Padre Burgos - San Ricardo - Surigao - Butuan - Balinguan - Camiguin
Departure 2013-Oct-10 - 8.45 Arrival 2013-Oct-11 - 19.45
The big plan is to first go down to Camiguin Island in the north of Mindanao, then head further south to General Santos to catch a ferry to Sulawesi, Indonesia.
The journey to Camiguin starts in the morning, waiting 2 hours for the bus to San Ricardo to catch a ferry to Surigao on Mindanao. This ferry only takes a couple of hours, but considering the strong winds and large waves (they actually had to tie the trucks to the ferry...) I was happy to have sea-sickness-pills at hand! The next bus is already (tied-up) on this ferry and I can hop on. This way, I make it to Butuan by 23.00.
Butuan is a blown-up village of 150.000 people (with twice the amount of tricycles), only fast food-restaurants and shops that all sell the same non-sense made of plastic. They even sell plastic-furniture here...
Luckily, I can leave this place right the next morning after finding the desperately required ATM.
One more bus, one more ferry, one more jeepney, one more motorella, one more monsoon-shower …. and finally I arrived in Camiguin! Lucky enough I got a recommendation for a gemstone bed & breakfast on this island: Casa Roca! A place with a warm vibe run by a Canadian bear and a Philippine chef … good food, spanish wine, a beautiful garden and family atmosphere for 5 days! The long journey was well worth it...
Camiguin is a volcanic island where you can go hiking, biking, diving, snorkeling. It's beaches vary from black to white and with a scooter you can go around the island in an hour. There are seven volcanos, which make Camiguin the island with the highest amount of volcanos per square meter worldwide. One of them, Mount Hibok-Hibok (1300m), is still active and a has trail up to the top.
On October 15, I decided to go on a guided hike to see the crater-lake of Mount Hibuk-Hibuk. To make it up to the top before it gets too hot,I have to leave Casa Roca at 5.30 in the morning. The hike is supposed to be three hours long and tough, as the trail gets pretty steep in the end. Thus, I am dressed in my performance gear, whereas the guide is "hiking' in flip-flops....
The first two hours lead us through the jungle and high ferns, the vegetation is extremely beautiful and the views on White Island are stunning. The higher we get, the steeper it gets, and my pace slower and slower. When one moment I rest, I can suddenly hear a rumbling noise, but cannot figure out what it is! It gets louder and louder and I am wandering if all hell breaks lose and the volcano is about to erupt! Suddenly, the earth beneath my feet is shaking and I am absolutely clueless what to do, besides panicking. Next thing I know is I am jumping off the trail and in the ditch, trying to hide. Suddenly, in an amazing speed, a hugh boulder bombards down, just a few meters next to me..... bursting a tunnel in the dense jungle and partly destroying the trail. Silence after that!
The guide, who was obviously trying to hide as well, appears again. Unfortunately, he chose the wrong direction and the rock hit him, only slightly though. We both are pretty shocked and decide not to climb the last 200m to the top. We just want to get off that mountain..... Being back in Casa Roca I hear the news: an earthquake of 7.2 magnitude hit Bohol and what I experienced on the mountain were the shock waves, which still had a strength of 5.2 and caused a landslide.
I am not sure wether I am lucky or unlucky ... the chances of experiencing my first earthquake on an active volcano seamed to be quite slim, in deed! Unpredictable Nature, once again.
continue with ... Sulawesi