AFTER
MY YESTERDAY'S boo-boo, I finally got over it and go, once again, to
the parking lot of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish. Today, August
23, 2015, is real, for sure. The biology class of the University of
San Jose-Recoletos are coming over. According to their professor,
Ryan Ymbong, there will be twenty of them.
Unfortunately,
Ernie Salomon will not be with me. Another from the Camp Red
Bushcraft and Survival Guild – Nelson Tan – will take his place
but he will be late. Fine. For the past few days, weather patterns
are beginning to be predictable. Rain will pour hard during noon and
another sequel in the middle of the afternoon. Well, I am ready for
that but I am worried about my guests.
I
waited. Killed time by listening to the MP3 feature of my Cherry
Mobile U2 phone. A white passenger van arrived and out comes Prof.
Ryan, I presume, from the front seat. He instantly recognized my
khaki Silangan Predator Z backpack prominently placed on the concrete
pavement. My worries stretched into a frown as most of the students
are not wearing proper footwear.
That
would really be a problem when the ground turns muddy but, as long as
it does not rain this morning, that difficulty will not be much of a
problem. Anyway, I join the professor on the front seat and the
driver took us to the community of Napo. As we arrive, I immediately
gather them all and gave them a short briefing of the terrain and the
rough estimate of the distance to our destination.
Noticing
that some were carrying heavy things inside big plastic bags, I
requested these be equally distributed to others. I myself volunteer
to carry the heavy bunch of rice cooked in coconut-leaves (Local
name: puso) and the breakable items. At least, for now, the
load carried by hand would be tolerable and there would be no danger
of the plastic bags getting torn by blades of grass. Sturdy plastic
bags, I noticed, are beginning to disappear, replaced by those
brittle biodegradable ones.
We
start our activity with a prayer by Prof. Ryan. I lead but I walked
like someone who is strolling in Plaza Independencia under a pale
light of a full moon. Yeah, that slow. I believe (and I know) that
some pairs of feet would get skin blisters soon considering that I
saw bare skin above shoes indicating no socks at all. Oh well, what
a great way to learn plants and of hiking – later. That is why I
walk slow. I see a stinging nettle (daw-daw) and I begin my
own version of Plant 101.
I
am interested to learn more about plants since I teach people about
bushcraft. I have only a limited data of it right in my head learned
from the nuances of growing up, from books, from the mil and from my
late grandpa, who left me alone time and time again in a forest,
usually at dusk or at dawn, during his tireless journeys, mostly in
Bohol, while I was five and seven. I learned so many things from him
and what I learned I share.
I
may know some plants but it is limited to the local names, the
features and its uses. I do not have time for its scientific names
but, later on, through self-study, I begun to know its English
equivalent and, to a much difficult degree, their Latin conundrum.
Those that I have discovered recently, I turn to professional advice
in the Web but, mostly, site administrators are as stupid as I am and
so unaccommodating, leaving you more ignorant.
However,
perhaps, I may learn a thing or two from this bunch. Prof. Ryan had
read my blog and had requested me to guide them to a good site at the
Babag Mountain Range. I know places there where vegetation are thick
and would be a hoard of treasure to a biology student. It is where
streams pass and you do not need people to wreck havoc on their
bodies by leading them to difficult terrain.
When
you are into the business of wilderness guiding, improvisation
matters. It is different to mountain guiding where elevation,
adrenaline and scenery afforded by peaks are its main pursuits. I
had been guiding people for some time and I find the latter too
dangerous and too boring for my age. In the former, I found
fulfillment. It is that which people tend to appreciate your skills,
your knowledge and your time.
The
path is wet and parts of it are muddy which is bad enough. It will
get worse when rain comes falling. I change paths and follow the
trail going to Sapangdaku Creek. We follow it upstream until we are
on a level ground above the stream. This place is called Kangsi by
the locals and a lone family lived nearby. This would be a perfect
place as it had been previously in several activities that I
organized.
Prof.
Ryan began instructing his students, which are composed of the purely
BS Biology discipline and those of BS Education with major in Biology
Studies. They had with them their instruments in aid of their field
study like a GPS, thermometers, ropes, iron pegs, Petri dishes, glass
jars, cameras, pencils and journals. They are divided into four
groups.
