I
DO NOT OFTEN BRING people to Camp Damazo. It is sacred ground for
the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild and it had hosted the 2011,
2012 and 2013 editions of the Philippine Independence Bushcraft Camp
and the 2015 Bonifacio Day Bushcraft Camp. There are no seas of
clouds nor exhilarating views to gaze upon golden sunsets and
luxuriant valleys. It is dreary and humid and all jungle. You will
be disappointed. To us who find bushcraft a way of life, it is
paradise.
The
camp is named after the late Sergio Damazo Jr., my scoutmaster during
my high school years at the then Colegio de San Jose-Recoletos (now
USJ-R) when it was then housed in its old campus near Freedom Park
and Carbon Public Market. During his time, he was a legend among his
peers. He was a very good teacher and he was equally a very good
storyteller. His tales of his experiences and anecdotes placed all
ears to an unflinching attention.
It
was that time when a Boy Scout IS a Boy Scout and my school basked
under his giant shadow snaring accolade after accolade, recognized
and represented in every international jamboree. He was a natural
prepper and a master of all crafts that were taught in the Boy Scout.
His loss left a big vacuum in the local Boy Scout community which,
sadly, stagnated to glamour camping, cater service food and all that
is politically correct imposed by overprotective parents.
It
is my privilege as his former student to name this place in the
wilderness in his honor and memory. There never was like him and his
is a big shoe to fill in. Camp Damazo does not appear in Google Map
nor it is kind to cellular signals. It is a hidden nook in the Babag
Mountain Range yet, despite its remoteness, it can be walked direct
from Guadalupe, the route of which is also a mystery. It is a
privilege then if you are personally invited.
One
of those that I welcomed today – November 26, 2016 – is my Swiss
benefactor and friend. I cannot say no to him if ever he rings me
for a hike in the woods. He is a typical individual who has a heart
set for the outdoors. His is a rare breed in a Europe that is now
harboring a highly-urbanized generation which is perpetually wired to
the electrical outlet and the Wi-Fi. He is not that young anymore
and he is intent to shed off some weight off his frame.
We
have spent time together in other places testing equipment and gear
and I am more than willing to try anything new. I write my own
unsolicited reviews in this personal blog and in my Facebook wall and
I somehow liked it in so much that it have helped people in their
choices. My Swiss friend is carrying a bag that seem to have a bulky
cargo inside. Whatever it will be, I just want to steer him safely
along the trail to Camp Damazo.
We
walked at a slow pace at ten in the morning on wet ground past a
man-made forest of Burma teak. A strange red shark far way from home
greeted us. The path ends at Creek Alpha but we walked downstream to
get to another trail which would pass an old campsite and more of
teak forests with a mixture of non-native species. When I am here,
it seems that I am in my natural environment and every stress and
worry is forgotten. I am a freelance wilderness guide and this is my
office.
I
am not a mountain guide. I do not give you the cold shoulder and
that perpetual silence while you struggle to keep up with a pace. I
do not work that way. I talk to make you more alive and watchful in
a pace much to your liking. Along the way are harmful plants which
without your knowledge gets you snagged or stung. You begin to
wonder how such a living forest is dead? It is so silent.
I
was wrong. Here upon a tall teak tree, a stingless bee colony (Local
name: kiyot) made a honeycomb inside its trunk which is rare.
Honey overflowed and oozed down it. The viscous fluid is sticky and
sweet. It is a matter of choice for one native species trying to
adapt to a foreign host to keep away competition and ensure its
survival. These are small wonders that do not take attention from an
untrained eye and the matching wisdom to explain why? That is why I
am no mountain guide.
We
reach Creek Bravo and take a rest. The humidity of the tropics might
be too much for my friend. When I am on this spot, it gives me
happiness just to stare across me of the only place in the whole
Buhisan Watershed Area where a good concentration of water bamboos
(butong) grow. How it colonized that part left me wondering?
Whatever, it is a source of material and nourishment for a bushcraft
camp. I took special care of these bamboos leaving it untouched for
long periods of time.
We
resume our hike. We climb up a steep trail to reach a ridge and two
parallel trails. One goes down Lensa Creek while the other follow
the back of the ridge and then to Camp Damazo. The forest is now
alive of birds and insects. I still see Burma teaks, gmelinas and
mahoganies but, amidst them, are native species which attract these
living creatures. A few branches blocked the path and we have to
watch over our heads of unstable ones bound to fall at the rock of a
breeze.
