A Pilgrimage and Adventure to Lake Holon

It was always in my bucket list to go to the famous Lake Holon in our province together with the love of my life. Just this weekend, one of my bucket list has been checked.

We met around 6:00 in the morning at the front of the Capitol of the province of South Cotabato. Then, we travel to the town proper of T’boli for about 45 minutes. Upon arrival, we asked some “habal habal” drivers to take us to Salacafe, the entry point of Lake Holon. Before we went to Salacafe, we went first to the municipal hall – tourism to enlist ourselves as visitors of the lake. The in-charge is not around at that time since he accompanied one group to Salacafe. Since we can also enlist in the receiving area in Salacafe, we went there without waiting for the in-charge. It was a long and bumpy ride going to Salacafe but we find it fun and adventure going there.

At the Salacafe receiving area, a woman welcomes us. She provided us the guidelines going there, give us a tour guide and offer a prayer for us. Also, She provided us a porter to bring some of our stuffs such as cooking materials and some of our food.  The five of us, Aning, F, Shayne, Jr and me started our walk around 9:30 in the morning together with our tour guide, Rustom. Since we are not used to trek and hike, we always stop. At first, it is very hot since there are only few trees along the way. Around 1km from the starting point, we reached Sitio Nabul where a community is there to welcome us. At the end of the Sitio, there is an area where we can take some rest. We took a rest there for about 5-10 minutes.

Then, we start to walk again. JR is the one who bring our bag, thus I walked without bringing anything except for my phone which I use to take pictures. At the entry point of the forest, I saw the biggest tree I’ve ever seen in my entire life.

We walked, trekked and hiked. Along the way, we see Mt. Parker and Mt. Melibingoy.

After almost two hours of walking, around 11:00 in the morning, we rested in an area where we had our lunch.

After taking at least 20 minutes rest, we walked again. After 15 minutes of walking, we arrived at “kusina ng aswang” where we can already see the lake. We took again some pictures.

After this area, we went downwards, thus the trek is easy compared to the start. After 1 hour of trekking, we arrived at the Lake Holon.

Since we are tired, we just eat some of our food and set our camp to rest and sleep. Around 3 in the afternoon, we woke up and started to explore the site. We also took our pictures.

We also bought some tilapia which is caught by the locals around the lake. Since we have incomplete materials for cooking, we improvise the way we cook our food.

Around 5:30 in the afternoon, we are waiting for the arrival of our friends. However, only the Supervisor of the Lake and a member of the Backpacker of the Philippines named Jayjay arrived. We asked if they notice two guys and one lady along the way. Unfortunately, they did not noticed anyone. So, we were disappointed since they might not be coming. So, someone suggested that we take our dinner. But Jr did not yet lose hope and tell the group to wait until 6:30 in the afternoon. Around that time, Charlie, Marf and Jesus came and we were very glad with it. We chat a little and we ate our dinner. During dinner time, someone suggested to have a bonfire. One group gathered sticks for our bonfire. We set a bonfire in the bonfire place as told by us by the supervisor of the lake. We had a little chat and we decided to sleep.

While we are preparing to sleep, I heard the supervisor talking to his radio that he will go back to salacafe since three person, also friends of jayjay will arrive at the reception area to have night trekking. It was almost 9:00 in the evening when I heard it. So I really guess that the group that will be coming are mountaineers. We fall asleep and we just woke up around 3:00 in the morning when someone from outside the tent is chatting and telling among themselves the excitement of arriving at the camp. I also heard them setting up their tents.

Around 5:30 in the morning, we woke up. It is a very very cold night that I am shivering because of it. Looking around the lake is a very beautiful creation of the Lord. Jr and I prayed and thanked God for the wonders of its beauty. The sunrise is really really great.

Around 7:00 in the morning, Shayne, Jr and I decided to swim the lake. We borrowed the lifevest from Kuya Supervisor and swim at the lake. At first, I am very hesistant to swim since it is the lake. However, I conquered my fear when I go to where Jr and Shayne swims.

Around 9:30 in the afternoon, we start our trek again, this time to go home. The trek going home is easy and cool since we had so much time to wander around the forest.

Unfortunately, along the way, Marf tripped and made her foot sprain again. So, we wait for them while we trek that is why it took us almost 4 hours of trekking. We arrived around 1:00 in the afternoon at Salacafe. It was the first time where Jr and I went trekking and camping. Indeed, it was a great adventure.