I decided to join my sister and nephew, my cousin and her daughter to visit a relative at the foot of this mountain. We used the old-old paths through the deep ravines, paths sometimes already covered with overgrowths. That is typical in tropical settings, when a path has not been used for sometime colonizing species immediately take over. It was not a leisurely walk as i've not done this for a long time. There is a cemented road to these remote barangays in our municipality but we chose the old routes. It was a bit sentimental to reminisce our youth, but i confess i haven't been this far yet. My companions are fast and they are always ahead of me, then they can rest while waiting for me till my breath stabilized.
On the way back, I i took a leisurely stride, watch the surroundings and had some shots. I saw a lot of forest butterflies but i don't have the time to chase them. I promise i will come back solely for that purpose. And here are some photos i haphazardly took on the way.
I love that waning morning moon about to hide at the top of the mountain. This mountain range is at the back of our community, literally we are at its foot, but we are way-way far down about 2 km from the foot and also 2km from the seashore. We call this Tore or Tower or Mt Tore. To the far right, not seen in the photo, is the more famous Mt Gulugod Baboy that is more accessible to hikers. Not many people reach Mt Tore except maybe for some landowners near it. Just recently, due to some quakes emanating around it I realized it is called Mt Panay, an ancient volcano. And most of the unusual frequent quakes happening in our country now are near ancient volcanoes, in consonance with the movement of the trenches. If it will erupt like the ancient Mt Pinatubo before, we will be very vulnerable.
The foot is already agricultural, as i can see towering coconut trees. There are also cattle tethered in some clearings. Slash and burn agriculture is not good for the environment, but there are still some of those that happens here to open land for agriculture. I can see a whitish line in that cove, i wonder if that is a landslide or a waterfalls. Next time i will bring a binocular. In our youth, some tales about supernatural beings or 'kapre' or 'tigbalang' are said to live here. They are even provided with complete examples of old people's experiences. Fascinating but we don't know, they might be to discouraged the youth from exploring these unsafe terrain.
This spider web is more than one meter in diameter, facinatingly moving with the wind. It is woven with regular number of fibers per group, amazing how they know those numbers before a margin is provided.
I also found this tree trunk fascinating, full of thick scary thorns on some irregular bark mounds. I wonder if its trunk is so delicious maybe for hervibores, for it to wear that protection!
a close-up of the thorny bark
Even this dead tree looks so old, with a lot of character and experiences through its life. Maybe it suffered a lot during its younger years, evidenced by the hollow portion of its base trunk. Now it provides some space for the undergrowths to get some sunlight and grow. And the dead branches provide good perches for the birds.
Can i resist the sudden appearance of this blue Clitoria ternatea? It provided a very colorful contrast in that otherwise otherworldly scene!
What a striking Blue flower !! Beautiful .. visiting from Our World Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by Noriko. Happy New Year! It is really striking to see a blue flower in the thicket most specially because blue is seldom seen here in the tropics.
DeleteI especially like the age-old tree
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely scenery!
ReplyDeleteInteresting tree bark. The air must have been wonderful there.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year Maria Photo Cache. Yes the air is so light and therapeutic to my lungs already full of city cobwebs.
DeleteBeautiful photos - it is a walk I would love to take. I love the spiderweb captured in the sunlight and the blue flower is stunning with the green background.
ReplyDeleteHi Judith, i forgot where you are from, but i casually joked with my FB friends that i will be organizing a tour to walk this ancient path. And that includes seeing hoyas in the wild, knowing or tasting the edible flowers, and sample the young fresh coconut juice at the end of the walk. Then on the way back, freshly brewed coffee or ginger tea from freshly boiled ginger will be waiting. Sometimes there are also a tribe of monkeys that pass through the canopies, however i haven't seen them yet. Some people said it is a possible tour, however i am not sure if people will take it seriously. LOL
DeleteWhat a beautiful world. I love the first shot with the moon.. I would love to take a walk there, so lush and green! Beautiful photos, have a happy day!
ReplyDeleteCome Eileen, and we will do the walk, you can photograph the birds while i try shooting the butterflies. I will surely enjoy a photo walk with you.
DeleteLove how green and lush it is there! And wow! What a gorgeous Clitoria ternatea!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful terrain. The texture of the bark is fascinating.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous scenery and terrific macros!
ReplyDeleteSuch beautiful mountains, so different from ours, so alive with vegetation and greenery (I live more than 2.2 km above sea level).
ReplyDeleteHi Al, yes our vegetation here in the hot tropics is much different than many of yours in other climates, and it stays almost the same the whole year. However, the grassy top will become brown in the dry season. By the way, what i meant by 2km from the shore is the distance, not the masl, lol.
DeleteOh my, it's looks so lovely and tropical. I wish I were there instead of in this freezing weather! lol
ReplyDeleteOh you can come over and return when the weather shifted. I can personally show you along these areas!
DeleteStunning scenery
ReplyDeleteThe spider web is absolutely stunning. I love the photo of the dead tree trunk with gnarled branches against the blue sky. The thorny bark sure look visious but fascinating at the same time - a thorn in the middle of a hemisphere.
ReplyDeleteOh you describe things so very poetically, maybe you are an English teacher, haha! Indeed you write very well. Happy New Year!
DeleteHappy new year! What an adventurous hike it must have been. The wonderful bright colours have really brightened up my grey winter afternoon! It is just 16.00 hrs and already nearly dark. The spider's web is particularly amazing.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you as well Caroline. I am glad to have given you some bright side in your gloomy, white/grey winter. We have short days here too, but our sunsets are around 1800hrs and sunrise after 0600hrs. We have very pleasant temperatures now, for our standards, at 25-29°C, that might be funny for you because your summers are even lower than these!
DeleteLot of photo opportunities for you! All captured so well.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Indrani, you're so kind!
DeleteBeautiful photos! I love to learn about other places. The spider's web is fantastic and I loved the unexpected pop of blue from that pretty little flower.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year Robin, blue flowers or dark violets are seldom seen in our climate. Its appearance so abruptly is like a sudden 'eureka', in treasure hunting, lol.
DeleteWhat a great blog. I have added this to the blogs I watch!! It is so lovely to read about somewhere to lush and full of wildlife.
ReplyDeleteHi Nick, thanks a lot. I jokingly told my friends in FB that i will be organizing tours through this ancient path, not through the cemented road. And the participants will be able to walk through the ancestors pathway down through a ravine with a spring water, and be introduced to hoyas in the wild and edible flowers. A lot of forest butterflies are also seen through this path, including the monkey tribe that passes by at daybreak, but that is not assured as they are difficult to talk with, hehe! At the other end of the road will be waiting fresh young coconut juice, flesh to be eaten directly from the fruit. And on the way back at the meeting place we will be serving brewed coffee or ginger tea we locally call salabat from freshly boiled ginger. Will it not be great? I just don't know if there will be takers, haha!
DeleteThat sounds perfect! My wife loves monkeys and I love all plants and animals. It sounds like such an amazing part of the world. We did something similar when we visited St Lucia, learning about the medicinal properties of plants and seeing the views and animals. We were given pineapple and coconut at the top of a hill. I don't think it was as unspoilt as where you are though. You could probably start up a new business as a travel guide! You certainly now enough about the flora and fauna there.
DeleteI really enjoy reading your posts and learning about your warm climate..... You feel the heat as you read.... Michelle
ReplyDelete