“Cave is a good word…the memory of a cave I used to know was always in my mind – With its lofty passages, its silence and solitude, Its shrouding gloom, its sepulchral echoes, Its fleeting lights, and above all, its sudden revelations.”
Mark Twai
The first decade of the new millennium saw many people began taking spelunking seriously.
In fact, this hobby bonds and seals the friendship shared by this writer with fellow novice cavers Bing, Cerna, Cris, Henry, Joseph, Laila, Marites, Jackie, Boy and Steve.
Many may not have, up to this moment, realized that Cebu is shot through with labyrinthine systems, the kind of beauty that has yet to be discovered after, of course, a brew of adrenalin, a stream of sweat, and a bout with mud and sharp stone tips that can rip the scalp. So treat your skull guard a saving grace.
As amateurs we began our weekly caving at the Cantipla Cave of the Central Cebu Natural Park.
In April 7 of 2001, we got lost in the forests of Central Cebu Natural Park, traversing a maze of trails. We trampled upon fallen leaves that broke into a crunchy sound beneath our feet. Along the way, we passed by soft murmuring brooks, and sallying river waters. We dropped in an isolated lake and took turns balancing on top of a huge fallen tree trunk that almost cut the lake in two. We savored such a captivating sight before we headed for another bend and another turn in the heart of the forest.
There was a short bout with the “sampinit” as shirts and hair strands got entangled in its fang-like thorns. Alas, we found the mouth of Cantipla Cave after about an hour and a half of seemingly endless walking.
We had to negotiate a narrow and muddy entrance and its rugged-shaped rocks. But then we were gifted with one of the stupendous sights of the great outdoors as we examined closely the nests of “balinsasayaws”, with twigs and leaves glued together by nature’s unparalleled adhesive – the saliva of the swifts.
The Igutan Cave of Camp 4
By April 9, we found the Igutan Cave simply amazing! And at its dead end, river water came cascading from the cathedral-like dome of the cave’s roof creating a 20-foot shower. The water dropped inside the cave but not a single shaft of sunlight penetrated. As we flashed our lights, the cave’s walls glistened and we witnessed foamy water dropping to a leg-deep pool.
Igutan Cave’s entrance required one to walk on all fours literally, bringing out all the contortionists in each of us. Igutan has numerous chambers.
Good lighting coming from some of us who had the benefit of headlamps (and a miner’s lamp too) helped as we maneuvered the numerous ups and downs, chambers, and the many bends and turns before reaching the waterfalls inside Igutan Cave.
The White Cave of Barangay Sinsin
By April 21, we discovered that the trail to White Cave is not that difficult, except for the fact that 99 percent was done on an uphill climb. Its walls are made interesting by the green moss growing on rocks; such is obviously because of the uneven distribution of sunlight in places hard for the rays to reach. The place was made lively by the fluttering of the swifts.
Over a hundred of them, flapped their delicate wings, pretty much startled and perturbed by the presence of intruders. It was tempting to capture their chirping in my playback, but by some fluke of nature I forgot to carry one. How dysfunctional!
We also got enraged at the sight of graffiti scrawled on rocks and a torn net used to trap bats. With White Cave’s accessibility, it became a popular site for “hunting expeditions.”
Stalactites and stalagmites are not well defined anymore. Phosphate mining activities left telltale signs. But unlike the rest of the caves where we were immersed in stifling heat and humidity, White Cave allowed us to take turns in blowing our breath into space and watch the air “freeze” before our eyes. Smoke from our mouths can be likened to steam out of a kettle spout in the middle of snowville.
The Binothan Cave
On May 1, we checked the Binothan Cave. This carries the title “king” of all the caves we’ve visited (and in a way disturbed; all apologies to Mother Nature!). Its name comes from the echo produced when one steps on its flowing waters – like sound effects of a war movie – thus, “binothan” (referring to some kind of an “explosion”).
To negotiate its approximately 200-meter winding path, one has to swim across an 11-meter long by 3-meter wide pool of fresh, running water. Inside, the terrain requires only moderate climbing and walking skills. At the bend of the trail, there’s a Jacuzzi-like pool with soothing, refreshing water that enticed the group to linger for some time.
We took turns in dipping into that cave pool with water temperature measuring 70degF. Then, we put off our headlamps and flashlights, and enjoyed the pitch darkness while humming water provided the softest of all music. We marveled at the sparkling of crystal formations inside, amid the darkness.
However exciting, “caving is definitely not for everyone,” this I learned from photographer-journalist Mitchell P. Warner of “Action Asia.”
With its extremities, every caver must learn to condition himself to pitch darkness as he plunges down into a maze of stalactites and stalagmites; to its often silent and hot atmosphere as he slithers through mud, as he squeezes through narrow crevices with backpack behind, and scrape fingers bare as he works his way up and over rock walls – feeling the soft droppings of birds and bats inhabiting these caves.
And, above all, caving is definitely not for the claustrophobic.
“But it’s the visions you see that make it worthwhile,” says Mitchell, with which I concur, because deep into the earth a caver sees how marvelous the world really is. Even the most hardened cavers get misty-eyed when it comes to explaining some of the surreal, glistening formations of limestone and crystal they encounter in the underworld.
We had our share of belly crawls or belly squirms as we got ourselves accustomed to the pitch darkness of every cave we craved to conquer, such caverns that taught us more lessons on appreciation of the Creator’s wondrous hands.
Navigating caverns with your head squeezed between the roof and floor demands skill and calm patience, as it is not unusual for all but the leanest bodies to get wedged. We were warned that clothes can catch on sharp limestone points and hips have to bend at seemingly impossible angles when dealing an intimidating terrain.
It may even take several attempts before one is blessed with being able to stand. And when able to do so, he could go panting like a chased dog, muddy all over, and scratched in places, before catching a glimpse of sunlight.
For sure, the Creator designed such hollows not only to test patience but to hold back time, which to us is fleeting.
It sets clocks back in time to help us ponder on how well these labyrinths are being preserved – these entanglement of paths only bravehearts can negotiate. – Maria Eleanor E. Valeros
