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The woman who became my grandmother almost three decades ago died today at the hospital at 7:25am. She left us after 96 years.
April 04, 1937. Irenea Manuel and Marcelino Martinez.
She was the foundation of my family, and the families of my aunts. She was the voice of temperence and everything that is good in me. She was patience, she was humility, she was perseverance, she was generosity. She was Irenea Manuel Martinez, my grandmother.
2004. If she was aware I was taking photos of her in her sleep... Oh my! But definitely, she would have forgiven me.
August 19 to 21(22), 2005
CAMP VANESSA
Brgy. Tibutunan
Municipality of Tipaculao (near Baler, capital of Aurora)
Province of Aurora
No matter what the risks, no matter how gruelling...
...it is a glimpse of heaven at the end that keeps you prodding on.
Discovered (but known to forest dwellers) in 2003, Camp Vanessa is a very difficult but rewarding destination. The name commemorates the first woman (UPM member) to have seen the site, but unfortunately fell off a boulder and smashed one side of her face on a rock. She recovered from her fall and is now working in Davao. I found that the huge boulders were covered in certain areas by dull red patches of algae which when wetted makes the smooth boulders extremely slippery. Vanessa slipped when it was just about to rain.
UPM had been to the site less than six times. The grade of the final slope to Camp Vanessa is too steep to descend without the aid of a rope. In many places, you will have to clamber down on near vertical slopes.
Not a single member of the team came out unscathed. If the loose rocks, thorny ferns and rattan doesn’t get you, those persistent and surprisingly agile “limatiks� (leeches) surely will. Worse than the limatiks would be the giant red ants that has a sting which was aptly likened to the “kurot ng napikong dalaga.� The bite smarts for about half an hour.
It took two days for our team to reach Camp Vanessa, and about 7 hours of somewhat continuous trekking to return to Brgy. Tibutunan (our jump off point). The trail is not well maintained owing to the fact that only a few try to reach Camp Vanessa. You are bound to get lost without a guide and worse still, mistakenly take a route that leads to very loose and dangerous terrain.
The path that the river takes never stays the same. Shores, boulders, bends and falls often shifts. It is geologic drama on fast forward
If Camp Vanessa is too extreme for your liking, Aurora is a perfect place to go adventure biking, fishing and whale shark sighting.
ITINERARY
Day 1
Meet at Pasay Genesis Bus going to Baler (4am)
Bus to Brgy Tibutunan, Mun. of Tipaculao
Walk to Pinagsapatusan River
(Deep pools and moderate rapids to soothe tired hikers
makes Pinagsapatusan a treasured campsite.)
Camp for the evening
Day 2
Trek to Camp Vanessa
Camp at Camp Vanessa
Day 3
Wake up
Explore the Mother Falls (and grandmother falls and rock slide sites)
Pack up
Return to Pinagsapatusan River
Rest and bathe
Return to Brgy Tibutunan (4km walk)
Day 4
ETA Manila (4am)
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