BUSHCRAFT BUHISAN XLIV: Return to Camp Damazo

THE PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE BUSHCRAFT CAMP is less than a week away. Today, June 4, 2017, is a day reserved for preparing the campsite. The last time I visited Camp Damazo was five months ago during my psyching up for the Thruhike. It had been jungle when I discovered it many years ago and still was jungle when I last saw it. I believed it would stay that way for as long as you kept it a secret to the mainstream crowd.

I come today with the right people. My kind of people and all belonged to the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild. Most of these guys who are present today cut their teeth here like Ernie Salomon in PIBC 2011, Jhurds Neo in PIBC 2012 and Richie Quijano during the Bonifacio Day Bushcraft Camp in 2015. The rest like Jingaling Campomanes, Mirasol Lepon, Jonathaniel Apurado, Glyn Formentera and Jhops Burbe either took the PIBC 2015 or in 2016 at Liloan.

 

These guys can work on their own without so much supervision. Before we left Guadalupe, each guy had been briefed of what we will all do and all are prepared for the tasks at hand. We all have some of our blades with us and the opportunity for another dirt time in a jungle is sheer joy. Nobody could beat that anytime. I am doing the point and my outdoor awareness level are again at its max. I expect reptiles lurking, especially that it rained hard last night and in the early morning.

The ground is wet, leaves dripping with dew. We move slowly among this man-made forest of Burma teak, its wide leaves that fell to the ground do not make pop-corn sounds anymore like it used to during the warm summer days. The trail follow a low ridge which is sandwiched between two small streams. We follow the bigger one (Creek Alpha) downstream. The water is clear and flowing, the stones among them glossy and shiny. Rubber works on most wet rocks but it is much safer if you go it slow.

The vegetation changed from a single species into a diverse chain of indigenous shrubs and vines that line the stream banks. Here, the birds and insects are much alive. The cacophony of sounds are just amazing. That is what rain can do to a parched land in so short a time. The stream is tricky on some point but I know these parts very well. I caught sight of the trail and we are walking on ground once more. This is a mixed forest of teak, mahogany, gmelina and thick undergrowth dominated by rattan, rhododendron, wild ginger and wild yams.

 

This is part of Lensa Trail which actually crisscross each other through the vast Buhisan Watershed Area. We keep to the high ground from then on until we cross another small stream (Creek Bravo) to proceed to another trail across. The path led me to a ridge which transforms into a beautiful forest of mixed indigenous and exotic species. For a moment, I seem to be in another world but it ended as wild vegetation claimed ground what was once theirs.

We are now at Camp Damazo, pure jungle environment and, soon, home-to-be to the PIBC once more. As we were approaching it, I did my usual trail maintenance work, clearing the path of obstacles and debris, bringing dry twigs and branches with me. The rest of the guys carry dry bundles of twigs collected along the way. We would need dry firewood for our cooking later on and these are few after a downpour. There would be a lot of work but the promise of a good meal would put more heart to our combined effort.

 

First things first, is to make fire and keep the smoke thick to keep daytime mosquitoes, hornets, ants and creepy crawlies away. In jungle environments, these insects are pesky and thick and they are attracted to human presence. It could be your carbon dioxide exhausts from your breath and perspiration or it could be your artificial odor on your clothes. Sometimes, it is just the wrong kind of shirt and bag color but we keep that annoyance to a minimum by using fabric with natural-toned colors.

Ernie will do the cooking and he is supplied with a generous amount of dry firewood that we collected along the way. Jingaling and Mirasol will assist him in his airy kitchen. Jhurds, Jon, Jhops and Glyn will work on a firepit and the kitchen furniture and stock it with more firewood. Me and Richie will dig a latrine for male and female. We just have to retrace our route and look for those perfect spots to commune with nature. Richie has his small pick-axe while I have with me a US-surplus folding shovel, given by Hawaii resident Remy Ababa a few months ago.

The work on the latrines were easy due to modern tools and we were able to finish it earlier than we expected it to be. We go back to the camp and Ernie and girls are in the middle of preparing the food while a cooking fire is doing its work on two blackened pots which, most likely, contain rice. Jhurds and his crew are busy with their blades splitting firewood picked up from the ground. Richie joined them while I go check the water source. It is located 150 meters away. The bamboo trough is now missing and it needs replacement with a new one. Time to look for bamboo poles.

 

In this jungle, only a few groves of bamboo grow. Most of those that grew are the hardy type which are protected by a screen of thorns. I saw one in a nearby stream (Creek Charlie) and I unleashed my big AJF Gahum knife to forage one pole. I am able to clear the thorns away, work which is quite painstaking and time-consuming, so I could have access to a pole. The sound of chopping reverberated in the silence of the place, disturbing the bird calls and the chirp of cicadas and other insects. All sorts of ants fell from the foliage and dropped on my person and it made this work more difficult. I should have smoked it before I commenced.

I cut the pole but it hanged forever above me, its foliage and branches completely intertwined with its own kind. Forcing it with all my strength only budged it just a few inches down. My footing is only limited to two narrow boulders and there is not much I can do except pulling it with a rope from the streambed which is eight feet below. The more I pulled, the more ants falling over me. Some bit and some leave substance that stung. It crawled over my hair to my face and it caused me eye irritations. The pole moved just a foot. I tried to force the pole down by grabbing it and jumping down to the stream like Tarzan which is very dangerous and it budged just a little.

 

Leaving it hanging, I go back to Camp Damazo. I would just hire a local to bring it down to earth in time for the PIBC. I need two green bamboo poles though for survival tool-making and for knife dexterity exercises for the participants and another short piece of dry bamboo for friction fire-making. Anyway, I got a piece of the green bamboo and go first to the water source and insert this to replace the missing trough. The kitchen fire pit is already done when I returned and two iron bars are placed over it. These will hold the pots and pans when it is operational during the PIBC.

I sipped my cup of coffee and enjoyed the sight of the kitchen furniture frame already standing. Soon a platform of round sticks will be laid across the two wooden beams. Meantime, I have to help in collecting firewood and identify more ground for tents and ground sheets. I brought two 4 feet x 10 feet laminated nylon sheets for the latrines but it would be best if this is installed on the day of the event and so I have to cache it securely where its unnatural color of blue and orange would be an obvious sight in a jungle environment.

I looked around the hidden beauty of the jungle even the sinister presence of stinging plants gave off its enchanting allure to butterflies and bees. The “giraffe tree” is now threatened by man. Its surroundings gets cleared as a hunter’s blind is erected near it. Hunting of jungle fowls, ground pigeons, palm civets, leopard cats, monitor lizards and pythons are frequent here and the government do not have the manpower nor the resources to enforce laws in this protected area.

 

The camp preparation work and the walk in a humid environment left me sweaty, thirsty and hungry and a shout from Ernie says that food is now ready along with a rapping of spoon on metal cup. Food are fried mixed vegetables, lo-me (local noodles), seaweeds in vinegar, grilled pork and cupcakes baked in Dutch oven. Truly, this meal is a meal fit for kings considering it is just a day activity. In the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild, this is regular. Someday, I might entertain of elevating it into bushcraft glamping.

Well fed and invigorated by coffee, camp prep work continue to the rest of the day until we have what we need: firewood placed on a platform above ground, latrines, fire pit for the kitchen, kitchen furniture and trough for the natural spring. The bamboo poles could contracted to locals which I would do when we get out of the jungle on the way to Lanipao. The return of the PIBC to Camp Damazo is very well-considered as participation increased from last time and so are volunteers. But I trust in my people to practice Ethical Bushcraft when they are in pristine environment. I taught them how.

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