A breath of fresh air: My Brooke's Point Adventure
Anything that involves an environmental advocacy never fails to excite me... So when my roommate Teta told me about her flight to Palawan to experience Bantay Kalikasan Eco Academy, I just had to pull out my credit card and book the flight so I could join her. Hey, it's not everyday when you get the opportunity to travel to experience a one of a kind adventure-- a full blast eco-educational tourism adventure!
So there we were, at the Puerto Princesa Airport... waiting to be picked up by a van that will bring us to Brooke's Point.... then kabooom, in a matter of hours my eyes got to feast on this view as I tilt my head up. It wasn't just how the place looked that took my breath away, it was the sound of water, birds and crickets plus the aromatic scent of the forest that placed me in a state of delight :)
As we skipped through the path, we were led to BK EcoAcademy's Head Quarters.. This is where I learned about how noble this project is. Imagine creating a sustainable eco-educational tourism project to fight mining (by protecting the Mt. Mantalingahan Protected Landscape) in 10 weeks with only P2.5M to spend. INTENSE! Imagine gathering all sorts of people just to make this miracle happen. Kudos to the team of the amazing Ms. Kate Capulong!
It is remarkable to know that in 2 months the project has not only conceptualized and built a sustainable eco-tourism spot but has also been able to provide 45 indigenous people employment and 50 farmers a source of income. :)
Welcome to the magical Sabsaban Falls...:) Isn't this so tempting to dive into?
While the Sabsaban falls separates two barangays, Aribungos and Ipilan, this foot bridge does the contrary.
Below is the restaurant of the camp, on Aribungos side of the footbridge. It serves food prepared by the katutubos. It looks simple but with the experience of eating while you hear the peaceful sound of the water with matching forest melodies, it becomes special. :)
My head bows down to the CCA Chefs who flew in with via personal expenses just to teach the katutubos special recipes for the restaurant. They're one of a kind. Imagine, instead of going to the grocery to buy the ingredients for the meals these volunteer chefs worked hand in hand with the indigenous people to gather and hunt for the meal ingredients :) They also took it a step further by creating a visual recipe book- as in ingredient per ingredient! AMAZING!
Further, the bridge also connects to the open-air classrooms set up on the Ipilan side of the camp. The wooden structure you can see by the bridge is a good spot to rest ponder, and appreciate nature's beauty.
Look at this engaging open air classroom... This is where student campers learn more about biodiversity, ecotourism, organic agriculture and the culture of the Palaw-ans, the indigenous people. BK Eco academy provides for a experiential kind of education. If in a normal classroom set up, when a teacher describes biodiversity, species of plants and animals-we are shown pictures or videos, here you get to experience it- see, taste, smell, touch and feel it!
Case and point! Free flying pretty yellow butterflies. Experienced live!!! I'm in awe!
The campers also get to know more about the katutubos' musical instruments.
And they are taught some of the Palaw-an Chants. :) I learned how to to the Baguis- the katutubo kind of cheer which translates to our act of clapping hands :)
Here are the 50 pioneer BK Eco Academy campers listening to the orientation/briefing before the trekking adventure. (Thanks for the sponsoring these kids Globe Telecom :)
Only in BK Eco Academy will campers experience an eco-trail trekking experience with a katutubo guide. :) So galing the concept! It's like the katutubos act like Alladin who shows the campers a whole new world!
Speaking of camping, BK Eco Academy's tent are glamorous-- very comfortable.
It is big enough to fit in two comfie wooden beds and a dressing room! The camp also provides for the campers toiletries- shampoo, soap and all. In fact, at the head quarters, all bags are being checked for possible trash. The officials confiscate any form of possible trash especially sachets packaging of shampoos and the likes, candy wrappers and other forms of non biodegradable objects to make sure that the camp stays trash free! What an amazing act of environmental protection, simple yet effective.
Two thumbs up for these comfie tents! Oh, did I mention you can open the tent zippers up to give you a good view of the sky in the morning and the starts at night :))
Day 2 of the Adventure was dedicated to trekking and the arrival of Ms. Gina Lopez of ABS CBN Foundation, the mind of this noble project :)
Welcoming us are the katutubos playing their music! :)
And a taste of a katutubo welcome gift, a food to nibble which they call, Nga-nga!
See Ms. Gina is truly fascinated by the Sabsaban falls.
Along with the welcoming people and music is a katutubo preparing some healthy kamoteng kahoy snack cooked in a kettle with some coconut shell on top!
Don't you think this is creative, innovative and just plain cool?
Oh, Diane Castelejo and her son Matthew were also present as they were gonna feature BK Eco-Academy in Sports Unlimited. :)) Btw, the snack tastes so good I ate 3 of them!
See! The camp is amazing! You'll really get to learn a lot from first hand experiences.
One of the amazing first hand experience I had was climbing the steep forest!
You see, we trekked through this 45 degree steep forest! It was fun yet difficult especially when you haven't gone out to stretch and exercise for a while...
The challenge was to climb a kilometer to the forest peak in 45 minutes or less... thank God we were successful! The fresh air at the forest top was priceless! Two thumbs up!
The view isn't so clear from where we are standing cause it was covered by huge trees. The best view came from the ones you get when you're in that tree house! Check out cute Matthew climbing up those bamboo logs.
You see those bamboo logs aren't tied to the treehouse thus it was pretty scary to climb up... Even Diane had to make sure the bamboo wouldn't break!
So they did climb up! Even Ms. Gina did! Galing!!! It looks so fun sliding down!
Behind Matthew and Diane is the protected mountain, Mt. Matalingahan. This is the reason why BK Eco Academy was created, to protect this mountain worth billions in money and in biodiversity. (Help protect this beautiful mountain by siging up and logging on to no2mininginpalawan.com, your clicks will go a long way, promise!!!)
After a few minutes of experiencing nature's beauty, we had to go back down cause the sun was about to set and it was getting dark... but my gosh, the sky just too B_E_A_U_T_I_F_U_L!!!
Look at the color of the sky!!! Proof of nature's magnificence!!!
Whooo! That trail was for professional trekkers but I conquered it! Whoooot whoot!
When we got down from the eco-trail tour, the camp's program was about to begin. It begun with the katutubos opening offering prayer. When they are asking a favor from the god or feeling thankful the indigenous people's tradition dictated that they have a form of offering. Here is their chief/tribe leader doing the offering by praying over the food they prepared :))
I got a taste of this "Lotlot" sicky rice cooked in bamboo. :) Like suman, only sugarless.
I cannot express how much education and appreciation I had after my BK Eco Academy experience. It was like an immersion to me, i was placed in a different light when I learned about the culture and life style of the Palaw-ans.. Plus it was spectacular to feel like I was one with nature!!!
Thank you to my roommate Teta for inviting me to join her, to Ms Kate Capulong for the great accommodation (Kudos to your team), to James for taking care of us, to Ate Lea & Da for the stories and to Ms. Gina for the inspiration. Her passion as an environmentalist moves me. She is willing to move mountains for this cause and it is incredible how she does things at her age!
Thank you Lord for this wonderful opportunity :)
If you are into this kind of adventure, read the details below and book your BK Eco Academy camp adventure now!!! You won't only learn and be transformed, not only help protect Mt. Matalingahan but you will also provide livelihood for the katutubos and the farmers in the area. :)
What are you waiting for? Book your adventure trip now! Go! Help a community, protect the mountain and be inspired. :))
Don't forget to help protect this beautiful mountain by siging up and logging on to no2mininginpalawan.com, your clicks will go a long way, promise!!!
