Camiguin Island
After Meir advised me he was seriously considering extending his stay in The Philippines for a few more days, I knew it was time to take him to Camiguin Island.
You have to drive about 1.5 hours to the RORO (Roll On Roll Off) ferry port at Balingoan from Cagayan de Oro. It cost me about 1000 pesos to take my car across, and the same fee on the return.
Boys climb the side of the ferry as it loads with passengers and will dive for coins tossed into the water. A one peso coin doesn’t get as much attention as a five peso coin. Throw a 10 peso coin and 10 boys will dive for it.
We originally planned to stay at the Paras Beach Resort on Camiguin, but found they had no vacancy upon arrival, so we ended up staying at Caves Dive Resort on Camigiun instead. After checking in, we returned to the Paras Resort so we could hook up to their WiFi while we ate out dinner. I know the owners of both resorts. Elpi Paras is a business associate and friend, while I returned an expensive lost cell phone to the son of the owner of Caves Resort.
Our original plan was to go scuba diving. The choice was to go scuba diving and not go sightseeing on the island or vice versa. The wind decided for us. By 10 AM the seas were at three feet and we decided to drive around the island see what we could.
Our first stop was to pick up our tour guides, who we had met the day before at Mambajao. They are sisters and natives of Camiguin. So, we headed for Camiguin Highland Resort, which the girls lived close to. The lived about a ten minute hike off the main road, so ended up waiting a few minutes for them, but once they were aboard and buckled up, we headed off for a fast tour of all the best spots and a ride around the island.
We stopped at Ardent Hot Springs, but without bathing suits we just snapped a couple of photos and moved on. We did not stop to climb the volcano. Maybe one day I will stay there long enough to climb it and recover later. We did stop at the sunken cemetery and at the church and convent ruins.
A Brief Account of the Mt. Volcan Eruption
6:00 PM
Cotta Bato, the capital of Camiguin Island was a quient and attractive town, verdant in its natural wonders. Its peaceful shores provided storlling grounds for its inhabitants as they basked under the gracious moonlight. Suddenly…
Tranquility came to a halt as a sub-terranean rumbling sowed undescribable terror. Hundreds of houses and the churches crumbled into pieces, the ground rolled and broke into deep crevices with horrifying earthquake served only as a prelude to the destructive climax. A cataclysm never before witnessed before. Mt. Volcan gave out its fiercest and most violent outbreak.
6:20 PM
Cotta Bato was but a dreadful pile of ruins. The single volcanic eruption buried a beautiful town into obscurity.
Hundreds of lives were lost while the survivors sought refuge in the open country that gave them hope for tomorrow.
I think I have been living in The Philippines now so long that a lot of things do not surprise me, and other things I take for granted. It was very refreshing to have an American friend visit me here and put me through a refresher course on the things that we take for granted in the USA, but are surprised to see here in The Philippines.
The History of The Old Catarman in Brief1521 The fleet of Magellen traveled close to the Island of Camiguin and dropped anchor in Katagman presently known as Caterman
1565 The fleet of Legaspi following the path of Magellan also dropped by Caterman and found the people to have already been trading with other Asian merchants
1622 The spanish settlement was relocated in Catarman from Guinsiliban after it was attached and burned by the “Moros” in 1618
1623 The parish of San Roque was established under the Cebu diocese.
Construction of the Cotta Bato, the church and convents were started.
1818 Misamis gained the provencial status with four divisions. Partido de Depitan, Partido de Misamis, Partido de Cagayan, and Partido de Caterman.
1835 Mambajao town was established, separating it from Catarman.
1871 Mt. Volcan errupted, forced all the buildings to the ground and destroyed the whole town of Catarman. After which, devastated town became a part of Mambajao.
1912 The town of Catarman was restored but the site of its seat of government was transferred to Guiob, some 10 kms from the Volcano.
(Sources of Information)
1. History of Camiguin, by Don Vicente Elio
2. Philippines History, by Suide
3. Other Records
The last time I was on Camiguin was with my wife, about 14 months ago, and we were on scooters. We tried to make it to Tuasan Falls, but the road going there was very rough and we eventually turned back.
This time, in my Isuzu Vehicross, even though the passengers were complaining about the rough ride, I just put the vehicle in first gear and let it climb along, pretty much keeping my hands off the steering wheel (except when I actually needed to steer), because the steering wheel was just rolling back and forth over the boulders.
Eventually we made it to the end of the road and the start of the trail. There was a 26 year old woman there with her four year old son who asked if we wanted a guide. I thought we were only a few minutes walk from the falls, but told her, sure, be our guide. I didn’t want to leave someone disgruntled, hanging around my car, while I hiked into the jungle.
It turned out to be about a one hour long hike to Tuasan Falls, but only about a 30 minute walk back. Mostly that was because we took a much steeper trail coming out of the area, too steep to go down. I have been to Churchill Falls in Newfoundland and Niagra Falls, from both the American and Canadian sides and Tuasan does not compare to either of those. However, while Churchill Falls is a long way from anything that seems like a city, it is not jungle there. This was lush, dense jungle we were hiking through. It seemed very much like a place no one had been before, despite the little bamboo hut that was built behind some bushes almost out of sight of the falls.
I would estimate there were between 200 to 250 cubic feet of water coming over the falls per minute, which is maybe 30 gallons per second. I tried to back into the falls, but it was really difficult to move against he water spray and the wind that kept pushing against me.