APO

APO ______________________________ Written by: Abdulla Cesar "Abs" Rivera, Jr. NOVEMBER 10, 2011 Edited By: MJ Crave

CHAPTER 1: WE'RE GOOD TO GO!

“ (She is) That’s the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen!”, Evan said to Max while glancing at Julie. Evan clung on to Max and said, “That girl is going to be mine!” Max turned and looked at him with one eyebrow up, “Of course, she is your girlfriend, you dumb-ass!”, he replied and they laughed.  Unknown to what the boys just talked about, Julie approached them with Cleo. “So, are you guys ready? We are all packed up.”, Julie uttered. “Yeah! We’re good to go, baby.”, replied Evan. “Hey! Melisa! Stop smoking! We’re going”, Cleo shouted.

It was a perfect day. The sun was hiding at the back of the morning white clouds. Evan, Julie, Max, Cleo, Randy, Jett, Melisa, and Jim were all ready to go to Davao to go trekking at Mount Apo, which is the highest mountain and volcano in the Philippines towering at 2,954 meters above sea level.

From Davao to Darong, it took them less than hour travel. They went to Santa Cruz which is 45 kilometers southwest of Davao. As they arrived at Santa Cruz Terminal, they go on board on a big tricycle taking them the municipal hall, in the Tourism Office. Inside the office, they asked for a permit to allow them have their trekking adventures of the majestic mountain, and of course to get assisted by the mountain guides or porter as they go on with their trip.  Before they could start out their sole intention of trekking in the mountain, they are obliged to attend orientation about the Do’s and Don’t’s in trekking and other essential stuff. After the long orientation, the gang was accompanied by their native guide named Gary and off they ride a bus from Santa Cruz to Digos and then travelled by van from Digos to Kapatagan. As they arrived from Kapatagan, they need to ride the motorcycle-taxi in order for them to get to Barurinf. The travel was quite long and there were no dull moments for they have enjoyed it and of course they cannot hide their excitement about the adventure they will experience. When they arrived at Baruring, they were on their feet and walked about 20 minutes to Lower Colan to register their names at a nearby camp which is of course is a must to any tourists in order for them to continue their travel to the next place, the Upper Colan.

 CHAPTER 2: THE ARRAIVAL

The nature’s view is indeed exhilarating. “Dude, this is it!”, Evan excitedly said to his friends. “Oh, yeah! Boy, let’s do this!”, Jett said and everybody wowed to joy. “The easy part ends right here, my friends.”, Gary said. “Since, shortly over Upper Colon, the thick and wet rain-forest will both slow us down. So, better help one another, OK?”, he added. “Has anyone ever been lost in the jungle before?”, Max asked. “There were countless of tracks over and under Colan and someone might if they don’t have a guide.”, Gary replied. “Hmmm… Interesting.”, Max whispered.

After hours of trekking, they’ve finally reached Tinikaran Holding Camp 1. They were a bit tired and hungry, so they had their lunch there. Then, they continued trekking until getting to Tinikaran Holding Camp 2. Going on top of Camp 2, they will face the thick woods and bushes. A couple of hours of walking in the luscious green, rain poured down and they were drenched in cold. The rain never stopped them to go on and They carry on to climb a sheer incline named "87 degrees” but it was slippery, and their Gary decided that they will let the rain pass to avoid inevitable danger. However, the rain poured heavier and Gary told everyone to take a shelter. Everyone pulled out their tents and quickly assembled them.

While staying inside their tents and waiting for the rain to stop, Jim saw someone from a far. It was like a figure of a skinny man who stands around 6 feet tall. He took out his camera and took a photo of it. As he pressed the shutter, the man-liked figure ran-off quickly and disappeared from the woods. “Holy shit!”, he said and his heart erratically beats fast. Randy, who’s with him inside the tent poked him and said, “Hey dude, you OK?” “Fuck dude. I saw a man outside… in the woods… he was like six feet tall and… God! When I took a photo of him, he disappeared!”, Jim anxiously said. “Woaw! Woaw! Woaw! Slowdown their Eddie Murphy.”, Randy uttered. “Here, look at this.”, Jim said and showed Randy the photo.