The sun blazed upon us as we rode the bus from the “Palace in the Sky” towards the resort. The bus was part of Banahaw liner, it had lilac and turquoise paint and there was a logo of a horse on its side, which is weird because a Banahaw is either a plant or a mountain here in the Philippines.
We ahd left UP Manila at about 7 o’clock in the morning and we just finished the first leg of our field trip A bus filled with students taking up the first part of their Natural Science 2 course, Geology, we were full of excitement at the thought of having an adventure as uneventful as our trip was. Most of us in the bus were restless and were trying to occupy our minds by watching Shrek 2 being shown on the bus’ television, while some us wanted to be more hands-on with everything and started eating our lunches.
The view outside the window was typical of an idyllic provincial landscape, although there were already traces of urbanization, with a McDonald’s or Jollibee on a corner every once in a while. It was a beautiful Sunday morning and I just had to drink in the warmth and peacefulness of it all. The neat rows of pineapples on a hill looked like they were ripe for the picking and the banana trees looked like they were huddling over something very important. There is a serene feeling over this place as some provinces have this effect on anyone who has lived in the urban jungle for so long - find more. This field trip was a welcome escape for me. Along the way, I also saw fellow travelers like us buying souvenirs or fruits from the vendors that line the road.
We reached the resort in Nasugbu at about one o’ clock in the afternoon.
When I stepped down of the bus, I saw that the street was a little dusty, like the streets on old, American cowboy westerns, where the good guy and the villain would hold a duel. Covering my eyes I headed for the resort which was situated at the other side of the road while lugging my heavy backpack and paper bag. By the time we arrived there, other students who were also taking up Natural Science 2 were already “digging in” their lunches. My block mates and I found a table and settled right in. We shared whatever was left our lunches (I barely had anything to share because I got really hungry along the way) and also talked of our fond memories of other beach get-togethers. The sun was very relentless still and we had to slather on sun block to protect us from the UV rays.
After we had eaten, Sir Manueli, our instructor, passed around sun visors which served as our souvenirs. We were grateful for those sun visors because the heat of the sun really felt like it was searing our skins and burning our heads. After every sun visor was distributed to all of his students, it was time for my moment of truth-the banca ride. At about two-thirty in the afternoon we were to ride small fishing vessels so that we could get to another part of the beach was cleaner and more private. I took a really big gulp. I have a fear of big bodies of water ever since I can remember and had incidents of near drowning dotting my childhood and preteens. So riding a banca, those little, rickety, boats spelled SUICIDE for me. The waves were inviting as we walked towards the coast where the bancas were waiting for us. The sky was an immense blue blanket with few clouds. In fact the sky and sea were like mirror images of each other. I held my block mate’s hand as if I had sent myself to the gallows. I now laugh every time I remember my first reaction to the bancas, there was really nothing to it.
Five bancas were anchored on the shore and each had a maximum capacity of about 15-18 persons. We chose a mustard colored banca whose name is Kaibigan. The wind was blowing moderately and the waves were lapping up at our legs as we made our way up the narrow ramp and into the boat. My block mates who were with me were, Jenny, Karen, Bea, Janel, Camille, Ediza, Lorreine and Cressida. Also with us were Sheila, our non-block classmate at NATSCI. 2 and was a Political Science student, students from another class like the two guys and a girl who came from the College of Dentistry, a guy from INTARMED and the two ladies who were watching over us in the bus. The banca was manned by three kuyas. They all had that kind of tan you get from ferrying people across all day. They had lithe bodies and weather beaten faces, I assume that they must be younger than I perceive them to be.
We left for the other side of the beach and rode out into the open sea. I have always thought that the sea was either light blue or a deep, dark blue tint from the surface. I have never imagined that the sea would range from a beautiful shade of blue green to sparkling jade. There were times when the water was so clear that we could see the coral formations and rocks that were under water. The ride was surprisingly pleasant for me because I thought I will have to go down with sea sickness again. I was very delighted that all things were running smoothly that I even went along with my block mates and dipped my feet at the water-while the boat was still running. We also saw the beautiful rock formations, a rock jutted out from the surface of the water and it looked like a turban shell with its base serving as the playground of the kids we saw who were swimming over there. Halfway through the trip also caught a glimpse of what looked like a cave situated at the lower part of the big rocky face of the shore. The blue color of the sea complemented the lush green coconut trees and foliage that were abundant at shore. Which amazes me because beaches nowadays are really polluted or are being developed by businessmen, with development means the uprooting of trees and setting up breakwaters and posh hotels and resorts. This place in Nasugbu was still untouched somehow. But then I saw the condominium at least that is what the kuya said to us when we asked him what was built there. It looked like something out of a movie or a lifestyle magazine. It had whitewashed paint and from afar, terracotta roofs. It seemed like a really nice place to have a vacation. One thing that we noticed was that our banca seemed to slower than all of the other bancas. In fact, our companions were already on shore yet we still had not reached the half mark. After thirty minutes, at three in the afternoon we finally arrived at the beach.
When we finished swimming, and it was time to head back to where the resort was I asked the man who helped me up the banca why his vessel was slower than the others. He told me that we were only running on one motor engine unlike the others who were running on two. I asked him the reason for this, and he told me that they were running low on fuel. At that point, my mind was starting to play tricks on me, like what if we run out gas in the MIDDLE of the ocean? I began to remind the kuyas that it is okay if we just paddle first then we can use the gas if we are about halfway there. It was a good thing though that they informed me that the gas will last until we reached shore. But of course, I was ever the pessimist I broadcasted the news to my fellow passengers but they were unaffected(web site), hey, after all they at least knew how to swim. We were four people short on the ride home because the others chose to ride on the faster banca. The ladies and the INTARMED guy were the people who were with us. The return trip was as uneventful as the first trip so I decided to make a new friend in the name of VJ, the INTARMED student.
I learned that he would have been in another banca if it were not for the fact that the boat was already close to capsizing. It was hard though to keep a conversation over the roar of the waves, the humming of the motor and the gust of the wind, but we managed to share some information, before long Karen, Lorreine and Jenny were also chatting with him.
Shortly thereafter, we arrived on shore as we prepared to leave, we noticed a plastic bag full of personal belongings like a wet t-shirt and towel. I assumed that it was from my block mates because we were the only ones who rode there. So I called out to them to check if they have anything missing but they told me that it did not belong to them.
I was still standing on the beach trying to figure a way to get rid of the bag when from the arriving banca I saw a girl in shorts and who had short hair shouting after me. “Akin ‘yan, akin ‘yan!”, she shouted at me as she ran towards where I was. I could not help but smile because she had left her things in the wrong banca! I gave her the plastic bag and she thanked and I in turn said that she was welcome.
I walked towards the resort and I paused silently, thanking God that I survived my first boat ride, I made new friends, bonded with my block mates and nothing happened bad even though there were countless opportunities for it.
