MT. MAKILING

“BLOODSUCKING SA MT. MAKILING”

MT. MAKILING

I.           Eight

II.        Station 7

III.      Agila Base

IV.      Limatik

I.             EIGHT

I was at Pook Makiling park in Los Baños, Laguna spearheading JFINEX 2009’s team building activity. I was with the fifteen officers of UE JFINEX for the new academic year. I divided them into three groups of five; blue, yellow and red teams. The first day in Pook Makiling was filled with a series of games and challenges I prepared for the three groups – physical, mental and social. We all had a blast and I could tell that the team building activity was already successful on day one.

The second part of our team building was a hike at Mt. Makiling. The last real hike I had was four years ago when I was still studying in UP Diliman. I hiked at Mt. Samat with my UE JFINEX 2008 family last April but it was not quite the real mountain hike. But nevertheless, I was prepared to lead the hike with my new JFINEX family.

We were sixteen in the group but only eight, including me, responded to the challenge. Camille, Jane, Mae, Tela, Dan, Rayb, Wilson and I boarded the jeepney that we chartered. It took us to the College of Forestry of UP Los Baños which was the entry point for a Peak Two Mt. Makiling hike. Prior to this, Maricon, Tela, Wilson and I already surveyed the place. But we only went to Flatrocks. It was still a six more kilometer walk until Peak Two. By this time, our goal was to conquer Peak Two of Mt. Makiling.

II.            STATION 7

When Tela, the new JFINEX secretary registered the eight of us at the ranger station, it marked the start of the trek to this mysterious Laguna mountain. We passed by the Flatrocks marker which was the second out of the 30 stations in Mt. Makiling Peak Two. The first two hours was a long stretch until we got to Station 7 where stores run by locals were present. We rested for a while and ordered fresh buko juice from one of the stores. We mingled with the locals there where we learned some facts from the dreaded impediment of a typical Mt. Makiling hike.

Limatiks are tiny land leeches mostly present in tropical rainforests such as Mt. Makiling. It was a creepy thing to think of several leeches crawling on your skin all at the same time. Even the locals there were disgusted over these tiny creepy crawlies. I was very curious about it and asked if there is a chance that one of us will not be attacked by a limatik. I was surprised to hear the answer. Mt. Makiling is limatik infested so there is a 99.9% that all of us will encounter them. The locals at Station 7 described them as elastic and would not die easily. We needed salt or vinegar to ward them off. They said that there will be a point there where the limatiks would be like spaghetti noodles in a plate. The thought was uncomfortable. It was advisable to just let the leech suck blood from you if it had already started doing it. Forcing its sucker out of your skin might cause the sucker to remain pierced in your skin. The local joked aside saying “Konting dugo lang naman ang sisipsipin nila sa inyo, hindi naman kayo mamamatay kaya pagbigyan niyo na.”

My fellow officers were also uneasy about this whole limatik thing but we will be wasting the two hour walk if we back out. So I asked Camille, the youngest in our group, if she was afraid. And she said with conviction that she was not. We thanked the locals there and continued our journey.

III. AGILA BASE

Ever since that conversation with the locals, our minds were constantly bothered by the thought of the notorious limatiks. By the time that we reached Station 8, we huddled up. We were confronted with a choice. Either we continue our hike to Peak Two or we turn right and just go to the Mudspring. Many of my fellow officers yarned on just going to the Mudspring. It was a long pause pondering on what to do and where to go. But I decided to continue our hike to Peak Two. We can, after all, have a side trip to Mudspring during our descent.

Several kilometers more, we still have not encountered the limatiks yet. The trail was still a straight one. We had a stopover at a hut there where Rayb showed us a trick. He held his face towel in front of us and squeezed it. Liters of sweat dropped from the towel. What a trick. We hiked again. I was very impatient with the trail because it was not a typical mountain hiking path for there was a prominent road. But it got narrower and narrower until we reached Station 11: Agila Base.

Aside from the summit of Peak Two, Agila Base is the second highest point in Mt. Makiling. We were like in Baguio. Every time we exhaled, we could see our breath registering in the air due to the cold atmosphere. The girls noticed something with Rayb, there was a smoke coming out from his body! It was like a transformation of the Super Saiyans. They joked and said that Rayb was simply ‘hot’!

It was probably a ten minute stop at Agila Base. We applied off lotion on our hands and feet. We prepared for the worse. I started to become excited and nervous at the same time. All along I was asking for a real mountain hike path and from Agila Base we could see that there was no obvious path anymore. The road ended in Agila Base! We were about to have a closer encounter with the forest of Mt. Makiling!

