Places

Down the river: Bend!

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“Don’t let go!” Soaked through but in high spirits, this was our war cry for forty-five minutes or so. Each one sitting on a salbabida, linked only by hands and feet, our fate on the rushing river dependent on this unsevered link and by how much we have learned of the wisdom of the bamboo that grows abundant in the area. This is a water sport made for groups: family, friends and, we find amusingly appropriate, for companies wanting of team building.

Makapiko River in Batuan is so named for the awkward bend of the river flowing through the town as if enfolding it in a warm embrace. The river’s source is in the town of Carmen and runs through the towns of Batuan, Sagbayan and on to Loboc and Loay.

Making use of what the town has while incorporating conservation, river tubing is part of an ecological-tourism package in Batuan under the Philippines-Australia Community Assistance Project (PACAP) implemented by the Soil and Water Conservation Foundation (SWCF) with the Bohol Alliance of Non-Government Organizations (BANGON) serving as secretariat.

What makes tubing in the Makapiko River unique is the experience that runs from the mystical to the real.

When the current is slow one rests to the soft gurgle of water and the canopy that weaves like delicate lacework on the sky’s blue bosom.

And when the current rushes, all senses awake to the roar of the river, the two-meter fall, the shouts not to let go and Paul clutching at my feet, cutting off blood circulation.

This is an exercise of trust. Of learning to hold on when the going gets rough or when the way ahead is unseen. Of believing that your strength is enough to keep the link or that the strength of others can make up for your weakness.

This is a test of faith. Faith that the purpose is within your reach and well worth it.

And this too is an articulation of the age-old lesson of the bamboo, that in order not to break we have to bend.

So down the river we all went. When we came upon the rapids we bent.

Tags: adventure, batuan, bohol, eco-adventure tourism, makapiko river, river, river tubing