Lake Sebu and Its Hidden Marvels

It’s not a secret to anyone that I was raised and grew up in Mindanao. But that didn’t mean I had all the chance in the world to go anywhere I want since I’m not really fund of traveling before. I always thought of doing mountain climbing, hiking, trekking and a lot more outdoor adventures. I missed doing these adventures and I can only thought of doing them in my dreams or at least when an opportunity knocks once more. Anyway, I’m going to share you my piece of experience that happened last October 2002. Quite awhile now, isn’t it?

When I visited my relatives in Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat, I immediately thought of dropping by to Marbel, South Cotabato to see a good friend, Fritz. He later asked me to check out Lake Sebu, a lake located in the Municipality of Lake Sebu, South Cotabato. So it didn’t take too long til I packed up my stuffs and prepared ourselves for an exciting nature trip. We tagged along his good friend, Vladimir with us and took an hour and a half  jeepney ride from Marbel to Surallah, South Cotabato. We arrived around 3pm and since we don’t know the way going to Lake Sebu from there, we asked the locals how to get there. And the adventure started right there.

A local told us to take another jeepney ride going to Lake Sebu town proper and another told us to take a motorcycle ride. Quite confusing at that time but we took the best option, riding the jeepney. And to add more fun to it, we insisted to ride on the baggage rack so we can see everything on our way. Man, it was like another hour of travel but I’d say inspite of all the dust that powdered us all over, it was all worth it. And when we arrived on the town proper, the next thing we need to know was on how to reach the lake itself. A few townmen told us to take the motorcycle going there, but since it’s getting dark no one was willing to take us there. Not to mention it rained heavily the day before we arrived so the road is still wet and muddy at that time. No one would like to take the risk. It’s not like we could just check in to a cheap hotel for the night and move our asses the following day. So, we stopped over a mini store and bought ourselves bottles of water. While we were resting, a guy approached us and told us he can take us to the lake resort but for an additional price of course. Well, we rather wanted to pay more than stay in a very quiet and creepy place.

At that time, you couldn’t see any houses in between Surallah to Lake Sebu town proper and from the town til the lake resort. In short, it’s a really dark road going up to the lake. Yes, up. After the agreement, the guy went to get his motorcycle. He warned us to take out our shoes and sandals. So from there, I already had an idea that it’s gonna go rough. After 30 minutes of travel, we were already slowing down because the road starts getting slippery. There was mud everywhere and not to mention, it was showering at that time. The only light we had that time was the headlight of the motorcycle. I asked the driver “How long until we’ll get to the resort?” and he answered “around 20 more minutes…if we’re on a fast pace”. Just right after I asked the question, the bike started dancing in the mud. The guy said, he cannot take us any further because the mud is too deep for the bike to get through. He even instructed us that the resort is just a few minutes away. Come on! With all the mud and the rainshower, I didn’t really believe it was as easy a he said. What option did we have? So we started walking. As the guy was moving away from us, it started to get darker and darker so I pulled out my flashlight.

While we were walking, we were both pretending that we’re not scared. So we were telling stories and cracked some jokes. In truth, at that time I was already beginning to remember those creepy stuffs from horror movies and even from pc games like Alone in the Dark and Resident Evil. I was even beginning to imagine, what if some werewolves or vampires or whatever monstrosities comes out, I’d be so helpless. They wouldn’t really enjoy fresh meat from me since I was so thin back then and funny but I have thought of pushing Fritz to be their supper. LOL. Anyway, so much for my horror nonsense.  After around forty minutes of walking we could already see the resort from where were standing. The sky was so mad that it poured heavy rain…as if surviving that dark and creepy road hurted him. In a short while, with all the mud on our bare foot and after getting soaked in the rain, we finally arrived at the resort.

