COMPLEAT BUSHCRAFT XIII: Tides Turning

I HAVE WANTED TO do another nocturnal hunting session in Argao for the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild.  The area is just perfect for training on this matter but, due to some external complications, I have no other recourse but to shelve this project.  I decide to transfer this activity to Lilo-an instead.  

We converge at our meeting place in Mandaue City after lunchtime on April 12, 2014.  It is a rainy day but, I pray, this will not last.  Coming for this occasion are Jhurds, Glenn, Dominic, Justine, Faith, Jerome and Nelson.  Majority of the guys ride on Jerome’s KIA Rio while Jhurds, Dom and me decide to commute to Lilo-an on a north-bound public jitney.

Aljew is our gracious host for this occasion.  After a light breakfast of special bread baked from the ovens of Titay’s Bakery paired with coffee, we proceed to our campsite.  We need not walk far for it is along the shoreline of Lilo-an.  Christopher guide us all there.  I assess the area and I choose an unused lot which used to be a beach resort.

It is 16:00 and soon it will be dark.  There is a drizzle and strong gusts of wind spurred on by a slow moving typhoon that weakened into a low pressure area.  I did not expect this kind of weather at this time.  Everyone make do of the situation and according to the available materials found and foraged in the area.  It is a test of how people will think and adapt.  

Jhurds use a wooden tripod to prop a wooden ridge to a frangipani tree (Local name: kalatsutse) for his laminated nylon sheet as his shelter.  Nelson used a detached door as his bed space and place it beside a low concrete wall.  The wall will act as windbreaker as well as a possible bulwark for his shelter should it rain.  Jerome set his black taffeta sheet in a crawl space of an improvised table underneath a Malabar almond tree (Local: talisay).  

Dom tied his hammock inside an abandoned bunkhouse while Glenn used the same structure for his bedding.  Justine and Faith shared one free-standing tent.  Me?  I just sleep outdoors.  My bed is a detached door placed over a makeshift ladder propped over one log.  Another detached screen door is left as a windbreaker.  My Apexus taffeta sheet is on standby should it rain.  I will just have to wrap myself with it.

After I have secured my bed, I go on the business of foraging wood for our fire.  Finding dry wood is not a problem since there are a lot of scraps of lumber as well as dry kindling.  Starting a fire is a problem though as strong gusts of wind snuff everything out we dished.  Jhurds help me in starting the fire and we are able to produce one and kept it protected by using the low concrete wall as a windbreaker.

We first cook rice – two pots – on a tripod and, as Christopher returned from the public market, we grill pork meat over another fire that Jerome and Nelson had given life.  The weather is still uncooperative.  Huge waves spurred on by strong gusts of wind make the sea cloudy with silt.  Low tide was noticed at around 16:00 but it is now 18:00 and the promise of foraging on the seashore is discouraging.

We focus on our dinner instead and I know there are hungry stomachs among us.  Grilled pork answered that yearning and, as everyone settled around the fire, a bottle of local brandy begins to take shape and make its presence felt.  Slowly, the tide turned and it goes high and deep enough to take a dip.  A cloudy full moon illuminates the seascape and I take my chance to immerse in the warm water at 21:00.  Glenn join me.

Aljew arrive from a party and join the campfire crowd.  Allan Aguipo also came.  A second bottle replaces the first and more conversations are fed into the circle.  I begin to feel tipsy.  As the clock approach the first few hours of the next day, I retreat to my bed, intending to wake up at 04:30 and set my alarm.  The alarm came and passed unnoticed.  

I wake up when my eyelids felt light in the sky.  It is 05:30 and I missed the nocturnal hunting!  Christopher, Jhurds, Allan, Jerome and Nelson were on to it and they caught different sea shells and a few tiger fish (Local: buga-ong) which they all cook in one pot as soup.  Lying on top of an iron grill are Indian mackerel (Local: anduhaw), cooked above coal embers.

We eat our breakfast as the tide begins to turn again into high water.  The grilled mackerel meat is fresh while the soup is sweet.  After the meal, we celebrate our being here by starting the blade porn.  The blade porn is a bushcraft tradition which Camp Red had adapted, wherein it showcases the knives and hatchets of each individual and, by itself, spurs on intelligent conversations and jolly camaraderie exemplified by our skill with the catapults.

Breaking of camp proceed thereafter as we get on to the business of packing our things back into our bags.  We walk to our host’s residence and stay for a while to be feted with lunch, cold beer and watch live the rematch of Manny Pacquiao against Tim Bradley.  Our Filipino champion controlled the match convincingly and lopsidedly as he gets the nod of all the three judges. 

As the euphoria of Pacquiao’s win died down, Aljew decide to do a little exploration on a hidden enclave on the hills of Lilo-an.  We were all invited and a red pickup was used in reaching the area, which pass by an empty ammunition dump dug from a hillside by the Japanese forces during World War 2.  We walk when the truck could not proceed.  

A creek ran through the place.  There is a small waterfall that splash to a pond and a man is taking a bath on top of the rock.  We proceed on upstream and pass by a natural spring.  Water spew out from a piece of bamboo and drop in driblets to a plastic gallon.  Up ahead, a good 500 meters away, is a dried-up high waterfall.  Any place along the creek is a good site for a bushcraft camp by its proximity to a water source and lots of bamboo.

We go back to town and said our goodbyes to Aljew and Christopher.  It is already 16:00 and we have a long ways to go.  We commute back to Mandaue City and then to our respective homes.  I got home at 19:00 and I am tired.