Jungle
jumble becomes a beautiful forest, for a time, and becomes both as we
approach more elevation. Soon we will be at the fabled Camp Damazo.
At thirty before twelve noon, we reach the place. In the center is a
cairn, marking the fireplace. A bell pepper with a single fruit grow
beside it. Above us is a Moluccan ironwood tree (ipil), whose
foliage protect us from the eyes of sun and drone. Beside it is a
stinging tree (alingatong) which, for all of its ill repute,
is harmless. For now.
What
makes Camp Damazo special? First of all, I discovered this while
exploring Lensa Creek in 2010. It was when I saw a sickly bamboo
that I noticed a trail which led to three other trails, which one of
these brought me to here. I came back to explore the other trails
and found a natural spring and an exit in one and Creek Charlie on
another. The camp is on a low peak covered by trees and surrounded
by thick jungle where teaching plant ID is perfect. Ground is a
mixture of rock, sand and loam and absorbs rainwater quickly.
You
would likely see ground pigeons, palm civets, jungle fowls and hawks
here at closer distance than you would have expected these to be.
Creek Charlie is a source of food which is very vital in a nocturnal
hunting episode. Camp Damazo is a wild place but succeeding
bushcraft camps have tamed it briefly and I decide to leave this
place untouched for every couple of years so wild vegetation would
recover. But on some weekends, we come just to cook meals and be
gone.
Today,
we will just be testing gears and have a cup of coffee and some
bread. My Swiss friend retrieved a Kelly Kettle. That is why his
bag looked so bulky. It is my first time to personally see, touch
and hold a Kelly Kettle. It is a camp burner which you can use to
cook food and boil water simultaneously. It is made of high-grade
stainless steel and weighs 1000 grams. It consists of the fire oven,
a kettle looking like a doughnut with bail and a chain near the
bottom to tilt the liquid out, a standard pot and a collapsible pot
adapter to handle bigger pots.
We
tested it with a commercial alcohol-gel fuel but it never dished out
enough heat to boil water in the kettle and it took us the whole of
15 minutes to observe a steam, which did not came, so we decided to
add small bits of firewood in the oven to stir the water alive. It
did in a few minutes. The Kelly Kettle is more efficient if it uses
solid fuel like dry wood, twigs and other kindling. It is best in
expedition base camps and in boats where exposure to elements are
high like rain, snow and wind.
Buried
below the spotlight of the Kelly Kettle, is an Advanced Fire Starter
Pro donated by Paul Sidney Uy for my use during my Thruhike of the
Cebu Highlands Trail in January 2017. It looks like a tactical pen
where the parts can be unscrewed from each other. There is the one
holding the striker, another one holding the ferromagnesium rod and
another as container for tinder. At the end is a small button
compass while the other is a lanyard holder.
I
scratched the rod with the striker on the alcohol gel and it caught
the sparks and blue flame erupted which then was used for the Kelly
Kettle. This fire starter creates a good volume of sparks unheard of
for its small size. Actually I tested it on a tattered piece of
tissue at Frontgate Burger Restaurant the previous night and the
tissue caught fire. Sidney owns Frontgate, located in Baseline,
Juana Osmeña Street, Cebu City, which serves the finest burgers and
steaks in town. The demo was witnessed by other Frontgate patrons.
After
we had our coffee and fully satisfied of time spent well, we leave
Camp Damazo for Guadalupe. We walk on the exit trail where the
natural spring is located and more strange plants to understand and
learn. Streaking away to put more distance from us is a jungle fowl.
It is a rooster and it is the first time I saw one fleeing away on
the ground. Most often when surprised it flies in a trail of
dropping plumes. It may have freshened itself with water from the
spring and caught unaware of our coming until about a few meters.
After
crossing the upper part of both Creek Alpha and Creek Bravo, which
were slippery, we arrive at the Pamutan-Sapangdaku Road. We cross it
for another much tame trail going to Lanipao where we found cold
refreshment. From there, we walk towards Napo where we ride
motorcycles-for-hire to Guadalupe. From the church, we walk again to
my favorite watering hole and cap our outdoor workout with the
coldest beer.
Document
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