2am, again. We woke up, packed our things and hired a cab going to South Cebu Bus Terminal. After the 10-minute drive, we were lucky to find the first Ceres bus with the signage Bato via Barili going to Badian. We were going to be on the road for 2.5hrs so we bought lugaw (porridge) in the terminal from a deeply sleeping ate who woke up with red eyes (sorry ate!). We went back to the bus and had the tastiest breakfast ever. What’s surprising is that it was actually more fulfilling than the lechon in Cebu City. :P

We slept our way through the ride and alighted at Matutinao Church. We met our Kuya Ronald who we were in contact with months before. We followed him to their house which is their ‘head office’. There were lots of helmets and – RUBBER SHOES. Funny I thought they were just rubber shoes enthusiasts at first! (Had a good laugh about that haha.) Little did I know they were the shoes to be used in the actual canyoneering. We changed into our rashguards, borrowed shoes, and put on our helmets. We had a quick, heavy breakfast before going, and it was the cheapest meal I’ve ever had in a very long while. Php 30 for 2pcs of longganisa, egg, rice, and coffee.

We left the house at 7:30am. The ride of a lifetime – the habal habal – began. My friend Anna and I hitched a ride in the back of a motorcycle while Nicole shared with Kuya RD, our assigned tour guide. For a good 20 minutes, we passed by cemented and non-cemented pathways, swayed and bumped here and there. We had the orientation first (where Diether Ocampo was haha). By 8:00am, we arrived at our destination, and well, not to my nerves desire, the first activity would be the first jump. We waited for a kuya who was having second thoughts and while it was clear that it will take him a long time to actually decide, we went ahead of him.

It was so casual, the first jump. There wasn’t much to think about except that my two friends already jumped and seeing them fine and alive calmed me a bit. But the feeling – the feeling of falling – was kind of surreal. You don’t do it every day. And you don’t put on helmet and tighten your life vest and put on rubber shoes if it wasn’t dangerous – it is. If you jumped too much or if your angle was wrong, you could slide against the wall and get yourself wounded. AND IF YOU DON’T KNOW HOW TO JUMP THE RIGHT WAY, YOU’LL SUFFER FROM SLAP-BUTT PAINS. Seriously. Our first jump in the first Kawasan falls was just baptism in the fire. I still feel it, the actual falling. It was letting go of everything else and waiting to hit the water while on air. It was exhilarating. Although, there wasn’t time for me to scream.

I think we jumped about 6-7 times. The hardest was the second falls, a 25ft drop. It was a narrow one so we had to concentrate on the spot where we’ll land. It was also where we got our butts slapped the hardest. Good thing we didn’t have much of jumping after that.

At around 1:30pm we were already staring around the forest, tired, walking, trekking. We didn’t speak much thanks to Kuya RD who was pep talking us about the 80ft and 60ft drops. The 25ft was all I could think about that time and the idea of tripling or even quadrupling the height was unfathomable.

Nicole did the 80ft not knowing it was THE 80ft (haha Kuya RD tactics). She got a really big slap mark across her right thigh and leg, and trusting Kuya’s instincts, Anna and I didn’t jump anymore. So on we went to the slippery spot of the third and last falls, the 60ft. There wasn’t any group before us, so I was first in line. I stared at what’s before me – a wonderful expansion of nature with little heads below waiting for me to jump. I didn’t jump at Kuya RD’s first count simply because that’s AAGH –  a countdown to the MOST INSANE THING I’D EVER DO IN MY LIFE. I needed a little time – and silence. I jumped without any warning, not a scream, and I was falling, and falling, AND FALLING. I thought it’d never end, until I heard the water slap my butt again. I opened my eyes while I was deep in the water and sucked for so much air when I surfaced. I looked back and up to where I stood a few seconds before and SCREAMED MY LUNGS OUT. I did it. I DID IT!

I waited for the other two to jump, and we were done by 2:00pm. We left Kawasan Falls and rode an ordinary Ceres bus to Moalboal where Sisters Inn is. We ate lunch at one of the town terminal’s carinderia and hired a tricycle who had a special rate of Php 150 for us tourists; it was Php 20 normally. :P

We slept the afternoon away and by night time Anna and I went to buy dinner. It was dark outside and the road wasn’t cemented. We walked a good 0.3km in the dark and a few turns later we found the community of hostels and restaurants. We went Mexican at Maya’s Native Garden. I enjoyed my mini pizza but Anna didn’t like her burrito. We took home some for Nicole and ‘trekked’ again. At 9pm, we were all snoring.

*****

Expenses and Itinerary

TOTAL BUDGET: PHP 13,000

Accommodation

Hotel Sisters Inn booked via Agoda

Canyoneering
Booked Kuya Ronald - 09059682225
Very helpful. We were still in contact with him for directions going to Oslob.

4AM, arrive at South Cebu Bus Terminal, Bato via Barili signage, Php 147

6:30AM, arrive at Matutinao Church, breakfast

7:30AM, start Badian Canyoneering, Php 1200/person

12NN, lunch at barbeque stalls before second falls, Php 120-150

2PM, finish canyoneering

2:20PM, bus from Badian to Moalboal, Php 20

2:30 PM, lunch at carinderia, Php 150

3 PM, trike to Sisters Inn, Php 50/person

8PM, dinner at Maya’s Native Garden, Php 235

Notes