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PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE BUSHCRAFT CAMP 2013

I CAME EARLY TODAY to send off the advance party for Camp Damazo. It is around 6:00 AM, June 10, 2013 and, six hours from now, the third Philippine Independence Bushcraft Camp will commence. I am at the parking lot of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish waiting for the advance guard.

One by one, they came: Jhurds Neo, Fulbert Navarro, Glenn Pestaño, Ernie Salomon and Boy Olmedo. All are products of PIBC 2011 and PIBC 2012 and they volunteered as camp staff and lecturers. Their bags are heavy and will be heavier still when the meat, the rice, the milled corn, the butane cans and other food ingredients will be added. All are members of Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild except Boy who is with CEMS.

All leave at 9:00 AM when the first trickle of the earliest participants arrive. Marc Josef Lim of the group from Liloan came early and is formally introduced to the group. Mayo Leo Carillo (PIBC 2012), passed by for work to drop a load of ten (10) whistle-paracord bracelets as a parting gift for the new participants on the last day - June 12.

The rest of the participants came and they are Ric Caliolio (Filipino Survivalists) and Ariel Cercado (Adamson University Mountaineers) - both from Metro Manila; Yuri Postrero (COAT); Chad Bacolod and Johnas Obina (ECO/MCAP); Jamiz Combista (Bisdak Survivalist); Aljew Frasco, Warren Señido, Allan Aguipo and Christopher Maru - all of Liloan; Anthony Espinosa and Aaron Binoya (OH); Jack Janson of the Bureau of Fire Protection; and Camp Red applicants Patrick Henry Calzada and Antonette Bautista.

Eli Bryn Tambiga (2012) and JB Albano (2012) – both registered nurses - will be my assistants when we will do the discovery hike from the trailhead to the campsite. Conar Ortiz (2012) also went along. As planned, a bus from Barangay Guadalupe arrive to shuttle us to the jump-off area at Baksan and we leave at exactly 12:00 noon. It was a slow ride but, nevertheless, we reached our destination.

This blogger start the on-site briefing and introduced JB and Eli Bryn to the sixteen participants. Eli Bryn shall walk the rear with his camera and JB will control the pace in the middle while I will guide the party. I assure all that my pace will be controlled and slow and I advise everyone to stretch muscles first before taking the trail after me to prevent injuries.

The trailhead is located at Baksan and the teak trees are healthy and blooming after many days of rain. It is supposed to be a rainy day as forecast by a government meteorological agency. The report stated that a Low Pressure Area will enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility today with a low of 23ºC and a high of 29ºC but the sky is sunny with passing clouds to give us perfect weather.

The ground is wet but it is not slippery especially when we proceed to the first stream after negotiating a steep slope. Those that are not sure of their footing provided themselves with wooden staff which are abundant along the trail. The stream is full and robust although water have risen high last night as seen from the traces of mud and silt along river banks.

Ahead would be the old campsite. Although a good site, it could not accommodate anymore the increasing number of people joining the PIBC. We pass by it and follow Lensa Trail to the next stream. We all take a brief rest here. I prepared three water holes if ever our water needs from our water source near camp is inadequate.

Above the stream, I cut a single pole of a water bamboo (Local: butong) with my 3-5/8” long William Rodgers spear-point knife and cut it some more and divide it to two poles with three segments each. Two people volunteered to carry one pole each so I can carry a slender bamboo pole which I stashed last May 5 for use as my shelter ridge on the first and second day and as a flag pole on the third.

From the same stream we climb up towards a ridge and, from there, it was easy ascent. The long line of people were not bothered by the rattan palms growing along the trail to the campsite. Along the way, I point to the party the designated latrines and the “gate” of Camp Damazo. These are two stout trunks – still standing - of what used to be living trees growing alongside each other and would serve as posts if there indeed was a gate.

Upon the portal of Camp Damazo, I welcomed all the sixteen participants to pass through and choose their own sleeping quarters. The allocation of tent space would have been the job of Randell Savior, he being the Camp Ramrod, but he could not make it in time but will attend his duties once he arrive in late afternoon. I have foreseen this, so I instructed the advance party to set aside the choice spots for the participants, which they did, including the smoke screens to ward off mosquitoes and other insects.

Just when I found my own sleeping spot, rain fell but not heavy although the rest have already set up theirs. Most of the small fires prepared by Glenn and Fulbert were snuffed out except one where it would become the center of camp life. It actually sit on the old campfire site underneath a Moluccan ironwood tree (Local name: ipil) and is a perfect spot to gather people around it. Nearby is a stinging tree (Local name: alingatong) which everyone evade with dread.

I set up my simple shelter when the rain stopped. It is almost on the same spot as last year and employing the same system and material. A cheap tarpaulin is tied at the four ends with a cord to the ground, the ridge is a slender bamboo (instead of a rope) that I carried up from the stream. I use a recycled tarpaulin banner as my ground sheet and nothing else. My Apexus fly sheet will instead be used for the campsite galley.

Over where my head is located – which is north – I pierced three sticks eight inches to each other on the ground and tied two more sticks horizontally on these. From these two sticks, I tied broad palm leaves with thin vines to prevent draft from getting in. My shelter will shield me from rain but not from mosquitoes. The campsite location is on higher ground but it is shielded by a thick forest and would protect us from strong winds.

