A little more than hour from Cebu City, zigzagging through a scenic mountain route, the town of Aloguinsan beckons. This coastal town in the western Cebu offers a different kind of summer fun as I have discovered - in just a day. It includes a historic, cultural and eco-adventure getaway flavoured with lots of gastronomy.
A TASTE OF HISTORY
The Farmhouse in Aloguinsan gives one a taste of green culinary adventure. A modern day bahay kubo with “ang halaman doon ay sari-sari” as it boasts of not only an organic vegetable garden but also a livestock area, chicken coop, vermiculture and tilapia pond. There's even an organic piggery where the hogs were busily devouring leaves that time.
It stands on what would have been the municipal hall complex but now restored inside-out to be the town’s tourist information and pasalubong center as well as restaurant and training facility. The restoration gave the place a homey feel with a sala, dining room and kitchen. It will also serve as a restaurant which specializing in green cuisine - with all those organically grown veggies around, influenced by the the cooking of the Chinese and Spanish. They also offer a puso-making demonstration and through pick-and-pay, one can harvest the freshest vegetables in season to bring home.
A snack pancit bam-i, salvaro bread and coffee made from corn served as our gracious welcome with no less than Mayor Cynthia Moreno receiving us in her town. She enlightened us how the salvaro, which I am more familiar as a cookie that is likened to galletas, is different in Aloguinsan. It is bread like with a good flavour of coconuts rather than a cookie. She also mentioned the town's Kinsan Festival highlights the town's bounty from the sea. Kinsan is a fish that breeds in abundance in their municipal waters and where they got the name of their town.
I was also with Mr. Eugene Jamerlan and Mr. Boboi Costas, both advocates bridging Iloilo and Cebu through heritage conservation. And it was through Sir Boboi, who also founded GrassRoots Travel, that Aloguinsan came to my “geography” as he is greatly involved with the town’s thrust into tourism. Last February, Sir Eugene hosted the visit of Sir Boboi here in Iloilo - the sights, sounds and cuisine. It was then through that time we visualized his Aloguinsan project especially the mangrove rehabilitation project.
Indeed, attractions were bursting all over in Aloguinsan! It was my first time to have seen a munisipyo and a palengke just meters away from a beach. And right behind the modern town hall was the Aloguinsan Baluarte, twin fortifications preserved and developed into a park on top of a hill with a picturesque view of the Tañon Strait and Negros island.
The
Bojo River Nature Reserve is the jewel of Aloguinsan. It’s an experience of an authentic river village where locals protect the river at the same time operate the tour. The area wasn't as green as before but through the community cooperation organized by the LGU with Sir Boboi as the project consultant, the river was "reborn". It is now not only a source of additional income for the locals but most especially a soruce of pride among the folks.
A serenade of traditional songs welcomes guests to a big bamboo hut beside the river. The lush greenery and the clean, turquoise river is just a a breath of fresh air. But even more enticing was the lunch set before us consisting of pork humba, grilled tuna, native chicken soup, ensaladang puso ng saging with rice in traditional puso and an interesting mixed drink - ginger and lemoncito juice.
A backgrounder on mangroves and its ecosystem enlightened us followed by bird watching tips and tricks. These guides have undergone months of training in order to become one so they are experts in the sense. If I'm not mistaken they have written and practical exams in order to provide the best service possible to guests like us.
After a hearty lunch, we set out on a trek along the mangrove forest. The nature reserve boasts of different species of mangroves which the local guides would identify during the walking tour along the 400-meter long boardwalk. It was a long walk under the sun with occasional sightings of snails, crabs and fishes underneath the bamboo bridge.
The trek ends on top of a hill via the 150 steps carved on the hillside where a gazebo is set up overlooking the river landscape. There you can see the whole river ecosystem and the mountains while catching your breath resting in the gazebo. Retracing our steps back to where we started, it was just a breeze of the familiar sights and sounds along the way.
There’s also a baroto tour along the Bojo River to get up close and personal with the river and the life therein. There you get to see the various mangroves, densely covered cliffs that used to harbour monkeys along the way and with luck, take glimpse of some of the 61 species of birds.
It ends where two cliffs acting like sentinels guard the river when it meets the sea.
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| The Bojo river meets the sea. Photo c/o BOBOI COSTAS |
But if the tide permits, the tour continues to the open sea and into the white sandy beach of Baybay Cove in Brgy. Kantabogon. Known as the Hermit’s Cove as the legend goes but we were welcomed by a congregation nonetheless. At first we thought there was some kind of prayer meeting on the beach under a big tent but it turned out to be our welcoming party. With folksongs, dances and leis created from local flowers and fruits, it was a gesture of that drew big smiles on our faces.
As a beach front community, the locals shared know-how on the coral reefs ecosystem for the village is home to an 18-hectare marine protected area which boasts of a multitude of fishes, corals, turtles and occasional butanding sightings.
The tour also gave us a peek into some of their traditions and among them was how to make sago. Through a folksong, they sang how they obtain the buli (buri), cleaned, pounded and sieved to get starch in making the sago. The starched in then mixed with water to form the miniscules sago balls we are familiar with.
The remnants of the "poundings" are then mixed with sugar and steamed to create a native delicacy called puto buli. The coarser parts are mixed with muscovado sugar among others then steamed to form this native delicacy. Also served was another specialty dish called Inagta nga Manok. It is a cross between dinugu-an and ginata-an as pure chicken blood is mixed with the niyog shavings in order to extract the gata.
We had to climb up the mountainside and trek a different path on our way back as the low tide made it difficult for us go back the same way. There we got to appreciate more of the scenic beauty of the place – beach below, the greeneries around, sea across and the sunset dominating the horizon.
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| Sir Eugene trekking with the Kantabogon folks |
Looking back, it was indeed a different kind of summer experience. In just 12 hours, we immersed ourselves in a culture not entirely our own but with similarities to what we know. We digested unfamiliar food but seemingly having a taste of home. We were entertained at the same time learned some valuable lessons. All in all, we had a different kind of summer fun, under the sun in Aloguinsan!