IV.          LIMATIK

We started experiencing the real hike after Agila Base. The plants were touching our skin, the grounds were mossy and full of bushes, there were caterpillars and other bugs everywhere and we had to go over stumbled logs. During the first ten minute walk from Station 11, there were still no signs of the leeches. Then Wilson reminded me that the locals said that it will start on Station 15. Okay, Station 15.

We passed by Station 13 when Jane, who was at my back at that time, stopped and calmly asked me if the little string on her pants was a limatik. I could not confirm for I haven’t seen one. I stared at it. At first it was not moving so I thought it was just a thread. But it wiggled! And we all panicked! But instead of heading back, we just ran forward! After Jane, Rayb shouted he had one clinging on his foot! It was nerve wrecking. It was such a rush of blood to the head. I looked at my foot and I saw one! I could not help it but ask someone to remove it for me. Wilson did. But a minute later, another one was crawling towards me! So we got it, we had to scram!

We were running and everyone was concerned about the leeches. I had one already sipping blood from me. I tried to not think about it. I noticed that I was not feeling anything while it was sucking blood from my foot. That is a fact about limatiks. They inject this pain killing substance so the victim will not feel anything. PinoyMountaineer.com suggested to just let it suck your blood because it will just remove itself when it is full. But once you are there, and several limatiks are sucking the hell out of your blood, you can not help it but pick them off. You can not kill it by merely squeezing it like you can with other bugs. The locals were correct, they were elastic. We stopped by a stream but we realized that there were more limatiks there! Rayb cursed one clinging on his feet. If the limatik could talk, it would definitely curse back at him.

Another fact that I found out while we were out there was that they could jump! They were all standing like television antennas on the edge of the plants and when I walked through the trail passing the plant, they would jump! It was as if they had one commander shouting, “leeches, attaaaack!”. Mae stared at one limatik sipping blood at the end of her pointing finger. I was surprised to notice that she was the most calm out of all of us. She was such a trooper. So yes, they were everywhere! They were at my arms, feet, pants and shirt. We all were bolting until we reached Station 15 – the Malaboo Campsite. The limatiks definitely made our hike faster.

V.           MARIA’S WRATH

After warding off and destroying the limatiks in our bodies, we settled at Station 15. We discussed if we want to take our lunch there. But many disagreed and just wanted to reach the summit for three reasons. First was to get it over with. Second, it was starting to rain. And last, because there were limatiks crawling at Station 15 campsite. I was not sure how far the summit was from Station 15 but I was sure that there were no leeches there. If there were, then it would only be minimal because the leeches’ niche was the forest.  So we went through the left path going up the mountain through the forest again. I noticed another trail on the right of Station 15 but it was going down. And our goal was to reach the top of Mt. Makiling so the more obvious choice was to take the left upward path.

That was the start of the Wilderness Zone. The thought of wilderness brought some nerves out of me. The leeches were an obstacle already but the rain made the trek worse. We were walking through a small path beside a cliff! It was really dangerous! If we slip, we might fall down and die. Limatiks still crawled on me but I was not paying much attention anymore. I was more concerned I would slip and die. The several limatiks that sucked my blood made me numb from the bloodsucking experience. I was angry with the leeches already. I was mocking them and cursing them. The only concern about them was if they reach my head. I would not want them to go inside my eyes or ears. But I paid more attention to the muddy and dangerous trail.

We were walking for several minutes and we could not find the yellow markers which will signify what station we were in! And in the map, the Wilderness Zone stations were very close to each other so that the hikers will not be lost. At first I thought Maria was playing a trick on us. Then, I remembered the right path. We probably should have turned right earlier. Damn. But Wilson uplifted things by saying that there was also a path to the summit in the direction that we were going.

After several slips, most of us decided to remove our footwear. Mae even assured me that walking barefoot was like a foot massage in the mud. After some time, we stopped. Everyone kept on telling me to command the stop of the journey because it was very dangerous and it was raining hard already. I wanted to reach the summit so it was a bitter decision to turn around and start the descent. Rain was pouring down. It was very angry. There was one point when I almost fell on the cliff if Jane was not there to hold me. Whew, it was a close shave. Every time I curse, a loud thunder will be heard. Limatiks were overshadowed by the mad rain. Inside my playful mind, I was thinking that Maria Makiling was angry at us. But for what? For killing some of her limatiks? For cursing? We certainly did not disrespect the place.