Randell arrived and is in a quandary of where to place his hammock and tarp as the places where vegetation is cleared are now used up. Nevertheless, he improvised by tying his hammock underneath another. Ernie cooked a good supper of a steaming local pasta with soup for the hungry people on the campsite which now total twenty-five!

Around the campfire, a 750ml bottle of Tanduay Rum slipped in silently and make its presence felt when a glass made its round on the half circle of outdoorsmen braving the few drops of rain that got tangled by leaves overhead. A yarn ensued when the strong liquid touched the lips of Fulbert. The night rang out with unending echoes of laughter goaded by rum, drank straight without ice or chaser.

Unfortunately, Glenn could not join this jolly commotion as he is tent-bound by flashes of hypertension which JB and Eli Bryn are quick to administer normal medications. Johnas too needed some care as his back lay on a spiny caterpillar causing skin to inflame and swell. A cream of Caladryl was applied to soothe the inflammation.

When the bottle that supplied this ruckus ran out its course, the night claimed its silence. It is about 10:00 PM when I gaze at my shelter and an inviting space bade me in. There will be a night watch and two people will do the honors of watching over the campfire and the campsite every hour. I will have my watch at 4:00 AM and so an early rest seem fitting.

I slip on my bonnet and my long-sleeved Umbro shirt when I hear the unmistakable hum of mosquitoes. I keep my Rohan pants and shoes on to protect me from them and from cold. As assurance against them mosquitoes, I spray myself with citronella. The smoke from the fire is too far away to be of much efficacy in protecting me. Then I cover myself with my sniper meshclothe.

My consciousness would have dipped to the sleepy realm when an army of these danged mosquitoes blast their danged humming upon my ears. Besides that, they crawled and pricked all over my clothes and everything were strip of skin is bared. It practically ignored my shield of citronella and made my night a horror. I tossed and rolled in my cramped space and I gave up at around 3:00 AM and joined the watch of Eli Bryn and Conar. However, a cup of coffee soothed my nerves and kept me awake beyond my watch hours.

Light came on the second day, June 11. I visit the camp galley and Ernie is up doing his thing with the stoves, the pans and the fire. I thought I heard a rooster crowing nearby and that is strange. I decide to follow the sound and it goes into an unexplored trail which I will reserve for a future activity. I come nearer and I notice that not only I hear a rooster crow but I also hear a coo-coo of a hen.

The sound becomes mechanical-like without the unmistakable flapping of wings which a rooster would execute before crowing. I stop in my tracks and I remembered that pythons imitate sounds of their prey. Fully-grown pythons are intelligent reptiles and they are active since new moon was observed last June 8. The unfamiliar track I followed becomes forked. The upper one, I believe, will link to a road and the lower one, I also believe, to a stream.

Breakfast served were pork adobo and mung bean soup. After this, the lecture will start. I opened the PIBC proper and pass on to Fulbert and Conar, assisted by Jack, the lectures about the chapter on Basic Knot Tying. This took on the whole morning as it also touched on abseiling a slope using an improvised harness and the much more technical single-rope technique using prussic knots.

Lunch was supposed to be served after that but I explained to all participants that, to feel about the hunger pangs of survival, all will have to fast until dusk after which I lectured them the chapter about Introduction to Bushcraft and Survival. It is a long chapter where I have to explain the psychology of survival; the survivor’s relation to his environment and his own sense of morality when in that situation; the difference of bushcraft as against survival; and the possible repercussions when surviving a disaster.

After that, I touched on the chapter about Basic Survival Tool-Making and showed them the simple but useful tools that you could manufacture from nature. To give myself a break, Glenn came next with his chapter about Everyday Carry or EDC. EDC is so important to one who is into bushcraft and survival that, without it, is like a cowboy without his hat and Glenn is the best person to explain this since his arsenal of EDC items are very impressive and the envy of everyone.

When Glenn finished his, I proceed on to the next chapter about Basic Knife Care and Safety. I tackled on the only law governing the carrying of knives in this country and its amended version so everyone will understand their rights and their responsibility; how to travel with it safely – with a sheath or without; proper knife ethics; sharpening methods; and how to give your best smile when passing through police checkpoints and security screens.

Following on is the chapter of Basic Foraging. This is one of the most important part of bushcraft and survival for this is the means by which you could sustain your existence. It teaches you to collect some items that will be useful for you and it instructs you when and where to hunt food. This chapter will complement all the other chapters because, without this, your tools and your fires will not materialize.

Basic Firecraft is the most popular chapter since this is where true survival is based upon. But I destroyed that notion that anything is possible with friction tools and firesteel when you could not even start a fire with a matchstick. I emphasize more on the kinds of tinder and the proper preparation of combustible material. I demonstrated the most efficient forms of friction tools: the bamboo saw and the bow drill.

The last chapter closed on Basic Outdoor Cooking where the bamboo I foraged from the stream becomes the cooking pot. I taught the participants the technique in creating one and the proper cutting angles. Rice was cooked afterward when Johnas and Ariel tried my technique in opening bamboos.

Gladly, the lecture ended early at around 3:30 PM and a lot of daylight hours left for personal conveniences. Obviously, they were all hungry and tormented by uncomfortable sleep, inconvenienced of spartan living conditions and made to stay awake for the lectures. They have had enough of the day and of yesterday’s hike and I signalled to Ernie to serve the very late lunch at 4:00 PM. Food prepared are braised pork and dried fish cooked in oil.

