by Maria Eleanor E. Valeros, #newmedia specialist
:for#microadventurism
Photo by Aldo Nelbert A. Banaynal
SIBULAN, ORIENTAL NEGROS, PHILIPPINES — The itch to return to Sibulan is connected to this lust I have never ever learned to tame for Lake Balinsasayaw.
Serene. Reserved. Cool. Placid. These are all overused terms to describe her. These, which all the more underrate her, because such also mean measuring her in terms perceptible.
Truth be told: Lake Balinsasayaw will forever be a mystery.
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A furious Mount Guintabon blew its top, believed thousands of years ago, creating a caldera which served as catch basin for rainwater. The caldera was said to be discovered by a certain Don Miguel Patero in 1885. Now, with a surface area of 76 hectares and a depth of 90 meters, it serves as natural playground for those wanting to go boating and kayaking or do hiking/trekking on trails at the bank of the lake.
Twin Lakes Natural Park is said to be the home of 180 species of dipterocarp and non-dipterocarp trees, 113 species of birds including serpent eagles and swifts (balinsasayaw) from which one of the lakes was named after, 27 mammals, and 49 amphibians and reptiles. Age-old trees, giant ferns, and other exotic plants and orchids are among her natural inhabitants. Wild rare vines also freely cling to the barks of trees.
The Almaciga tree, said to be the tallest tree in the Philippines, which grows up to 60 meters tall, can still be found here.
Sad to note (but I do understand) swimming which entails risk and pollution has already been prohibited. So I failed to make my “return flip” from out of the boat to the waters somewhere near the center of the lake.
However, my motorcycle crashes did a repeat. On my way up there last time onboard a Honda Wave motorcycle, my driver and I crashed two times because of the potholes and the rocks scattered all over the road. Last Friday, on our way home, my companion (on his “first time” out there) maneuvered a bend and got pretty jittery at the sight of an oncoming, speeding “habal-habal” that his reflexes sent him manipulating both hand-foot brakes. We sealed the adventure with scratch marks and aching bones.
I definitely won’t recommend this destination via motorcycle, sans the expertise for the terrain, the faint-hearted, or those who design their ITs like their study skeds or household chores. However, because the road to the Twin Lakes is for those who have deep admiration on how nature changes the landscape with all of her fury and glory, I think that this would motivate you to go for the kill (lol)!
The view from up there – and a dash of soul searching – more than compensates for the bumpy, risky ride.
Further, it was learned that the Twin Lakes Natural Park is part of the 133,000-hectare geothermal reserve managed by the Philippine National Oil Company. The 8,016.50 hectares belonging to the natural park straddles the three municipalities of Sibulan, Valencia and San Jose in the Province of Oriental Negros (yes, this is how the words are politically arranged!)
By the way, the lakes are contained in adjacent calderas 1,000 meters – and not feet – above sea level and are separated by a ridge more than 20 meters in width. The lakes are completely surrounded by thick forests and lush vegetation of about 3,462 hectares spread over the Guintabon, Kabalin-an, ang Guinsayawan mountain ranges which serve as protection dikes to the lakes.
Mount Guintabon is 1,262 meters above sea level while Mount Guinsayawan is 1,788 MASL. While Lake Balinsasayaw has a surface area of 76 hectares, Lake Danao has only 30.
————————————————————————————————————————————–Don’t forget to drop by Jo’s Chicken Inato By The Sea in Sibulan for their yummilicious “tinolang manok sa buko” with pepper leaves. I find the place worth marking, most especially as they have cute outrigger-inspired meal tables under the canopy of century-old rain trees. Check Gina’s Kabayo-an in Dumaguete City for a variety of dishes like lechon kawali, crispy pata and horse meat. We stayed at La Moriah Pension Inn which offers barkada package.
The pack spent nearly P4,000 for the two-day trip to Sibulan and Valencia towns and Dumaguete City, including overnight accommodation and a visit to the Cataal War Museum in Valencia managed by war memorabilia collector Felix Constantino “Tantin” Cataal. (First published in The FREEMAN Lifestyle Section, 2012)
TRAVELEANORISM 