violeta12

Column name: Travel Blogger
Name of article: Forest Rainbow Under
By Violeta Imperial

I woke up early for morning prayers and rituals and I discovered that there is NO WATER in the shower. I will definitely check out earlier even though I had planned to stay for two nights.

I continued my beautiful morning. I enjoyed the very lovely sunrise at the lake that was so serene and peaceful. I joined the boat resort for the fish feeding and enjoyed every moment of my photo opportunities. After the ride, sumptuous breakfast is waiting for us, the crackling chicharong tilapia, the brewed coffee, fried rice and vegetable omelet. I enjoyed our meal, while looking at the lake, looking at the fishpond, and watching the tourists doing their early lake tour.

The habal habal arrived early (it’s a local motorbike that could carry a maximum of ten passengers). Our first stop, the first waterfalls, was so magnificent. Next stop is the Slide for Life or Zipline as they call it here. It is said to be the highest in the Philippines. Honestly, I felt like a scared chicken as if all the memories of my happy life flashed back and I still want to live. My heart beat as fast as we went down. I closed my eyes and missed the sight of the first enchanting forest around the second waterfalls. But because I wanted to take photos, I opened my eyes, and I saw this magical rainbow below me, for first time. And it is a FULL Rainbow BELOW me. I hurriedly turned on my camera and discovered that it is already low in batteries and my companion’s camera was still inside her bag. For all those who are reading this, it’s a lesson learned for me.

There is a T’boli souvenir shop here where you can get authentic tribal clothes for a donation. How I wish sometimes, that they would make sizes for big people also, they keep forgetting we also have money to donate. In the photo, it looks like it fits me well, but my hand behind is holding the ends together.

Next is the road trip around the lake, showing us the best rice fields and the closed resort owned by a local politician? I saw some opportunities to invest in these happy T’boli villages. We stopped by one fruit store to buy bananas. Our driver saw a friend whose wife just gave birth and he was asking for money for the baby’s milk. Our hearts sank with massive compassion and asked how much the milk was. 200 pesos for the new born he said, so we gave 100 pesos each. Then we boarded back to our motorbike and before we left, I asked, how many kids to you have, he said ten kids. I felt ripped off, but I guess it is still good to help.

Next is the T’boli house and the T’boli museum, so much I want to learn from them but had very limited time. I observed that the women mostly are the ones into this kind of supplementary livelihood; it reminded me of the ladies who belonged to Women in Nation Development for Sarangani (WINDS).

On our way to back to General Santos, I was seated beside a T’boli lady who was wearing authentic native clothes. I loved her skirt that I drooled with envy, I wanted to buy it. She is so proud of her tribe and I loved that even more. How I wish that the other Indigenous People are as proud of their culture and tradition, like the lady. Only wise and mature societies could understand the importance of Indigenous People. Those who discriminate against them are so foolish, I think.

Ms. Imperial is a community based ecology tour provider, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) organizer, nature lover and scuba diver