After the meal, everyone re-adjusted their respective fly sheets, ground sheets and hammocks to improve their rest later on. Marc carve a spoon and a fork with a piece of green bamboo while Johnas constructed a bamboo amplifier which he copied from Facebook. Dominic Sepe arrived together with my guests, Maria Iza Mahinay and Bernard Bodiao of MCAP. Both climbers just came from a Mount Canlaon climb and both decide to stay at Camp Damazo.

In a few hours, a nocturnal hunting activity will proceed and it would be a good idea if I do a recon on the stream which I have not seen before. When 7:00 PM came, I called everyone’s attention and divide it into two groups. Randell will lead one group to hunt for tree snails (Local: taklong, takdong or korakol) around the campsite while I will lead another to hunt for fresh-water crabs (Local: piyu) at a stream.

When I arrive, the river is teeming with crabs. With LED torches it is easy picking provided you know how to grab it from the water. Much as I would have liked a good hunt, I advised my group to take just enough for dinner and leave the smaller ones alone before we go back to camp. The fruits of our hunt will be our dinner which Ernie will prepare on his own special way.

It was served in the middle of a circle by a campfire on banana leaves. The snails were boiled first, shell and entrails separated from the meat, before being fried; while the crabs were boiled, sauteed and then cooked in coconut milk. I help them find their food in the dark with my LED torch and there was a great “boodle fight”. Such were the satisfaction felt by everyone knowing that they have tasted the fruits of their labor.

The campfire yarns and storytelling started after the meal and this night’s affair is much lively and more animated than last night’s as three 750ml bottles of Tanduay and a half liter of Royal Crown Whisky supplied the fuel. My sleepiness have gone for a while but I know it will come back to me when this din will have died down. I do claim my sleep at 2:00 AM when the campfire circle became silent and abandoned. This time, I sleep beside the fire, the smoke protecting me, at last, from those pesky mosquitoes.

I wake up on the early morning of June 12, the last day of the PIBC. While Ernie is doing his thing, I start the blade porn which is a valued tradition in bushcraft. Branded knives lay side-by-side with native blades, tomahawks and spin-offs. Multi-tool sets claim their spaces by baring all their teeth while a number of SAK folders lay subdued with only one function sticking out. An odd item – an improvised blowgun – joined the pageantry.

Then comes breakfast: Eggs – sunny side up – plus last night’s braised pork. When all have recovered their appetite, the Philippine Independence Day rites start with invocation by Fulbert. The singing of the National Anthem (Lupang Hinirang) follow through the beat of the hand of Maria Iza while the Oath of Allegiance (Panatang Makabayan) is recited by Glenn and repeated by all, line by line.

Breaking of camp ensue at 9:30 AM and all make a long beeline to another discovery hike towards Baksan Road led by Fulbert while Randell, JB and Dominic stay behind to dispose trash that have not been carried along. At 10:00 AM, we all hike down the direction of Lanipao Rainforest Resort where we will stay for the rest of the day for relaxation and to cleanse ourselves in its spring-fed pools.

Noontime came and chicken sinigang soup is served. Afterward, the distribution of the PIBC certificates are carried on and, later, freebies of stickers, courtesy of Camp Red and Warrior Pilgrimage, are given. Then Mayo’s whistle-paracord bracelets are drawn to lucky recipients as well as ferro rods, paracord bracelets and an empty Altoid can courtesy of Glenn.

We leave Lanipao for Napo at 4:00 PM and the bus that took us to the Baksan trailhead two days ago returned to pick us up as agreed. We were all ferried and dropped at Camp Red’s favorite watering hole, the Red Hours Convenience Store, and swapped stories and goodies until it is time to go. It was another PIBC worthy of telling and re-telling for next year and the succeeding years after it.

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Some photos courtesy of Eli Bryn Tambiga and Anthony Espinosa

NAPO TO BABAG TALES LVIII: Traps & Snares

WHEN YOU DO BUSHCRAFT, one of the skills that you would need to use and practice is hunting.  There are many ways how to supply yourself food or furs from wild animals but trapping is the most efficient and is the easiest.  All you have to do is carry a survival knife and, perhaps, some cords or wires, although when you are proficient you could manufacture cords from nature.

Compared to hunting an animal with a rifle, trapping ensures that you have enough meat to eat where a bullet hole will, otherwise, waste some of it away and it also ensures you the best part of a fur caught unscathed where a weapon would, altogether, damage it.  Besides that, a rifle sound will scare away game and would give away your presence.

Catching prey with traps and snares does away of staying inert in a place for a long time so you could get your chance.  You just set up a good number of these and leave and then return the next day.  But setting up traps and snares are not done randomly.  It is like playing chess.  You have to lure prey where they are most likely populate or where they most likely pass by.

Traps are simple contraptions that take form borne out from natural terrain or done by taking advantage of the habits and instincts of wild creatures.  The single most important element here is luring.  You must lure your prey to get into your trap and it must appear convincing else it is just another form of “civil works” gone to waste. 

Food and water are the most important reasons why creatures are likely to be lured into and they have their own ways of getting these and, in the process, they leave traces of their presence.  Another strong impulse to lure your prey out of their comfort zones is thru mating.  Otherwise, if your prey are not into these conditions you lure them to flight into a predetermined location.

Trapping devices could stand on its own but they work better with snares.  Snares are more complex and these contraptions use a mechanism that is initiated by the prey.  It has a trigger system that employ a spring mechanism that is drawn taut to achieve effect when released.  A loop made from either a cord or a thin wire and bait are attached to the trigger and completes this simple, but made from nature, machine.

