The Great Bohol Adventure (in story form)

unpublished (coming out THIS thursday -dec. 23- in Sun.Star Cebu), photos here

The sky was heavy with ominous clouds, and it had been drizzling for most of the afternoon. It was getting late. I had been standing on the bridge in Antequera for about two hours now, staring at the clear blue river a hundred feet below. Finally, it was my turn to rappel.

I hurriedly put on my harness, gloves and helmet before I could change my mind. By my calculations, it would be pitch dark by the time I’d reach the river, and the thought of hanging in midair in the darkness scared me. It was my first time to rappel, after all, and in an unfamiliar environment. Even our guides had never tried it there before. But about 10 people had already gone down before me. Still, that was earlier, when the sun was out. I stood at the railing, ready to climb over. Suddenly, the rain fell. “The river is rising,” our guide signaled from below, “No more rappelling.”

There were about 40 of us on that trip to Bohol, a 3-in-1 adventure tour organized by cebuweek.com. We had gone to the mountain town of Antequera for rappelling and spelunking, as well as camping at Mag-aso Falls. Since there was no transportation so late in the evening, we had to trek the few kilometers from the bridge to the falls in the cold rain, tired and disappointed. It had been a long day.

The day before, we had docked at Tubigon, proceeding to Panglao for the first adventure: kayaking under the full moon. It would be my first time to kayak, but I wasn’t too excited about tiring myself out when I knew I could easily take a pumpboat. Our destination was Puntod Island, a large sandbar about 3 km from Panglao.

I waded through the warm water, dragging my kayak until it was deep enough to paddle. Fortunately, it was still daylight, because our fleet of kayakers had to navigate through tall seagrass and fish pens.

The afternoon sun was hot, my arms were getting tired, but out in the middle of the sea, I realized I didn’t want to be doing anything else. I loved how with just a few strokes the kayak would slide forward, cutting cleanly through the water, fast, silent. It was as if I were alone with the wind and the universe, the whole sky to myself. I stopped to watch the setting sun creep slowly behind a cloud.

I waved at fishermen in their outrigger boats, feeling a sort of kinship as I paddled through the waves that by now were getting bigger. A few kayaks even capsized. Exhausted, I reached shore at last. The island was beautiful. Its ends curved inwards, forming a small bay framed by fine, white sand. I had landed just in time as, some minutes later, I caught a glimpse of the red moon rising fast.

We were told to set up camp in a grassy clearing in the middle of the island, surrounded by bushes and coconut trees. “It will be cold later,” our guides said. The wind was indeed getting chilly. I sat on the beach as the tide rose steadily with the moon, its silvery light reflected by the sea. After dinner, we had games and dancing for people to get to know each other. But the water was warm; the moon beckoned. I had to go out to sea.

With my swimsuit on again, I set out to paddle to the tip of the island. It was past midnight; the moon was high in the sky. The water was so clear I could see the grass at the bottom. What had been white beach a few hours ago was now underwater. It was as if I was floating in a pool. The long, narrow strip of sand near the tip of the island was also starting to disappear, the waves converging from each side of the shore. As I stood there later bathed in dream light, I felt like I was walking on water, the sea all around me.

The next morning, the island was a vast desert. Because the sea had receded so far back, it took us awhile to get to Panglao and Dumaloan Beach, causing the delay in our rappelling. But as moonlight filtered through the trees later that night at Mag-aso Falls, we were promised we would still get to rappel the next day.

On our last day, after breakfast and a swim at the falls, the group split up for rappelling and spelunking. The sun shone when we got to the bridge, but as I put on my harness, a cloud suddenly cast a shadow over us. “Uh-oh. Looks like rain again,” I thought. Thankfully, it wasn’t. And as I touched down at the river some moments later, I couldn’t imagine why I had been so anxious the day before. I took a cool dip as I waited for the others to finish. Then we all trekked up the river and through some forest to get back to the bridge, still tired but smiling at last.

On the boat back to Cebu, we each got an “adventure award” for completing the kayaking-rappelling-spelunking tour. Of course, I don’t really deserve it because I didn’t get to see the cave. But between you and me? That’s just my excuse for another adventure.

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Cebuweek.com is an outdoor equipment store on Mango Ave. For more information on adventure tours like this one, visit www.cebuweek.com or call 4129807. For more photos of the trip, check out the official cebuweek friends website here on multiply.