10th Mindanao Forum (Updated)

Bantaawan Lake, Gingoog,
Misamis Oriental
December 17-20, 2004


"Fallen" Angels on a fallen log

Joan, Gary, Myself, Ani and Bolo, taking a break after a looooooong, tiring walk. And we're not even half-way yet! huh! The campsite is still a long way to go from here huhuhu

Finally the campsite!!!! Now, let's cook our dinner:


What's cooking?

So what's cooking? Blueberry cheesecake huh? Yep, we did made some during our last night in our campsite. Shown here are the entire gang in our little nook in the woods. First picture - Back: Choy2x (who was just about to take a dip in the river thus the skimpy shorts on), myself, Jay (whose head is barely shown), Jun and Melai (further back), Paljet, Bennie (standing up) and Joel next to him. Crouching in the middle are Edoc, Joan and Renee. Second Picture - Back: Bolo and myself, Renee, Jay and Choy-choy. Left: Jun and Paljet; Center: Edoc and Joan


DAY 2: Trek to Bantaawan Lake!


Now, on to the lake!

It's also a long way to the lake from our camp-site. The trail is full of trees, however, making it cooler for trekking. See the mist covering us in the above photos? At one point of the trail, we had to maneuver our way across a very long fallen log.

The three muskeeters Resting a bit. We must be on the right track. See, the tag?

Several portion of the trail required us to duck and scramble on our knees. We often would have to weave our way through some branches and bushes. The scrambbling left us exhausted that there were times we just had to stop and catch our breath such as in the above photo.

After some time, we did reach the lake finally. There were already several climbers there who started their trek real early. And some of them were really noisy. Nonetheless, the lake stood serene and beautiful before us.


Serene Bantaawan Lake

Jay, Myself and Bolo arrived at the lake ahead of the others. We then had some picture-taking while waiting for the others.




Sharing some laughs. Nearly slipped!

To get closer to the lake in order to get a good picture of it, we had to perch ourselves onto branches of a tree very close to the lake. The branches are not exactly sturdy thus we had to carefully maneuver our way over the branches.

Notice also how fog partly screens the lake in the background? It took a while before I was able to take some decent pictures of the lake. Had to be really patient while waiting for the fog to dispel. It did for a few moments and then it screens the lake again...


Muni-muni. Me to Bolo: "Lovely huh? When will this fog ever dissipate so I could finally take its picture?"

After awhile, Choy2x and Ani arrived and joined us....


Sibling "Chivalry" (Never "rivalry" for this two)


Ka-birthday! The two "August-3ians" holding hands...


Renee: Kita mo?

Myself: Ang alin?

Renee: Yung tagak by the lake's edge. See?


The whole gang

We had the above picture taken before we proceeded to go down. Then Melai and Jun arrived just as we were about to go....


Melai and Jun


Down we go

On our way back to our camp, we again had to duck and scrambble on our knees as we retraced our steps...

Nice ceiling of green canopy by the water source.

Took this shot while sitting on a huge rock by the river just before the campsite. I had been resting awhile after coming down from the lake when I took this photo. Bolo and I arrived there way ahead of Renee and Gary. The sun is about to set by this time thus the somewhat blurry effect here. But on a clear morning? Looking up to this "ceiling" sure is heavenly. The green really stands out against the clear sky.

Rested, changed and supped. Pretty contented after a long day trek at the lake.

Dinner was a great affair. We had adobo, crab and corn soup, some lunch left over of tuna longganisa and embutido... B and I had some crispy fried glutten and vegetarian menudo courtesy of another vege friend Imee. And immediately after supper, Renee and Gary whipped up several mouldings of blueberry cheesecake! Amazing huh? =)

Circle of friends. Having fun inside the tent during our last night in the woods.

We were waiting for the blueberry cheesecake to really set when this photo was taken. That proved to be quite difficult without a freezer nearby. We thought the coldness of the woods would be enough. Using the wrong brand of gelatine did not make it sufficient though. Outside the tent, some of the guys had a meeting over some concerns. They were pretty serious whereas us inside are having some laughs while sharing some red wine and chips to warm us up from the cold.

A bigger circle. From top, clockwise: Gary, Renee, myself, bolo, jay and joan.

DAY 3: Going Down


The whole gang on our way down...


Joan and Edoc


Bolo: Kami pod!

DAY 4: Going Home


Picture! Picture! Before heading to CDO for a brief stopover before going home. The whole gang: Joan, Renee, Jay, Gary, Myself, Bolo, Melai, Jerry, and Edoc

Reshuffle! Joan and Edoc clowning in this picture.


"Homegoing" King and Queen