This blogger teaches people about bushcraft and survival through his Grassroots Bushcraft Teaching Series for members of the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild and other interested individuals.  Ten people availed of this free event on March 10, 2013.  This outdoors lecture is taught at the Babag Mountain Range and, this time, this blogger will talk about how to identify a trap zone on rivers, how to employ traps and how to make a simple snare.

As always, the journey to the range start from the grounds of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish.  Tailing behind this blogger are Jhurds Neo, Silver Cueva, Dominikus Sepe, Ernie Salomon, Nyor Pino, Benjie Echavez, Kulas Damaso, Antonette Bautista and Patrick Calzada.  From Napo, we follow the route towards Lower Kahugan Spring and rest for a while and replenish water bottles.

Along the way, I show the participants of the possible areas of the creek where traps could be constructed and used.  Catching fish by trapping is very easy and river creatures are most easy to lure even when you do not place bait.  As I have said before, traps make good use of the natural elements where, on a river, the flow of current will lure the fish there to look for food.

A classic example of a river trap is to make use of a row of boulders and divert some water from the main current into a deep cul-de-sac or dead end.  Such trap is very efficient and would be converted as a cage once a number of fish are trapped and it would be your source of food.  To sustain your existence in a survival situation, twenty or more of these placed along the length of a creek is adequate.

Where streams are narrow and natural traps are scarce, a piece of bamboo pole three feet long is enough.  One end is opened and the other end closed but a small hole is bored through it so water current would flow through the bamboo and remove buoyancy.  You place a weight at the closed end and some bait and it becomes a hidden sanctuary of a river creature.  Twenty or more of these placed along the length of the stream would ensure you food a day provided it is not washed by a rain-fed current.

After a half-hour of lecture, we proceed on to higher ground.  We reach the Roble homestead at 10:45 AM and prepare our noontime meal.  Food are taro sprouts mixed with red beans, sliced eggplants and gumbos and fried in oil; milled corn; rice; pork adobao; and canned tuna.  Fele Roble provided us green coconuts for dessert.

After the meal, the lecture proceed on to making a basic snare.  The mango tree and, later, a Mexican lilac branch, provided the spring device.  The trigger device is made from a guava branch while the cords are discarded shoe laces.  A dead branch half-buried on the ground is used as the “Guinea pig” which was caught when the trigger is released. 

Equipped with the knowledge of this very basic mechanism, all one have to do is improvise and include other devices and components or extend its reach.  The bigger your prey, the thicker your spring device will be.  For the lack of a spring device, you may substitute it with a deadfall.  The weight of a stone or a tree trunk strung up high is sufficient to that task.

Lastly, I advise all to never leave a man smell on all their undertakings.  Cover and camouflage all surfaces touched by hands and remove all human refuse indicating your presence.  The activity end at 3:30 PM and we retrace our route back to Napo and then Guadalupe.  We proceed to the Red Hours Convenience Store for our traditional post-activity discussions and socials.

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POEM #9: Nocturnal Hunting

It is night and below me

is a stream enveloped in darkness.

It had rained hours ago

the water swift but clear now to my naked eye.

My guide carried a kerosene lamp;

a scoop net held by the other hand;

I followed, wary and alert;

for snakes abound here waiting for prey.

I grasped my knife in its sheath;

the cold steel of the blade

reassures me though that it is alright.

Walking behind the guide with the bright lamp,

he made the night look like daylight;

boosting my confidence, aiding my sight.

A nudge from a foot

the shrimp leaped to its fate into the net.

After an hour or two

I counted an honest catch of twenty-two.

These became part of a midnight dinner

under a dark cloudy sky

by a camp made warm by a fire.

BUSHCRAFT BUHISAN XIX: Snakehawk Wilderness

WIL RHYS-DAVIES AND I had been meeting regularly many times since October when Wil broached the idea of establishing a wilderness skills school here in Cebu, Philippines. This is unfamiliar territory for me but Wil assured me that the playing field now have never been more healthy and very much favorable for us. We, he proceeded on, have wide years of experience together and possess the special skills to make this a reality.

Wil, by the way, is from Wales and had been making a living for forty or more years as an outdoors guide and teacher in the USA, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and here in the Philippines. He has travelled extensively for most of his life through deserts and mountains; jungles and cities; and in cold and desolate places. He loved to visit places astride his touring bike which he referred to as his “asawa” (translation: wife).

I, on the other hand, had been exposed to the outdoors life for the past twenty years as a recreational climber and, recently, as a bushcraft and survival instructor and designing wilderness programs and events. Like Wil, I cut my teeth early in adult life in the mil and had been privileged to have been taught by a veteran grandfather as a little boy and put these to good use to teach people about survival and primitive-living skills.

In the course of those meetings, we were looking for the proper name to carry that wilderness school in the market. I settled for “snakehawk” for a very special reason: When I was teaching in a bushcraft camp in Mount Balagbag, Rizal from September 29 to October 1, 2012, two adult serpent hawks appeared on the second day circling above me and I consider this a really really good omen.

Wil seemed to be happy about the name on the position that he is born under the year of the snake. I have worked under Wil in 2011 for Go Wild Adventures and he is so pleased to offer me a partnership for Snakehawk Wilderness Skills School. My partner will market our school and our offered courses to prospective clients, help me in the design of the training programs through research and do the actual instructions himself.