The
area is divided into four quadrants and lengths of rope are unrolled
to delineate each quadrant from the other. I assisted each of the
four groups establish their own quadrants, especially the ones that
has the ropes go over the thickest vegetation. My big AJF Gahum
knife did a lot of work to clear a way for me to bring one end of a
rope to its farthest reach.
Three
of the quadrants cross streams while one covered steep ground. The
groups then collect their specimen, which are then documented after
several guessings of its taxonomic category, including the GPS
coordinates where each is found. Aside from plants, they also
gathered three kinds of grasshoppers, some crickets, a mosquito,
different butterflies and two varieties of fresh-water guppy.
The
rain came as expected, near noon, and all collecting activities stop
to concentrate instead to the preparation of their pre-cooked meals.
It is not safe to work on the streams for fear of flash floods.
Instead, I produce three banana leaves to cover the ground where the
food will be placed. The rice in the “puso” are many and
I could not believe I carried it all. Viands are the Tisa “siomai”
(Chinese meat rolls), “pancit guisado” (local noodles),
pieces of fried chicken and canned goods.
We
eat our lunch under the onslaught of rain. Fortunately, Nelson
arrived just in time to set up a tarpaulin sheet over where the food
is laid. To those who cannot be accommodated below the shelter, to
each his (or her) own to find some semblance of cover to justify a
human necessity of providing nutrition to self, like me. I have been
into this situation many times and it does not matter with today's
inconvenience.
There
is a lull in the sky and we were even afforded a glimpse of sunlight
yet I expect rain to come back with a vengeance later. The specimen
collection continues at 13:30 and everyone proceed to their assigned
quadrants. The stream had risen a bit and the current brisk.
Everyone pursue their work with wet clothes while I and Nelson stand
guard. I keep a special attention on the stream and on a shooting
suspect on the loose named Timoteo Gabasan.
By
14:15, the rains come back earlier than expected but it had stopped
after about thirty minutes. The students ignored the inconvenience
and concentrated on their field studies. At 15:30, the rains struck
once more, and again, at 16:15. When Prof. Ryan sees that his wards
have had enough of specimen collected, he called a cession to their
activity and everyone obliged and repacked all their equipment and
other things.
We
leave Kangsi (it rhymes like Camp Xi) at 16:30 under the cover of
incessant rain. The going was tough for those who wore rubber
flip-flops, ladies' sandals, espadrilles and all sort of improper
footwear, which almost were. They have to negotiate a slightly steep
path from river bank to the main trail which looked like a crude
imitation of a water slide and the main trail itself has pools of
water along some stretches where there are depressions.
Prof.
Ryan was exhausted after the hike back to Napo and he was the last
one to arrive. Their transport have arrived earlier and waited until
such time that everyone were accounted for. I take my usual place on
the passenger van where I got dropped off at Guadalupe. Nelson,
meanwhile, took his motorcycle and was already gone when I arrived.
I would part Nelson his share of the fee when we meet next time.
Anyway,
I accept people who requests of my services in guiding them to the
mountains but, mostly, I refer it to my subalterns if it is for
leisure hikes only. I would personally engage if the purpose is of a
higher calling like today. I used to be a freelance mountain guide
many years ago and I find no satisfaction in that because it demands
technical skills and the risks are great with which compensation does
not tally well with your efforts and the gears you invested.
As
a wilderness guide, the risks are not that great and does not demand
expensive gears. You have to have a different set of skills quite
different from those activities done at higher elevations and is much
in demand and, therefore, a bit expensive than usual. Guiding an
archeological or a scientific expedition is one such example where
the professional wilderness guide should be extraordinary and possess
a high-level of expertise and ability.
Whenever
you have such need of a guide for a planned Philippine expedition
project, I can be contacted and be hired directly through my mobile
numbers at +639172035101 and +639333225005 or you may email me at
pinoyapache (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you so desire to see my
credentials, I can attach it in my email in PDF or JPEG, whichever
you prefer.
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