As mentioned in Part 1 of this travel post, I initially intended to go canyoning, but I had the misfortune of getting sick on the day of my travel and so figured I should postpone it til next time when I come back with my family, since hubby is also interested to do it.

I settled for a short guided hike to Montaneza waterfalls, organized by Blue Orchid Resort manager, Melissa Watkins, together with Wolfgang from Cyan Adventures.

I told them, I feel really funny being toured around Cebu by a couple of foreigners, as if I’m not local. Although, come to think of it, I have been living outside The Philippines for almost ten years now, so I’m not really that much of a local anymore.

Climbing inside the canyons makes me feel like a troglodyte

It was a very short walk from Mainit hot spring, going to Montaneza waterfalls. I was a bit disappointed because I really felt like walking some more despite my predisposition.

Steep climb

Although, climbing in and out of the canyon was quite tiring, you only really get to feel the real tiredness a day or so after.

Isn’t this just beautiful?

It was even more challenging going against the cascades to climb up and go behind the waterfall… I should do wall climbing again. I’m so out of shape.

Going against the powerful cascades

The pool of water right below is quite shallow. Although, there are areas deep enough to allow you to jump into it from a certain height without breaking your legs when you fall into the waters.

Refreshing swim

That big rock in front of the cascades fell there during a recent earthquake

On the way down, I was unceremoniously told that we were going to do a couple of jumps from the cascades. Say what, now?! I wasn’t really expecting to do some jumping. For one, I’m not a very good swimmer; two, we were not wearing life vests; and three, I didn’t have a helmet and I could just as easily and clumsily bump my head on a piece of protruding rock. But I held my panic in check.

Melissa was very much prepared for the jump

I jumped anyway because I didn’t want to look so lame and be such a total killjoy. Especially since there were small kids queuing behind me on the first jump. The second jump though, was too high for kids.

but as a result of the three worrying items I have mentioned above, echoing inside my head, my jump shots looked really weird, like most pictures of people looking shocked and bewildered for being caught unprepared. I didn’t post the pics here so as not to embarrass us all. 😀

Soaking in the heat at Mainit Hot Spring

Dipping into the hot spring after all the climbing and jumping was such a welcomed treat! This pool of hot spring water is tolerably hot. There is another pool, a few meters away, where it’s 40+ degrees Celsius. It reminded me so much of the Onsen in Japan. You’d get cooked in a few minutes in there.

It was really a fun trip. It made me feel like a kid all over again. Given the chance to do it all over again, I would try to remember more about the kid I was, who liked to jump into the waters and had fun climbing rocks and trees. And also, will do my best not to look so fearful and crazy scared during the jump shots for the sake of better-looking pictures to post here.

The best part about this trip is not the pictures, though. It was the experience and having a day of fun that calls to mind long-gone carefree days back in my old province — frolicking amongst endless rice fields, climbing trees and enjoying the view of the mountainous silhouette against beautiful sunsets… and what’s more, I didn’t even have to pay for this hiking trip because I was treated by a very generous soul. 😉

That’s all for now!.. til the next adventure! Have a great weekend and thanks for reading. 🙂