I, on the other hand, would put on all the necessary contents for the website; create and design the training courses; record and make financial statements; provide graphic designs for presentation slides and give hands-on instructions in the field. Aside that, I would identify and arrange the locations of the bushcraft camps, training facilities and contact persons plus the necessary itineraries and projected expenses.

Snakehawk Wilderness Skills School emerged from the drawing table and offered its first offering to the outdoors community: Basic Jungle Survival Course. The campsite is Camp Damazo and scheduled on January 21, 22 and 23, 2013. Two overseas clients enrolled for this initial training and they were Jon Green of the UK and Chris Perkins from the USA.

The campsite is located in a hidden nook of the Babag Mountain Range in Cebu City and is a small tongue of flat ground wedged amid two small mountain streams with thick jungle all around. Two water holes are dug on the stream bed for our water needs. The area has an abundance of dry wood and these soon will be fodder for our campfire.

First day was used up for discovery hike from trailhead to camp; campsite selection; tents and hammocks; knife safety; camp and personal hygiene; survival psychology; practical fire making and fire safety. Meals were cooked on conventional camp stove and on coals. Taps was at 12:00 midnight after a long fireside conversation.

Second day was another discovery hike into a foraging site and back; plant ID; foraging; survival tool-making; cooking and dining implements from bamboo; fire tinder; bow drill practice; bushcraft cooking techniques; agave plant use demo; snares; water sanitation; trip planning; route cards; and nocturnal hunting. Taps was observed at 9:00 PM.

Third day was a forced evacuation scenario; forced hike from camp to evacuation area; discovery hike from evac to Lanipao; plant ID; cultural introduction; post-activity discussion; and socials.

Jon and Chris had never been in a jungle environment and had never ridden a motorcycle taxi and a public utility jitney. In the course of their learning from Snakehawk, they have learned to appreciate the environment.

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BUSHCRAFT BUHISAN XVIII: Nocturnal Hunting

IF YOU RUN WITH the stripe of tigers at Camp Red, you gotta go where no one yet dared go. Most often, bold and resolute guys stake that claim in the real world. When you are determined, somebody faint-hearted will tag you as a bad ass. Being “bad” is like a badge of honor and, the more self-righteous ones put us in that image, the more we exult in it.

Take the case of nocturnal hunting. Nobody is doing this among outdoor groups and only Camp Red has the capacity and the daring to indulge in this and that alone raise a lot of eyebrows among Leave No Trace advocates. We could do this anytime anywhere because we are not mountaineers and we are not beholden to any LNT whatever. You may call us “bad” for that for all you care.

Bad are the days of November 10 and 11, 2012 when this blogger again show people how to forage food in the night under his Grassroots Bushcraft Teaching Series. It is an overnight activity participated in by Randell Savior, Ernie Salomon, Dominikus Sepe, Fulbert Navarro, JB Albano, Aaron James Aragon, Boy Olmedo and Boy Toledo. Also coming along is the father-daughter tandem of Benjie and Raji Echavez; balikbayan John Sevilla; and first-timers Jamiz Combista and Raffy.

We start from Guadalupe at 3:00 PM and hike our way towards a hidden part of the Babag Mountain Range. The area is not the usual haunt of conventional campers for it is a wild place. I advise everyone to get hold of walking sticks for it will be steep going down to the campsite and it would be dark soon. We reach the place at 6:00 PM after a short night navigation over a very faint trail inside of a jungle.

After a brief assessment of the terrain in the dark, seven tents are set up while two hammocks claim the trees in between under makeshift awnings. Divided by a stream and across them, I cast a big Apexus tarpaulin shelter over my sleeping ground. The sheet is a gift of Pastor Reynold Boringot during the MCAP Bushcraft Camp at Mount Balagbag, Rodriguez, Rizal held last month.

Preparation of dinner comes next. Ernie start to prepare and cook pork meat in adobo style and cream of mushroom soup with eggs. He also prepared a side dish of raw cucumber and tomatoes mixed in spiced vinegar while JB and Randell take charge of the milled corn. Fulbert and Boy O, meanwhile help dig two water holes on the stream bed.

On the other hand, I borrow Dom’s locally-made Tom Brown tracker knife to use it for gathering of firewood which I will use later for our campfire. A campfire is the center of this bushcraft camp’s social life and it will come alive soon. Besides that, woodsmoke will discourage pesky insects such as ants and crickets and varmints like recluse spiders and scorpions. There are a lot of dead branches and debris along the stream and these soon will be fodder for our fire.

When dinner is done, I immediately start the fire and Fulbert help feed the flame until it grow into a robust one. I see a big spider on a tree trunk and everywhere among the dark corners; their eyes give off an eerie glow when torch lights cast upon them. But I’m not worried and I assure the rest that these insects will soon disappear once the fire start burning the half-dry wood and grass.

It is 8:00 PM when the first signs of river life start to appear and then we kickoff our stream hunt. Our focus would be the fresh-water crabs, locally known as “piyu”. These are very numerous here and not a threatened species and quite tasty if you know how to prepare these for cooking. By the way, the crabs are the easiest to cook but I prefer it cooked southern Cebu style.

Before we embark on this, I remind everyone that nocturnal hunting is a dangerous activity. The stream is where most predators converge and hunt. Since the new moon will be on the fourteenth, expect pythons and other snakes to be very active in the dark. Aside that, other foragers like palm civets and monitor lizards will also be on the prowl. The big lizards are known to use their tails like a whip and the civets attack humans when their pups are threatened.