When we reached Malaboo Campsite again, we had a very quick lunch courtesy of Wilson from the Mini Stop store before we entered UPLB that morning. If it was not raining and I was not hungry, I would not eat it. It was because there were limatiks on me and all over the ground. What if a limatik jumped in the bread while I am about to take a bite at it? Ewwww. The miserable trek down continued for some time. My feet were already hurting. Many limatiks almost made it on my head. I was concerned with everyone on the trek. It would certainly be my responsibility if something happened to somebody. But I was ready to face it if that happens. Finally, a familiar place, Agila Base.

VI.          WILSON’S EYE

I thanked Him that all of us were alive. Mt. Makiling was an angry mountain that day. We could have made it to the summit but the situation was just not fine for us to continue the hike. We continued our descent. Wilson exchanged place with me. He became the sweeper and I took the lead. When we were at tha nipa hut on Station 9, we saw a humongous leech crawling at Dan’s arms! It was the biggest limatik who has not sucked blood yet that I had seen all throughout the hike. We captured it together with another one crawling on Dan’s backpack with a mineral water bottle. We wanted our eight co-officers to see the leeches. We walked and walked until we reached Station 7 again. We stopped and ordered another round of buko juice. Some of us washed up at the ancient comfort room beside the store. Then, the event followed was a real shocker and a picture that will forever disturb my mind if I think about this trip. Mae shouted.

“May limatik sa mata ni Kuya Wilson!”, she exclaimed. I thought she was kidding at first. And then Jane confirmed. I took a closer look and it was a horrible sight to see a fat limatik inside Wilson’s eye! I was so worried that something was going to happen to him. We borrowed a tweezers from a local. She handed it over to me. It was just right that I was entrusted to pick the limatik off his eye because if anything happens, it would be my sole responsibility.

“Wag na wag kang gagalaw”, I told him, afraid that I might prick his eye instead of the limatik. My hands were shaking. First attempt, I swooped the bloodsucker and was pulling it out of his eye. It was fighting back! As I was pulling it outside of his eyes, the crowd would scream and shout. It was like they were watching a Pacman fight. After the tweezers slipped, it went back buried itself at the side of Wilson’s eye. Second attempt, same thing happened. The feeling was as if the limatik was on my eye. Every time I pulled it, I felt its sucker stuck on Wilson’s eye. Finally, a local came closer for help. One local told me I was not pulling hard and accused me, “kid, ang hina naman ng loob mo”. What can I do, I was not pulling harder, afraid that Wilson’s eye will be removed as well. Then, using just his fingers, the local was able to pull the limatik out of Wilson’s eye!

The eye was red and swollen. But the locals assured us that he will be alright. The local who pulled the fat limatik from Wilson’s eye showed me the sucker while he was killing it with his cigarette. In an instant, it turned to ashes. The store vendor was so concerned that we brought so much limatiks in Station 7. She stressed out that she hates limatiks. After cleaning up, and some group pictures, we headed back to the College of Forestry. I remembered the mountaineer creed which was ‘take nothing but pictures’ so I left the mineral water bottle with the big limatik and another one inside it at the store. But we violated its third line ‘kill nothing but time’ for killing some leeches. Maybe that was the reason Maria Makiling was angry.

During the hike down the ranger station, I was very worried that there were still some limatik inside my shorts. Every now and then I put my hands inside my shorts to check if there were leeches there. It was more of psychological already but the thought of a limatik entering my ass was a horrible one. At last we reached the ranger station and our driver was waiting there already. Before we boarded the jeep, we washed up first at the comfort room provided by the station. We washed our muddy feet and dirty clothes. I was worried that later, after taking my shirt and shorts off, some limatiks will fell on the floor. Thankfully, it did not happen.

We met with our fellow officers at the Pook Makiling park where we were treated like royalties. They figured out that we were tired because of the whole trip and cooked for us. Some of the limatik warriors were all excited to tell what we had encountered inside the forest of Mt. Makiling and describe the difficulty of the hike. They illustrated how a limatik walks and how it jumps. I was more excited to relax and massage my very sore feet. After that, we watched the video of our hike including the disturbing limatik eye operation. Did I regret anything that happened? No! It was such a thrilling and wonderful adventure. If the limatiks were not present, it would not be as thrilling as it has been. But I promised myself to be back to conquer the summit of Peak Two. And at that time, I would be more prepared with my second meeting with the dreaded Makiling bloodsuckers.