10 Reasons to Try Trekking (the Buhisan Dam Experience)

It has been a long while since I got back to blogging and yes, I have quite a lot of backlogs. Right now, I will be sharing my most recent adventure.

My friend Kat has been trekking with her boyfriend Jam for a few weeks now and she has been urging me to try it. As I am not exactly athletic, I have been begging off for the fear that I may not be able to get up the next day because of sore legs. This time though, she invited me for a beginner's trek to Buhisan Dam, one of the primary sources of potable water in Cebu. 

The Dam, which is more than a century-old, is still serving Cebu and its nearby areas. Currently, it is maintained by the Metropolitan Cebu Water District. Since the dam itself was not open that time, we trekked the Buhisan reserve, a protected area where plants and animals can live freely.

Liza and Buhisan Dam.

If you haven’t tried trekking, I highly recommend that you do! Here are some of the things I learned and experienced as a first-time trekker.

1.      Be prepped up to wake up early on a weekend.

We all want to stay in bed a little longer on weekends especially that it is the only time that we are not rushing to go out of the house in the morning but if you are interested in joining a trek, you would need to get up early. Early morning is the best time to go up as the sun is not yet scorching hot. A trek is the best opportunity to tune your biological clock to the way it is during weekdays. At least, when you get up the next day, you will not have to drag yourself up and complain it is Monday again.

All smiles before the trek.

2.      Have a breather from your boring weekend routines.

One of the things that we did was to introduce ourselves in this pattern: name, the things we do on weekdays and the things we do on weekends. Many of us said that we worked on weekdays and just lounge around or go to malls on weekends or rest days.  

If you are looking forward to tasting a different weekend, be a member of groups organizing outdoor events. 

My friend Katrina who has trekked a few times has referred me to join the Buhisan Trek organized by a social network called OutPax. It was, by far, one of the better decisions I made in the past weeks because I was able to break free from my labahin. LOL

 

First stop at the part of Celestial Gardens. We had another round of orientation.

3.      Learn a thing or two about surviving the outdoors.

If you have guides like we did (I only remembered Eric… sorry I am bad with names) and you listen intently to their tips on how not to get lost on the trail and to survive a night outdoors, then you are in good hands.

During the orientation, I learned that you should not strive to get ahead or chase after the main guide as he is the one who will clear the trail for everyone and also, never ever throw any garbage on the trail and let the picker (the last person in the trek) pick it up after you. I also learned that if you have been left behind and you are not sure where to go just clap hard, mimic the sound of a monkey or whistle so that other people on the trail will respond to you. The main guide will also leave a leaf to lead to the direction you should take while twigs will block the direction that you shouldn’t take.

We were also taught that the best exercise for strong legs is to do 100 squats… EVERYDAY!

4.      See the city from a different perspective.

Being in a forest can make you forget that you are just in Cebu City. Lush greens, the shady trail (for the most part at least), a few meters up and then unveils the stunning view of the city jungle that is Cebu. This made me remember one of my favorite lines from A Walk to Remember: How can you see places like this and have moments like this and not believe?

Lush greens and the city scape.

5.      Gasp for air and actually appreciate breathing.

I admit that I am not the athletic type and although I have been trying to get active by jogging every once in a while, ascending and descending on a hill isn’t my cup of tea. As a result? I had to catch my breath but I am not the only one. Liza must have had a hard time breathing too as we were hiking up.

But of course, it was a great exercise for the lungs.

6.      Appreciate the natural wonders of nature.

I have lived in the city my whole life so occasional trips anywhere with lush greens truly make me happy. The best part of the trip is seeing that there is a part of the city with so many plants. Too bad that the El Nino has affected the water source so there was no water in the dam (from where we trekked at least).

7.      Get a quick lesson on biology.

I am lucky to have Liza as my buddy that day because she is someone who knows a lot about plants. I had the opportunity to get to know which plant is which. The towering trees were all over too! And luckily... no SNAKES!

8.      Get ready to be fit or at least set it as a new goal.

From the tip that a hundred squats a day would get your legs ready for tougher climbs, you sure would enjoy the way to getting fit and healthy. Apart from that, trekking actually gets your whole body worked out so it is a great way for you to reach that #fitnessgoal you have been trying very hard to achieve,

9.      Hear interesting stories about living the outdoor life.

Our guides never got tired of sharing a lot of great stories about their previous climbs and other random things they have experienced. For newbies like me, their stories are a great heads up to how random things can go when you are outdoors.

10.   Meet new people and gain new friends.

I only came to know about the trek because of my friend Katrina but on the trek itself, I met a lot of first-time trekkers like me. I may not really get to know them personally or recite their names one by one but it had been a pleasure going on a trek with them.

Hitched a ride after the trek.

Ang mangga. bow.

We survived!

So, are you ready for another adventure?