The attendant immediately gave us set of towels, soaps, shampoos and etc. As if this was not the first thing it happened on their resort, or should I say they were amazingly prepared. So after getting all cleaned up, the three of us immediately took a room and went to the cafeteria for dinner. Man, I’d say after the rough travel we had all night, the food was worth the wait. Since I felt like I was getting sick after that rain, I ordered Lomi so I could sip some hot soup while enjoying the noodles. After the dinner we decided to relax a bit, so we played cards and took some beer to warm us up for the night. That night, aside from our interest to see the lake, the receptionist got us curious after telling stories of waterfalls all over the area. We all looked at each other and it’s as if we have the common thought of asking “where is this place? how do we get there?” After getting all the instructions and tips, we immediately planned leaving early in the morning.

The next day, we started hitting the road. And as instructed by the receptionist, we dropped by in a nearby village to look for someone who could guide us to the waterfalls. A guy volunteered to give us company for a price of course. At first I was so cautious because this guy had a gun with him. But later on I slowly ignored him since I was more focused in reaching our goal. After around 30 minutes of our walk, I couldn’t help but ask why he was carrying a gun with him. He told us that since the waterfalls is not yet that known to people, it is believed to be inhabited by few NPAs and it’s best to protect ourselves from those. A bit scary but that didn’t stop us from our goal. We stopped for awhile to drink, change our wet clothes soaked in our own sweat and took a bit of rest. When the guy told us we’re around half an hour more to our destination, we immediately stood up and kept moving. I can’t deny the fact that I’m already dead tired and I’m about to pass out soon. I ran out of bottled water and started to ask for another stop over when I started to hear crashing sound of water. From a useless human being, I started to gain back my spirit and kept walking. We started to pick up pace since we’re actually moving down to the river.

When we all reached the river, everyone was shocked while looking at a distance. The very sight of the waterfalls made us feel as if we were there on the very day the earth was created by God. Our presence on that place made us think, “why in the world this one was never told before?” No resorts, no stores, no entrance fees and no charges. Everything was surrounded by the beauty of nature I only see in the books or tv.

As I was watching the waterfalls, the guide stood before me and said “You should know there are 3 more waterfalls around here. You haven’t seen anything yet. I can only guide you until the next and the best one. Rest of the falls are very risky.” After spending a few minutes taking crazy pictures of us, we prepared for another walk. We didn’t care about how far more we have to walk to see the next one. To kill boredom and fatigue, we started talking crazy fantasies relating to our location. Like, I was making an imaginary “what if” there were elves all around us and such.

We didn’t actually notice time anymore. Everyone was so excited. It didn’t take much time until we started hearing another crashing sound of water. After the long walk, walking uphill and taking a long turn on the road, the very first sight that welcomed us was the magnificent scene of the second and the steepest waterfalls in the region.

I couldn’t help it but smile. The fact that I am somewhere I can only be in my dreams. The place is naturally cold. You won’t complain about the scorching heat of the sun because the coolness of the place beats the heat. While we were there, we brought out our food and enjoyed our lunch within the realm of Mother Nature. At that time, I also didn’t care about the horror we had last night while walking in the deep mud, in fact I’ve forgotten about it already. After eating lunch we all decided to get wet and feel the cold water coming from the falls.

For some reason, the guide enjoyed our company. It’s not even about the money we paid him for. He plainly likes it when we crack some jokes and some funny stories. So as bonus, he invited us to a spring where we can enjoy fresh water. It was just around 10 minutes when we reached the spring.

Then it was around 2pm when we called it a day and walked our way back to the resort. It was a very tiring day for us after having to walk all day in different kinds of terrains. We reached the resort at around 4pm and while we were craving for food, another beautiful view seemed to be waiting for us at that day.  The very lake of Lake Sebu. We took a table so we could take our dinner and ordered some fried tilapia and sweet and sour again. We were all surprised when we saw them catch live fish in their tilapia farm from the lake itself. Fresh from the lake then to the kitchen I’d say. Their food was very tasty and cheap too!  Probably the cheapest and the tastiest food I’ve ever had in my travels. Imagine yourself dining in the premises of the lake.

Then the following day we all went back home to meet our friends in the city. We’re happy we all lived to tell the tale. I just wonder what Lake Sebu looks like now. I do hope they have electricity and they’re visited by more tourists now.

Hope you guys enjoyed my little story. *winks*

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