Daring Sports

Of Heights and Rekindled Love
By Bam Enad

I can still remember it clearly – my fascination with heights, rocks, and wall climbing started with one spontaneous weekend with my cousins. I wouldn’t call it a love at first try. I had my fair share of struggles – falling, bruising my knees, and kalyos on my hands. Wall climbing is a sweaty, muscle-building physical activity that I have grown to love.

With every pain and sweat, I yearn to reach the top of a 12ft wall. During the days when I choose to climb in outdoor walls, I am given an extra privilege of looking at the metro from high above with only a harness to keep me safe, or sometimes none. Some are worried for my safety. In fact, others consider it a dangerous hobby. I, on the other hand, have none of that as the exhilarating feeling of being on top of the world in a momentary no-care attitude pumps up a large dosage of endorphin happiness.

Eventually, I bought climbing shoes, gears, and accessories. Invest in what you love, they say. My climbing buddies and I have had plans which included boulder climbing in Cebu and a lot others.

Climbing became a regular weekend activity for my cousins and I. On rare occasions, I’d climb during the week after work. It made me physically stronger. Mentally, it was a good reminder of “achieving and working on one goal at a time.” Climbing clears my head and makes me think faster.

Oh, what an elation! The momentum was there but there were challenges that came between climbing and myself.

Then, I moved to Makati. I had it all planned out and then, the wall climbing gym I frequent in Mall of Asia without prior notice, closed. With dropped jaw, I was a lost kid in this urban jungle left without my climbing playground nearby. The inevitable happened. I just stopped climbing.

From wall and rock climbing, this lass cannot be discouraged. My love for adventure has now set eyes on the seduction of visiting new places.

View of Caramoan on top of Matukad Island

About a month ago, during the APEC weekend, my feet have sent me on a spontaneous get away in Caramoan.

Caramoan is situated in the lower eastern part of Camarines Sur in Bicol Region. It is a group of islands and islets with several rock formations and limestone cliffs scattered in the Pacific Ocean. The environ is just so lush and rich with unspoiled nature – majestic deep blue sea, white sand beaches, and secret lagoons.

With all these beautiful islands, the common activity is island hopping. On our first day, we hopped on the boat to get to Matukad Island. “Matukad”, in local vernacular means, “to climb”. Why is it so famous? It’s because of this rare two feet long milkfish living in solitude in a lagoon in the middle of a rocky mountain. Locals say the milkfish is enchanted. They don’t know how the fish got there in the first place given that it is in the middle of the mountain. It has been there for as long as they can remember. To see this bangus entails such a feat just to get a peek of it. Could it really be enchanted?

To whet our curiosity and see this peculiar bangus, we had to do a steep ascend of towering karst comprised mainly of jagged rocks to hold onto for support. Too bad I did not have my climbing shoes. But of course, I will not waver from this challenge. Together with our guide, we started rock climbing.

First step on that jagged outcrop and I felt like I have done this several times before. It was all too familiar that my muscle memory did a back track. Third, I was already ahead of our guide.

After several minutes, the lagoon opened up before our eyes. The lagoon and the enchanted bangus was not the only thing we could see from up there – there’s the vast blue ocean and several other islands. Truly a majestic sight and the climb made it an even more wonderful experience.

 I realized I still have my climbing skills, may be a little rusty but it does not matter. That can be fixed. What is more important is my renewed love of rock climbing.

At the end of the trip, I was reminded that, the things we love never really leave us. All we need is that one perfect opportunity and love can come back rushing in. The excitement of the climb and the discovery of what lies ahead is alive in me. It was never truly gone.

With the wind blowing on my face, here I am, once again, on top of the world.