Since Masungi Georeserve opened, it had always been an eye catcher to me. I always wanted to visit the park; unfortunately, it’s not that easy to get a booking from them. They require a minimum of seven persons for you to ask for reservation. Although they will allow lesser than 7, yet they require a payment equivalent to the minimum number of persons. Lucky for us, we’ve organized our group with the help of my friend Gracia who booked a slot with Masungi Georeserve.
On July 22, 2016, our schedule for Masungi Georeserve Adventure is its earliest, 5:30am. As early as 2am, we gather ourselves at Jollibee Farmers Cubao. Off we went to KM 45 since we should not miss our time slot. They are strict in implementing time schedules at the park since they only allow 30 minutes interval after every group. A minimum of 7 persons and a maximum of 14 for every group. Park rangers are conscious on the time allocations to avoid congestion in one area.
Arriving Masungi Georeserve at 5am, the guard tells us to wait at the entrance of the park located at KM 47. Another group also came next to us. Later, the gate opens and we drive to the parking area to wait for the coordinator and park rangers.
Not quite a wait, both the park coordinator and park ranger arrive. They instruct us to come with them towards the hill at the briefing area. It is also where the park entrance is. While walking, the park showcases different plants native in the area, which adds beauty to the park. Nice landscape as well together with the rock formations.
At the briefing area, the park administrator is discussing to us the basic do’s and don’ts of the park and she introduces to us our guide. He also gives us instructions as to the basic things that we will be doing at the park. The adventure will take 3 hours the most, they provide everything before starting the tour including one liter of water for us to hydrate during the exploration. Management is also providing helmets for safety and bags to put our important things while doing the trail. You will not be hungry after the tour as Masungi Georeserve is providing sumptuous snacks as well.
We say a prayer and let our guide take us to the mountain. They have established trails. Along the way, there are lots of trails that may confuse visitors. The park rangers are so attentive not to lose any of their participants along the way. As per our guide as much as possible, they are preserving the formations. They only make very minimal trimmings to some rocks for the tourists to safely follow the trail.
After a short walk up the trail, the first rope segment is waiting for us. Just a rope knotted to form a ladder where you can climb on it up the rocks. It is quite a challenge for beginners and an easy climb for adventurers. Continuing the trek is as ascending trail to reach the giant spider web.
Steel cable makes up the giant spider web. They mount it is safely on top of some rock formations. The location of the giant web is safe to be approximately 2-3 meters higher than the rocks at the center. It can handle large groups staying together at the web.
Each of us has a good photo opportunity at the web. There are some sitting, lying down and even standing while disallowing some stunts that may cause harm. We also have our group pictures. It is open to sunlight so proper attire is a must. Putting on sun block is a big help, as some of the featured activities have no trees.
At the location of the web, we may see from afar the other formations that we are to visit. It may seem far, yet upon trekking, lots of other things to be of interest that we may even forget how far we are walking already. It is a nice nature’s trail that we may be able to see some flowers along the way. The name of the resting areas are after the kind of animal that they spot in the area, like the “kuwago”, “unggoy” and others.
The walking continues until we come across a bridge connecting two rock formations. In between the bridge is a nice cottage where you can sit for a while before climbing up another rope obstacle. A three-meter rope obstacle will lead you to the top of a rock formation where you may have another 360 degree view of the park. On one side, you may see the bridge and on the other side will be the giant “duyan” that everybody is wanting to experience.
I am the first one to climb the obstacle and get on the rock itself. The view is very impressive. While on top of the rock, I am looking for a spot where I can have my signature “ buwis-buhay” pose unfortunately, some areas are strictly off limits for safety purposes. I just have my pose at one edge of the rock and asks our guide to take pictures of me. Then I go ahead down to another rope segment leading to the giant “duyan”
Lucky for me, I personally am enjoying being one of the first visitors in the area, I have the chance of enjoying the “duyan” by myself. Being the first to get there, I have a chance to walk back and forth the “duyan”. My GoPro is playing a great role for today, i have many videos with my adventures at Masungi Georeserve. My camera is with our guide. He is the last man to come down so I rest at one area where there is a shade from tree around while waiting for him to come down. It is such a nice experience.
Next stop is the Tatay’s peak. They label it “Tatay’s Peak” because it’s the highest of all the rock formations at the park. They also have the “Nanay’s Peak” which being the second highest as well. Masungi Georeserve also have discovered a cave in the area and they include it to the adventures they offer. We have a chance of passing through the cave and this is a discovery of one of the park rangers and they name it after him.
At the Tatay’s Peak, I climb the topmost allowable spot aiming to look for a mobile network. I am trying to post a teaser to my Masungi Adventure activity. The view is spectacular. Lush greens, several wonderful rock formations and the park’s activity areas are all visible from there. I can’t contain myself but try one “buwis-buhay” pose at the top. It cannot hide the traces left by other participants posing on that particular spot so I suppose they allow to pose there too. The location is not quite risky but one must exercise due caution to avoid any accident.
Nanay’s peak is next to Tatay’s peak. Just a short walk to reach the other end, however, looking at it from Tatay’s peak, it is quite far. There is more space at Nanay’s Peak thats also having good angles for photo opportunities. Masungi Georeserve really utilizes the space at Nanay’s Peak where they build small concrete bridges atop some rocks. The location of Nanay’s peak is slightly lower so some of the backgrounds are the trees around, it really adds to the beauty of the place. There is a rock formation that’s a good venue for a “buwis-buhay” poses. Unfortunately management doesn’t allow anybody climb the rock for safety reasons.
The last spot we are into is the hanging bridge. It connects the foot of Nanay’s Peak towards the end of the trail. It is a long hanging bridge with lush greens at the bottom of it. The background view from the bridge are the Tatay and Nanay’s Peak.
The crew of Masungi Georeserve is preparing our sumptuous snacks at the canteen. They also have a ready cold towel to refresh. Our snacks are tuna sandwich, a banana and refreshing lemonade. We spend some time at the snack area bonding with the group. We also have time to refresh ourselves and take some enough rest after eating. We walk back to the briefing area to return our helmets and bags. With our guide, together we walk back to the parking area where our van is waiting for us.
It was a wonderful day. We’re very thankful for the wonderful sunny weather that we really enjoyed the place. I personally thanked the organizer, Gracia Layaz, for giving up her slot for me to join the adventure.
Been here: July 22, 2016
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