As I mentioned in my recent sketchbook post, we recently returned from our annual trip to The Philippines. Our family lives in Quezon City–it’s pretty much a sister city to Manila, so it comes with a lot of what you would expect from a densely populated developing country: traffic, pollution, traffic, concrete, traffic, malls, traffic–you get where I’m going. Thankfully, our Tita (Aunt) is the master at planning trips (even for a group of 22!) and with each trip we make to Phils, we make it out to a few new islands in the archipelago. There’s over 7,000, so the fun never ends!

This year, we chose Dumaguete in Negros Oriental, Philippines as our home base. Our first day was a city tour unlike any other–hiking, hot springs, and waterfalls galore! It was in Valencia, the neighboring town. Our flight from Manila to Dumaguete was delayed and we had a big group, so a few hits on the tour had to be skipped over. Initially, the itinerary was as follows:

DESTINATIONS:
CATA-AL MUSEUM TIERRA ALTA SULFUR VENT PULANGBATO FALLS REDROCK HOTSPRING CASARORO FALLS FORESTCAMP RESORT CHADA VALENCIA SIGNAGE

Right off the bat, we had to cross off Cata-al World War II Museum–so I can’t tell you a thing about it!

Tierra Alta

Next up was Tierra Alta. It was a beautiful resort that was set up that day for a glamorous wedding.

We had snacks there and climbed a little lighthouse that was built. I neglected to take a photo of the lighthouse, but I couldn’t have taken a better one than that from their website:

But I did get some pics while I was on the top of it and below it:

And couldn’t resist taking a photo of very important signage inside the lighthouse:

Sulfur Vents

Next up, we zoomed by the Sulfur Vents. Like, rly fast, over before you know it. We’re in a noisy van and our family is often conversing in Tagalog first, English second, so I didn’t get a chance to snap a photo as we sped off to the following location. A Filipino tourism site did have this great photo that is a good representation of what I saw:

What you can’t see is that there are pipes that have been inserted throughout the sides of this rock formation, to better control the release of he heat and pressure.

By the time I got my phone out, we were driving past red rock canals, like these:

Pulangbato Falls

Next up was Pulangbato Falls! This was a favorite for my youngest son. On top of the falls, to which we walked over a suspension bridge and were able to swim in, there were a couple of less rocky, freshwater swimming holes for my preschooler to splash around in.

That’s not the one he swam in, but once he saw it, we has quick to demand a wristband for entry.

Then we made our way in!

We wore clothes, as did everyone else we saw. But I guess we could have not?

The little guy was nervous over the loud splashing from the bigger fall, so he went to the swimming hole right off the bat. My older son and much of the rest of the group, however, made our way to the falls.

The swimming hole was so nice, surrounded by butterflies, had a smaller waterfall of its own, and we had a private cabana for our family. There were also snacks, which can’t be downplayed when your’e with our hungry fam!

I’ll save the rest of the city tour for another post, as I’m still jetlagged as can be!