An oasis just 42km's from Cebu City. Carmen has something special for
nature lovers.
While Carmen is mostly known for its sinamay industry, a Sunday trek to
the heart of its lush mountains and small barrios brought me to the soul of this
old town, which was founded in 1870.
The roaring, carefree water of its
Mangitngit Falls was a gracious, refreshing welcome after our hike from the
barrio’s main road. Its cold water was like a balm that soothed my red,
sun-kissed cheeks and arms.
Together with the officials of the Department of Trade and Industry and
the Carmen local government, we drove through the trails into the private
hacienda of M. Lhuillier, another Carmen wonder.
The hacienda was a
hodgepodge of wildlife, flowers, trees and vegetables. It has a zoo and viewing
park that has a deer house, fishpond, horse rodeo area, and a hut on a cliff
that gives guests a four-window view of the surrounding mountains and seas.
It was a leisurely, idyllic drive while Moon River played over the car
radio. Carmen town Mayor Virginio Villamor, an environmentalist, has hundreds of
hectares of protected land where he has been planting trees since in the 1970s.
No wonder Carmen is a refuge for those who can’t stand the heat and dust of the
city.
Carmen is proud of its many caves. While I had no sweat getting into
Hinagdanan Cave in Bohol a couple of years ago because its passage was made
easy, Carmen’s Titip Cave literally made my knees shake and left minor bruises
on my arms. Getting into the cave required body strength, flexibility and
courage.
When the cave guide asked all of us to turn off our flashlights, there
was total darkness. I held my breath in fear and thrill.
When we turned on
our lights again, I was fascinated to see the crystal clear water of a
subterranean pool and the cave’s stalactites and stalagmites that speak of its
age and grandeur.
From my adventurous climb at the cave, we drove to the Shrine of Our
Lady of Fatima nestled at the peak of natural rock in Corte (one of Carmen’s
barangays) where a panoramic view of Lapu-lapu City awaits. It was a serene,
chilly place to be. Pine trees are everywhere.
Carmen gets as cold as 15OC
during its coolest months of November and December.
Before the sun set in, we ended our trip at St. Benedict’s Monastery, a
place of worship in the mountain, some six kilometers from Carmen municipal
building to behold the grand finale of our day -- bat watching.
Around one
million wrinkled-lip and fruit bats (locally known as kabyaw) inhabiting the
Kabyawan Cave come out in batches daily and paint the twilight sky with black
dots. They showed up and looked like crushed Oreos spreading in the sky.
So breathtaking, that watchers would want to freeze them and have them
stay, but they fly away to neighboring islands like Bohol and Negros and don’t
return to their home cave until before sun up the following day.
The town is also proud of its many caves. Carmen’s Titip Cave shows off crystal clear water of a subterranean pool and stalactites and stalagmites that speak of its age and grandeur. The Kabyawan Cave, named after the “kabyaws” (fruit bats) that live inside it, is also another popular tourist destination.
A less than two-hour drive from Cebu City, Carmen (formerly called
Bugho before the Spaniards came) is a third class municipality with close to
40,000 settlers in a land area of some 8,210 hectares.
The town’s local government has strong advocacies protecting the
environment. Among its treasures are the Mangrove Pocket Forest, Villamor Tree
Farm, turtle habitat at Cantumog River, a monkey sanctuary with an estimated 200
monkeys at Magtakup Cliffs, and Batong Diyut Fish Sanctuary, a 20-hectare marine
protected area with sunken Japanese warships and colorful marine
life.
Source: http://www.cebulifestyles.com
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