Forest Camp -- Surviving the River of Life

In Valencia, Negros Oriental, a 20-minute drive from Dumaguete City, lies Forest Camp -- the camp that rocks! -- literally.

Wild, so green, and almost untamed -- it's the closest place I've come to a natural wonder. Even now, I still can't get the grand musical chorus of the crickets and cicadas off my head.

The place, owned by the Vicuñas, has two private cottages good for two -- though each can actually house 4-- at P1000 + 100/extra pax for 24 hours. It also has a couple of tree houses and public cottages for daytime use which come at a cheaper rate. But if you don't stay overnight though, each person has to pay the P60 entrance fee. One also has the option to go for tents when all else are occupied.

For food, everyone goes to Mommy Bobba's (or sounds like it) garden restaurant. If not, it's either walk outside the camp to the nearest carenderia (about at least 30 minutes away on foot with total darkness in between) or hunt for your food in the forest. The restaurant charges the usual rates -- about P100 to 150 per main viand. But the taste? You can't help thinking that you can do better in your own kitchen. And yeah, it's best to order 2 hours before or the wait will drive you mad.

Forest Camp boasts of a fishing pond, a hanging bridge, two man-made pools with fresh water coming directly from the river, a large expanse of greenery for games and horse back riding I suppose (though all i saw then was a wooden horse), the main attraction which we call "the rocky river of life", and most of all -- no signal! (yeah, that's a great thing)

We can hear the water from the cottage. And all around you are trees-- I've never seen so many, and yes, all the icky, icky, icky animals and insects that go with it. But the thing with forests, I found out, is that when you let yourself go and commune with nature, it readily welcomes you into its arms and soothes your soul. It makes it easy for you to blend in. Makes you forget all about the bugs or the bats on the trees. At least, we saw no snakes.

Now let's talk about the water. Man, as in wow! I don't really know exactly what you call it-- river, brook, or whatever. Here, I think we call it sapa. Remember those scenes from the Tagalog movies where women gather to wash their clothes with a large palo-palo on hand? Well, it looks like that minus the women.

We wanted to go to the source, but it seemed really endless. A bit farther away, there was no trail, so we had to take the sapa. What's more, you have to navigate through the rocks and current that's determined to sweep you off your feet bringing you way, way down. Had to take off my slippers. Felt like a gymnast hopping through those rocks. Getting from one to the other was like grasping a dream one at a time. Gives you a new kind of high altogether. Along the way, KJ's cam went under, MD fell on all fours and her butt twice, the gushing water almost took my slipper, and B slipped and hurt his toes, his knees, his shoulders, his head...

And the water was so, so cold. Imagine swimming in ice-- be it day time or night. So you have to keep moving. And holding on to a rock or each other or be thrown down river. But the little springs or little waterfalls were pure heaven-- Body & Sole has nothing to it. The way they massage your back really scares all stress and tension away.

In the morning, we were all sore. From the hangover or the beating of the water, I can't say exactly. Some of us had bruises and felt like soldiers surviving the war. And I guess, despite the way my arms feel numb right now, that was exactly what I needed to clear my head.

Forest Camp may not be Boracay but it has a wild beauty of its own that punches your senses and goes straight to your heart.

One time, we were just there sitting on that large rock mid-river, not talking and just watching the water splash by, listening to forest music and it was just so, so beautiful. I just felt so blessed realizing how beautiful this country really is.

At this point, I can't say that the camp is ready yet for the foreign tourists (except perhaps for the few of them who can take it rough). Forest Camp has to upgrade its amenities first to be able to meet the demand. But I believe that the charm of the camp lies in the very fact that few people have yet discovered it. Commercialism has not spoiled its natural beauty. And I hope they keep it that way.

But with the way Mrs. Vicuña talked of adding cottages and other development plans, I doubt that it will be long before more and more people come. Perhaps they'll be able to preserve its natural beauty, perhaps not. I'm just thankful that I got to experience it first before it gets too crowded.

If you haven't, you should go ahead and try it too. At these times when practically all people are itching to get out of the country, it pays to go back to our roots and rediscover how awesome it really is after all.

And oh, when you do, please say hi to the deaf-mute-blind cat, the noisy geese, the half-green and half-brown big lizard, the clueless fishes, the bats, the frogs, the countless insects, and the cicadas and crickets for me. Normally, I'd hate them. But during my stay, they blissfully left me alone and I love them for that.