“I shall return!”
T’was my last word as I watch
Anawangin Cove got smaller from our boat.
August 2014 as I celebrate being 30 and 1 (pre
celebration actually because my actual birthday is september) I was again got
“kaladkad” on weekend trip to Zambales. It was probably the only birthday
weekend I can afford for myself (its very rare that I got to arrange my work
schedule to accommodate my lakwatsa days) and yes I had the “best weekend ever”
thanks to Pia, Bitoy and Emeng. Still, I promised that I would return because
aside from anawanging cove and capones island there are still several island in
zambales on my bucket list! J
ZAMBALES TAKE
TWO!
Because year 2014 has rather been
“busy” for all of us – and one out of the country. We decided to have year end
trip. And because we wanted it to be a “sulit trip” we wanted a place where we
can enjoy both the mountain and the beach plus the lighthouse (actually gusto
lang talaga naming bumalik sa zambales so other place suggestion were practically
rejected with sublte discouragement on the side J
mega build up din sa place to get our way hahahaha).
So a day after Christmas –
exactly after Christmas because our call time is 12am off we go to our much
awaited “SAMAKA” year end trip.
Trivia: SAMAKA is not an official
group. Hindi ako sigurado kung sino sa amin (definitely hindi AKO!) ang nag
bansag ng name but it literally means “TARA SAMA KA!” kahit sino pwede sumama
sa amin as long as he / she is willing to walk, ride a boat, climb whatever and
yes sometimes cry.
Mt. Pundaquit.
Since my friends we’re basically
all strong climber the trek will be kind of easy for them – especially without
our backpack.
We started our trek at 6am (I
think) Mt. Pundaquit is a 5 hour trek to Anawangin Cove where our boat will
pick us up to get to Nagsasa Cove where we will set up camp and stay the night.
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Anawangin Cove
From Mt. Pundaquit we can see the
top of the Pine tree of anawangin cove. I still have vivid memories from my
last visit on what it looked like especially the river. Unfortunately December
I think is not the best time to go because the river dries up during this season.
Nagsasa Cove
Nagsasa cove is more or less an
hour boat ride from anawangin. What I liked about nagasasa is their longer
shoreline, bigger cove and lesser people. The CR is a lot nicer too J
Nagsasa Falls
This is not included in our usual
IT but local kids mentioned a something about a Falls not so far from the cove during
our kwentuhan session the day before so we decided to check it out after
breakfast.
Going to the falls tho requires a
guide. So after haggling and with the help of “Ate Kim Chiu” (the store owner)
we agreed to a guide for 500.00 pesos J
So on to the the falls… trek
time!
Sabi malapit lang daw…
Hmmmm…
Konti na lang…
konti na lang daw talaga… ayan o may tubig na!
Narinig nyo na ba lagaslas???
Yes! Malapit na!
Finally!
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| this is what sold us out. cold water and a chance to cliff dive |
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| as usual i was the first to "literally jump" into the water :) |
And because we are partial to the sea (obviously) seeing another body of water get us all excited thus the Photo ops.
Aside from the main falls there are two more mini falls ahead and we just had to explore :p
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It almost took us more than an
hour to get to the falls, we should have known the difference in perception of
distance between the local who is used to walking as their mode of
transportation. But hey! The Falls is more than worth it!
Capones Island
Last side trip. Capones island.
Because we really enjoyed the
falls and as usual we lost track of time we left Nagsasa after lunch.
Capones island is about 30
minutes boat ride from Nagsasa more if the waves will not cooperate with us.
And yes tho we have the perfect weather the waves decided to make our trip to
Capones more exciting.
There are two ways to reach the
Lighthouse:
1.
The shortcut. Boat will dock at the south side
of the island leading the stone staircase. It will take 5 minutes walk to reach
the lighthouse.
2.
The longcut. Boat will take you to the shore and
you will have “literally” go around the island to reach the light house. More
or less an hour walk.
And because Mr. Waves didn't feel
friendly that day we weren't able to make it even near the staircase (kudos to
our boatman because he did try) huge
rock litter the entire south part of the island making it impossible for the
boat to dock without damaging the boat.
So our dilemma begins…
Boat man was honest enough to
admit that the “longcut” tho passable is really not convenient because aside
that it will take time the path is somewhat “challenging”. So we have option
number two – boat will try to make it as near as the boat will allow BUT we have
to swim to reach the shore.
Tired from the long walk going to
and from the falls – option number two looks good to me but as I mentally count
who could actually swim in our group, I knew we’re bound to another yet
challenging “adventure”.
So armed with water and sarong to
somewhat shield us from the heat and sharp grasses we’re off again to another
trek…
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| lakad time |
Had to go over the boulder… and
this is just the beginning.
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Rocky shoreline.
Had to go up the steep path.
Tada! The lighthouse :)
This trip really made my 2014 a
lot memorable. Not only did I get a dose of my SAND, SEA and SKY for the entire
weekend, more because I get to spend it my one of my favorite group.
Looking forward to more
“lakwatsa” and adventures this year!
