I thought that it was going to be a typical experience, a normal sight-seeing to this internet famous
Sea of Clouds in Danao ,but I was wrong. We were taken to the depths of Danao
and somehow found our heaven in there.
5 educators who are undeniably thirsty for new things and new stories ventured to the heights of Danao, Bohol. This is the first time that the five of us decided to take a breather out of the suffocating environment we have ( students’ reckless behaviors and colleagues as well). Since we need a breather, we chose to vent out our angst and unheard arguments to Danao which happens to be the place for extreme adventures and death defying activities. With the wrong reason and the right place, we planned our itinerary.
Sea of Clouds
For us to
anticipate problems and prepare ourselves, we read some articles and blogs
about the place. If you want to go to a foreign place, just like us , you need
to read reviews and recommendations to contact the right people because
sometimes a perfect getaway comes from the right tour guide. After reading, we
contacted Ma’am Donnie Suter and Sir Ponciano Suter since they welcome
travellers in their humble home. For Php 500.00, you can already have a room
good for two to three people and its air-conditioned. Reminding everyone that their
home is not a hotel so please be responsible! When we we’re there, we talked
about the nature of our tour! After we explained to them what we want to see,
they offered us to contact a habal-habal driver for Php 100.00 who can take us
to the places we mentioned. Luckily we have Kuya Benoy and the gang to
accompany us.
The night
before, we prayed so hard for the rain to abstain itself from pouring because
you will not see any fogs if it will rain and aside from that, the footpath
leading there would be muddy and will be prone to accidents. Fortunately, the
universe conspired to our plan and the rain never came. At 4:30 am, we departed
from the house and by 4:45 am we arrived at the site. I lost count of the time
when we trekked but one thing for sure, the struggle was real. Since there were also
other tourists who were checking out the place, Kuya Benoy made us walk to another
“Moto”(hill) to separate us from them. It was still dark so, we just waited and
did some crazy stuffs.Patience is a virtue and the wait was worth it. When we
saw the fogs accumulating up as the sun overcame the darkness, we were in deep
silence as we savored the moment and feasted our eyes to God’s majestic
creation. I mumbled my first name and thought, Mary Cielo this is your place.
Kaukay Falls
I will always
recount our experience in trekking this falls as perilous since compared to
Aguinid Falls, where we are surrounded with people who are very acquainted with
the falls already, the Kaukay falls is an untouched paradise with very few
people knew about its existence. Kuya Benoy, who guided us there, was very sure
that he could take us there but not sure if we could make it unscathed.
The Kaukay
Falls is near to the site of the Sea of Clouds. It will only take about 5
minutes to get to the starting point but it will take you at least an hour to
get there depending on the weather. When we were there, it was chilly and it
was also drizzling a bit. So, the weather slowed us.
From the
starting point, we trailed a very forested footpath surrounded with Cogon
grasses and other shrubs. Aside from the footpath was forested, the trail was
very muddy as well so slipping and tumbling butt-first was inevitable that
time. This kind of trekking was not new to us since we already conquered all 5
level challenges in Aguinid and it was easy for us since the tour guides who
accompanied us knew already what to step, how to step and when to step. Now,
compared to our Kaukay adventure, Kuya Benoy and the others will instruct you
where were you heading but not what stones to step, how to climb up and down
and where to hold. So, it was a trial and error for us. the last challenge that
really shook us was the almost 13 feet high trail. We need to climb down
holding only a root which was sturdy enough. At first Kuya Antonio scratched
his head especially when it was Irene and I’s turn to climb down. Eventually
with all courage,we were able to climb down. We rewarded ourselves with a good
splash of the cold water from the falls. Though we survived the climb but we
were not free from leaf cuts, bruises and stone cuts. For the first time in
such a long time, I was proud of the scars I got from that trek.
EAT Danao
“You don’t pay
for the rides, you pay for the experience” this is the quote I remembered back
to the very first time I went to EAT Danao. I’ve been there for four times
already and tried the rides already so I wasn’t pretty excited about it. My
coldness towards the activity was pretty much in contrast to my companions’
excitement because it was their first time to be there.
Circulating
rumors like that the place is already not safe or is abandoned already are not
true in fact, when we were there we have tried activities like the Zipline,
Cable Car and somehow watched some tourists braved the Plunge. In my humble
assessment, the rides, the place and the activities are all packed for a rough
and tough experience.
Gypsy’s Tips
- · Always contact the right people. For example, make bookings ahead of time and contact tour guides to help you wander in there.
- · Check the weather since the sea of clouds rely heavily on the temperature
- · Travel with people you like.
- · Know the itinerary like in our case we thought that we are just going to hike but turned out we had a river trekking in our list.
- · From Tagbilaran, you can ride a van to Danao or buses.
- If you also have your own car, you can visit there conveniently. There are signages that are going to guide you.
- There are so many things you can do in Danao and it is a wise decision to visit the place.
To Irene V. De Claro, Jasmine Torrejas, Juvelyn Teves and Anabilla Siason, thank you for the friendship, love, care, jokes and comfort. I will always cherish those. Now that we are going in different directions, I hope that we will always remember that there will be always an "US". Kudos!
