24Juni
2018

Ascension to the heart of the mountain

Today in the morning we've been feeling both excited and nervous because we knew we would perform a long and tiring trip to the mud spring deep inside the forest of Mount Makiling, the "green heart" of the Mountain. 

Our two tourguides Alexis and Rowell led us safely across the streets and paths and told us additional facts about the local plants + endangered species and were always there for us if we got a question (...or tired hahahawink.)

We had to pass seven stations and the wet air plus the high elevation were our strongest enemies and brought us definitely to our limits - but eventually we made it to our chosen destination

,...also because of the always motivating spirit of ma'am Jonah...,

and got rewarded with an overwhelming green abundance of exotic plants and the wonderful sounds and scenes of the rainforests nature. While our break at a shop on our way uphill we also ate local grown coconuts (it's called buko) which tasted really good and refreshed us for our tour.

When we had finally arrived at the mud spring which is a leftover of the inactive vulcano inside Mount Makiling we were able to take some nice pictures of the green scenery. Ma'am Marjorie also encountered a leech but luckily we could calm her down and everything was fine again.

So eventually after our lunch break we went back downhill to our hostel and some of us decided to perform another short trip to the so called "flat stones", some kind of a waterfall with a connected river down the mountain. Once there, we also took many pictures and spontaniously started a climbing trip over the widespreaded rocks inside the floating water, by far one of the most wonderful and enjoyable moments during our stay at the Philippines.

^ a short video that shows what we've got to see at this place ^

So eventually everybody returned back to our hostel and another amazing day full of experiences will last in our memories.

Magingat sa mga Linta! (Watch out for the Leeches!) (Passt auf die Blutegel auf!)