven and, from the church, we went straight into our favorite watering hole where we were joined by Boy Toledo. After finishing four 1-liter bottles of Red Horse Extra-Strong Beer we decided to call it a day.
Document done in OpenOffice 3.1 Writer
No comments:
Post a Comment