Ironwulf En Route
As I embarked on my kayak, the tranquil ambiance of the San Vicente – Talisay river system in Talisay, Camarines Norte enveloped me. The chorus of cicadas and the melodious songs of countless birds created a symphony of nature. My aim was to catch up with my friends who had already embarked on a floating cabana towards the Centennial Wharf. However, my paddling skills fell short, and I found myself embracing the serenity of the San Nicolas Mangrove Forest instead.
“Where there’s a river, there’s life!” As they say and it can never be truer as this body of water penetrating the land can be a source of food, livelihood and instrumental in irrigation. When late environmentalist, Gina Lopez spearheaded a clean-up drive for Buhatan river in Sorsogon back in 2014 and they saw the ecotourism potential of this river. Following the path of successful river rehabilitation and ecotourism development like Bohol’s Abatan river, Cebu’s Bojo river and Puerto Pricesa’s Iwahig river to name a few.
Being cooped up the the city because of limited mobility can get really weary. We all need a dose of nature once in a while. I was glad when a community of yogis in our studio decided to organize a day tour at nearby Mount Purro Nature Reserve in Calawis, Antipolo. A nature escape just a couple of hours in the metro with an added those of yoga. Enjoying a day of camaraderie on hikes, river treks and chill.
After enjoying a day at Isla de Gigantes, our third day in our Panay island loop is spent in transit to Antique. On the way, we’ll stop by Capiz first for an afternoon of sightseeing. Quite excited as it was my first time visiting this province. Known as the “Seafood Capital of the Philippines”, I was looking forward to try to some delicious seafood dishes. Capiz also home to some fascinating heritage. From Carles, Iloilo, it’s roughly 1.5-2 hours drive to Roxas city, the provincial capitol. With the various conditions on the road it would be handy to have an auto insurance while traveling, get an advice from insurancenavy.com for that peace of mind while on a road-trip.
It seems there are several title holders for the “cleanest inland body of water” in the Philippines. Good thing about this is it shows how many natural clean body of water we have. Bugang River in Pandan, Antique was the first I know to have the title through the Gawad Pangulo ng Kapaligiran. There’s also Lake Apo for Northern Mindanao. Cantingas River in San Fernando, Sibuyan Island in Romblon adds to this merry list of clean body of waters in the country.
This was stuff I only read on textbooks when I was still studying. I remember reading about Sohoton Coves and Natural Bridge Park before and has always been fascinated by this place in Basey, Samar. But it was only in our last day of #SailEast tour that I had the chance to visit this nature wonder of a lush jungle, dramatic limestone formations and a meandering river snaking through the vast 840-hectare park. It is only an hour away from Tacloban city proper, a worthy day tour when in Eastern Visayas.
The recent #SailEast fam tour brought be back to one of the exciting river adventures I had. The Ulot River Torpedo Extreme Boat Adventure in Paranas, Samar was quite memorable a couple of years ago. And I’m quite happy this eco-adventure destination is still going strong. This time around, the water volume was not as high as my first visit but still managed to deliver a splashing good time. I won’t delve more on the experience as you can read it from the previous post. This time, I’m updating with an informative video on this river adventure. Watch below and don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube Channel.
