Trekking in Negros
In the end we didn’t leave for Puerto as we had planned; Chasamba is, we hope, sitting happily in Bonbonon bay on Arlene’s mooring waiting for us. Before we left for Israel we had a few days to relax, forget about antifouling and topcoats and trek up and down some of the incredibly lovely mountains on Negros. We walked 14 kilometers up the steep path to the Twin Lakes- unfortunately when we got up there the camera batteries were nearly dead, so we only have one picture. We slept in a tent under the awning of the restaurant, luckily, as it poured with rain all night, then went down to the lakes and after scrambling round the boulders which for some reason block the start of the hiking trail, managed to get up to the viewing platform. Surrounded by thick jungle we felt that the rebels hiding in the area could be behind any tree; in fact just after we left a large band were killed in a gun battle with Philipino soldiers very close by.
Then we went to the Casa Roro waterfalls, almost as high and just as far to walk, but well worth the effort. We wanted to get to the lake near Siaton too, but time flew by and we had to hurriedly throw our stuff in a suitcase and get on the plane. Sheva is overjoyed to be staying on solid ground and loves Arlene and Boy; we just hope she doesn’t bite any more Germans while we are away!
the viewing platform at the twin lakes
Casa Roro falls- pure mineral water!
340 steps; not so bad on the way down, but now we have to get up again ( and walk 15 kilometers back too.)
We walked back to Valencia and slept in our tent on their nice grassy football field; if they thought it was strange they didn’t say anything!