The crabs bite with their claws and it is painful. You pin them down with your thumb or shoe to immobilize them and hold it from behind with thumb and two fingers and lift it quickly to your catch bin. Usually, crabs scurry and hide behind debris or below rocks and it is not easy to see into the water when silt is disturbed. You have to draw them out of the water and into dry land and push their back with a stick and snatch it quickly from behind and throw it in the bin.

It is easy to catch the fresh-water crabs and it is also very easy to master it. Some people use bait to lure them but I find it impractical. It is just natural for them to forage and go “naked” in the night. Along the stream there are also frogs. They leap into the water once they see us coming. These are the edible kind but preparing these as food are much complicated and we could do this in the next hunting episode.

After a half-hour, we are able to catch eleven individuals. JB, Jamiz and Doms tried their best and got bitten in the process. I also got bitten but it’s okay since it’s part of the activity or experience. I insist to have this cooked with coconut milk, with which grated meat I personally brought along. As we return to the camp, the rum and juice had already been mixed and ready for serving. Perfect!

Ernie starts to do his thing following my preference of cooking, of course. The wine glass take its course of action and the campfire yarns and storytelling begin to take shape. The campfire is located close to the river bank and the heat bounced off to us as we sit amongst rocks. The sky is dark with a few specks of stars seen through the heavy foliage. One long-necked bottle is down and another round starts to take place.

The stories are getting animated as the intestines begin to crave the milked crabs which emit a pleasant aroma. When these gets served, each gets a good piece for himself plus the soup which is nicely done. The left-over milled corn from the earlier meal gets wiped off clean to the bottom as the natural juices of the crabs and coconut milk work its way into the taste buds.

Another bottle gets opened and another until the clock strike 1:00 AM and we all agreed to call it a night. The rain start to fall slowly as we were already settled in our sleeping spaces. I wake up at 5:00 AM but the main camp is still asleep so I catch a few minutes of sleep until I hear activity on the other side. Ernie is boiling water for coffee while the others plod around to find a private place. I try to sleep but I shiver from the cold of early morning shower.

I join the others to sip a hot coffee and, maybe, find myself a private place too but, too late, Ernie is serving breakfast. Food is pork with mixed-vegetable soup and fried eggs. The rain at dawn have raised the stream by a few inches and the current is fast but clear. It is a wet morning and we may have to break camp under a slight shower. It is 8:30 AM.

I found out that everyone save for Dom, Randell, JB and me did not have a good night’s sleep. Rain water seeped into the other tents and shelters due to poor rainfly setting or their tents are placed where water pass. My Apexus tarp protected me even when I am half exposed while the Silangan REV 20 of both Dom and JB give another good performance. I have seen these REV 20s shielding their occupants dry and in sheer comfort during the bushcraft camps I organized here in Cebu and in Luzon.

In Mt. Balagbag, for example, the REV 20 of one participant outperformed all branded tents local and imported during two days and two nights of unfavorable weather. And to think, that this tent is made locally in Talisay City, Cebu by a small start-up company called Silangan Outdoor Equipment. This is a good outdoor product and this writer recommend it to all the outdoor minions who are out there toiling in the rugged landscapes.

Meanwhile, Ernie and Randell debated which way to go and I break the impasse to follow, instead, the original itinerary. So we climb ridges and peaks and work our way within the jungle trails, stopping to recover our breath or to rehydrate. This wild place is one of the last forested areas of the Babag Mountain Range and only Camp Red made this as home.

We reach the Lanipao Rainforest Resort at 11:00 AM and walk a few meters to a small store down the road. We ingratiate ourselves with either cold soda drinks or cold beer. I prefer the latter and so are Boy T, Ernie, Fulbert and Jamiz. It is raining hard and so we stay for an hour-and-a-half killing time over tales and jokes.

Once the rain stopped, we walk on and cross Sapangdaku Creek and reach Napo. From Napo, we walk once more on the road down to Guadalupe which we reach at 3:30 PM. It was a complete activity last night and Ernie, Boy T and I toast to its success at another watering hole along V. Rama Avenue.

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ARGAO NIGHTS II (A Nocturnal Hunting Event)

I LOVE TO GO BACK to that place somewhere in Argao to catch fresh-water shrimps and crabs.  I have gone there on October 2, 2010 with two former associates and it was fun.  The adrenaline rush is felt when snakes that lie inert on river beds like debris suddenly comes alive on your approach and weave its way among the sand bed in the dead of night.

Here I am again with the rest of Camp Red like Raymund Panganiban, Glenn Pestaño, Faith Tannen, Justine Ianne and William “Jungle Wil” Rhys-Davies.  Jungle Wil, who is from Wales and a fellow Outlaw Bushcraft, have that innate fear of snakes.  Who doesn’t?  Even I would give a wide berth if I happen to meet a snake in my outdoor traipses.

Camp Red will be doing nocturnal hunting there.  It is an overnight affair with the dates falling on January 21 and 22, 2012.  We start from the Cebu South Bus Terminal at 8:00 AM and arrive at Argao two-and-a-half hours later.  Since it is almost noon, we decide to take an early lunch at a local restaurant.

When meal was done, I and Jungle Wil proceed to the public market to buy our food provisions good for the night’s dinner and for tomorrow’s breakfast and lunch.  We also buy ingredients for the second dinner which comes after our hunt of shrimps and crabs at the river.

