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A Trek Up
Gumasa, Glan, Sarangani Province
Above from left to right: Roy aka "Joji" Corpus, Hazelle (the Author), Roel and Lito (the non-low bat guy!)
S
arangani Province which has 233 kilometers of coastline, with some
stretches of white sand beaches. One of these is in Gumasa, Glan
located at the southernmost point of the province.
The area is blessed with over a kilometer stretch of powdery
white sand beach coves whose natural beauty is comparable
to that of the world-class beaches in Boracay, Bohl
and Zamboanga.
Under Gumasa's pristine waters of changing hues of blue
thrive rich coral reefs are home to a wide variety of tropic
fishes and marine flora.
(Source: Department of Tourism)
"The Story Behind the Scene"
9 April 1999 (Araw ng Kagitingan in the Philippines*)
We left General Santos City (located at the southernmost
part of the Philippines) at about 8:45 AM.
At about 10:05 AM we reached the white sand beach. The travel
wasn't really that long had we found the right
place in time. But we almost got lost. We thought we're gonna
reach the end point of southern Mindanao. We
had mixed feelings of excitement, a pinch
of fear and apprehension. Personally,
I wasn't that bothered. But I worry about the kids
(don't get me wrong, k? I ain't that old.
But they're just a bit younger. :)
who I felt were under my custody.
What if we'll run out of fuel? What if we got a flat tire?
What if some strangers would stop us and grab
all our stuffs?
What are we gonna do? Other than scream, kick and shout?
Yeah, I'm a black belt and Tae-kwon-do expert?! (I'm not
really good at it) but for sure my magic
stone can create miracles. But the thing
was, I really can't keep that pinch of jitteries
flying all over my head. We just noticed
that the more we kept going on our way, it seems
the ocean was going farther and farther.
Oh alien, Lito (the "man of the hour"
who never had a low-bat) can't resist the temptation
of teasing Ching Ooopsss, sorry guys but
I have to write this. Hey, I know it wasn't that easy.
Afterall, LIFE is an ADVENTURE, right? That we
were on!
We haven't made any plan for the activity. We just thought
it would be great to spend sometime somewhere outside
the city. The original idea was to go to Lake
Sebu which is about an hour and forty-five minutes
away from General Santos City. But every member of the Adventure
Team (i.e. Lito, Ching, Roel and the Author, Roy was a PLUS!) seemed
apprehensive. Fear that we might get stuck somewhere in the middle
of nowhere.
Bingo! Till finally, we decided going to Gumasa beaches
would be a better alternative.
Hey, if you wanna go there you don't have to sign
a four-digit check. You don't even need a big sum of money
to explore the island. What you need is just some packs of food
stuff to munch on. A few bottles of mineral water
to quench your thirst. Less than a hundred bucks will do
so you can enjoy those fresh octopus and some other fresh
sea creatures. Yummy!
Gumasa beaches is one of the most unspoiled tourist destination
in Southern Philippines. Many foreign investors intend to put
up a big amount in the area. Most neighbouring places are hoping
the project would get started to help our sinking economy.
However, some natives of the place cannot afford to give up
on their strong sentiments for the area. The only treasure left
them by their beloved ancestors.
*It's a non-working holiday. Formerly known as "Fall of Bataan."
"We can never replace a FRIEND.
When a man is FORTUNATE
enough to have several, he finds they are all different.
No one
has a double in FRIENDSHIP."
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Roy's Page will give you some insights
on few things you need to know about
Gumasa beaches, how the caves came
into being, how to enjoy LIFE and some
few things you need to know about Mother Nature.
Hazelle
builds this page for a group of friends.
Hazelle is a melancholic type of person,
God-fearing, hyper-active, idealistic, and a fun-loving environmentalist. She's a person who doesn't
settle for anything less, she knows she can have the BEST!
The Associate Editor of SPIRE (Mindanao State
University- High School Official Publication)
in 1990-1991 and Community Development Editor of VOICE,
Notre Dame of Dadiangas College Official Organ in 1993-1995, a Project
Officer and Environmental Management Researcher in Department of Agriculture,
South Cotabato, Sarangani and General Santos City, (SOCSARGEN) Project
Management Unit, Area Development Project, General Santos City.
You can
reach her via e-mail at:
hazelle@mailcity.com
If we trace back the history of caves, we'll discover
that one of the first caves that came into existence
was Carlsbad Caverns. It had its beginnings some 60,000,000 years
ago, long before two-legged creatures walked on earth.
As rains poured down and rivers flowed, the
solid rock of the cave-to-be was slowly eaten away.
Based on what Dorothy Sterling wrote
in one of her books, "The Story of Caves,"
a special kind of rock was found in Carlsbad,
that was limestone. Limestone is a fairly
soft rock, can be dissolved by a weak acid. The
acid that dissolves away limestone comes from
rainwater. Falling drops of rain pick up carbon dioxide
from the air and from the soil.
This CO2 changes the rainwater into carbonic
acid. You must be familiar with this because that's what
you get from sipping that soda drink.
Anything carbonic for that matter.
(The fizzy bubbles contain carbon dioxide.)
Over millions of years Carsbad
Cavers, the most spectacular system of
caverns in North America (established in 1930)
took shape. As long as water filled its tunnels
and flowed through its rock-walled
rooms, it grew bigger and bigger.
"How rare and wonderful is that flash
of a moment when we realize
we have discovered a friend."
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