We leave the center of town by hired motorcycles to a hilly part of Argao where there is a free-flowing river.  We arrive at 15 past noon and I make a courtesy call to the village headman.  The stream, I learned from him, have been diluted with poison by unscrupulous locals a few months ago that diminish the population of shrimps and crabs, along with fish, frogs and snakes.

I give them the actual briefing before we pitch our tents at the nearby school grounds.  I opted to sleep outdoors.  I am introduced to Sergio Gealon as our official escort and guide.  I buy a gallon of coconut wine to know Sergio better and to erase any awkwardness he may have felt on us.  He thought of Raymund as a Korean while he thought of Glenn as a pirate.   

Sergio lead us to the other fishing ground among rice fields.  A clear spring slowly gush out of a hole on the ground where it run out into a small stream that is used as a laundry area for locals.  I could see in the clear water a number of foot-long fish and fat shrimps feeding on underwater plants.  Folks say there is a stout eel living inside the hole which is covered by the estuarine plant.  I scoop water with my hand and tasted the water.  It is of good quality. 

Sergio take us to the old houses on stilts.  The posts and beams are old trunks of hardwood tree, gnarled and bent; the walls are of crushed bamboo; the roof made of swamp palm leaves; and the floors are bamboo slats nailed to the floor beams.  One of the house is erected as far back as 1931 according to an old lady who remembered the construction when she was just eight.  

I am the official cook and I have three sets of diners:  the carnivores, the vegetarians and the omnivores.  I prepare pork adobo for the first set and mixed-vegetable soup for the last two eaters.  I belong with the last and I could eat anything short of poison.  Glenn, meanwhile, started a small campfire.  The wood smoke is so nice to smell and memories came knocking at me.

Sergio came back after dinner.  Jerry Alberca, our former guide, lend us his Petromax and his scoop net.  We start for the rice fields and the spring hole at 8:00 PM.  Jungle Wil do the honors of catching our first prey: a thumb-sized shrimp with long pincers.  We transfer to the main stream walking across rice field dikes.  I am backstopping the party from behind with a walking stick, a big Maglite with the other hand and my Mantrack dangling on my breast.

We cross the road and continue on upstream.  Raymund tried his best to catch the activity with his DSLR camera without a good illumination.  Jungle Wil and the rest are following Sergio for he carried the brightest light that is now the center of the activity.  All bend down here and there to reach something on the shallows while on the walk.

I notice a commotion up ahead and I am just in time to see a sizable water snake trying to escape from the rabid hunters.  I cut off the snake’s route with my long staff then, all of a sudden, Raymund flashed his bolo and hit the snake causing it to writhe in pain.  The snake fought back by biting my stick and it never let go.  I raise the snake into the scoop held by Jungle Wil and I twist the net so it wouldn’t climb out. 

Before we finish our nocturnal adventure on the river, we fish out the biggest and fattest fresh-water shrimp that I have laid my eyes on.  I hold the shrimp and its big claw bit my thumb but I never let go and I drop it to our catch box where a number of its cousins are already inside plus a juvenile python, a mudfish, fresh-water crabs and frogs.  I released the frogs and the small snake but kept the bigger water snake.

Our host, the couple Eddie and Riza Alberca, welcomed us and I help them in preparing our catch by slicing the onions, garlic, radish and ginger.  Lemon grass, tamarind, cabbage, spring onions and desiccated coconut were added to the kitchen table while our male host started a fire from his earthen hearth. 

On the other hand, Glenn remove the skin from the snake, cut it to bite pieces and immerse it with spiced vinegar and soy sauce.  Glenn grilled the snake while our host make a tamarind-based soup of the shrimps and another soup of the crabs with coconut milk.  The crab soup is exceptionally done and I eat several servings of it while the shrimps are very fat and juicy.  Everyone enjoyed the meal and the conversation on the dining table drag on to almost 2:00 AM.

By now, all are eager to kiss the ground for a sleep inside their tents except me.  I transfer to another sleeping area but much safer where I could see the whole campsite.  The fire had died down and I blow it to life feeding more wood.  Wood smoke tickle me again to memory lane and I enjoy the cool night with a little light from the flickering flame.

I wake up early and enjoin everyone for a bath at a small waterfall on the river.  Jungle Wil prefer to stay and watch our things while I lead the rest down to the creek and walk upstream where there is a deep pool and a big rock blocking our way to the waterfall.  I climb over the obstacle and everyone slowly followed and it is indeed a small waterfall but the rush of water is so great that standing under is nearly impossible.

We stay for an hour at the waterfall.  I feel better after a good dose of natural massage by falling water.  We return back from where we came.  We pass by a communal water source and wash off our body with clean water.  When we reach the campsite, we change into dry clean clothes and queue our way back to our host’s house to partake of brunch of two free-rein chicken soup.  It’s a local treat and we gorge the meal with gusto.

I brought a long bottle of brandy and two bottles of energy drink and this is a good interlude to while away time watching a DVD movie at our host and do some small talk.  Before breaking camp, we clean the school grounds of garbage as our way of thanking the community for their support of our activity and of safeguarding our presence.  I personally dispose of our last night’s campfire and leave as little trace of it as possible. 

At 1:00 PM, we say goodbye to Eddie, Riza, Jerry, Sergio and the rest of the good people there.  We walk the road down to the highway and agreed to down one big bottle of beer for the road when we reach the corner.   We are now more wise and we decide to board the biggest and fastest bus for Cebu.  By 4:30 PM, we were already at the Cebu South Bus Terminal.

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