The Ultimate Guide to the Masungi Georeserve
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H O M E | A D V E N T U R E S | T H E B U C K E T L I S T | T H E S I L V E R O M N I B U S | B L O G S E R I E S | C O N T E S T S | A B O U T | C O N T A C T EXPERIENCE ECOTOURISM AT ITS HELLO! FINEST: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO THE MASUNGI GEORESERVE 4:17 PM Welcome to Celineism. I'm Celine - This blog is where I share all the things I'm passionate about to you. Click here to know more. UPDATE: The Reserve is already FULLY BOOKED from December 2015 to CONNECT January 2016. Therefore, the management will temporarily stop taking reservations. Reservations will reopen on January 1, 2016 for trips for February Celineism 5,248 likes 2016 onward. Furthermore, only reservations that are made through the reservation form, that will be put up on Masungi Georeserve's website on January 1, 2016, shall be Like Page Contact Us entertained. Be the first of your friends to like this Filipinos, together with the rest of the world, has started to remember (because we all know this deep down, it just that we'd forgotten it) what a joy it is to coalesce with Mother Nature. We're finally choosing to see a truth that we'd long denied, that living with the environment and not against it is, and will always be, the best way to live. Along with this realization, a number of movements and causes that are all for environmental and cultural preservation had become prevalent. And as more and more people treat travel and adventure as a legitimately sound FACEBOOK TWITTER INSTAGRAM investment, as they get to see more of the world, there is now a genuine interest to partake in nature conservation. Hence, the revolution of tourism from being just that, to tourism as an avenue for environmental awareness and ecological protection. This shift in meaning is aptly POPULAR POSTS named as Ecotourism. Experience Ecotourism There are many ecotourist spots in the Philippines, but one need not to look far because there at Its Finest: The are plenty of them right here in Rizal. One such place is the Masungi Georeserve in Tanay. Ultimate Guide to The Masungi Georeserve 14 Things That Mean Something Different to Pinoy Adventurers 3 Angono Delicacies That You Must Avoid (Or Not) 7 Awesome Reasons Why You Should Absolutely NOT Miss Angono's Higantes Festival This rock formation is called Hari. It is the basis for Masungi Georeserve's logo A Mountain, a Cave, and a Dam: Traversing Masungi Georeserve or, simply, Masungi – often misheard as Masungit or Masungki – is 1500+ Mount Pamitinan hectares of protected landscape whose most prominent feature is the 10-kilometer spine of limestone formations. The area is practically a maze of limestone, some of which are dated to as 5 Must-Do's When far back as the Paleocene and Miocene period – that's 5 to 23 million years old! It should be You're in Angono, the noted that Paleocene limestones are often found underwater, making Masungi the only area in Art Capital of the the entire Philippines where limestone outcrops from this period can be found. Philippines Get into the Spirit of Christmas at Casa Santa, Antipolo Lessons Learned from Climbing Mount Pulag (as told by Team Palaboy) Minalungao National Park: It's Worth Your Visit You Jump, I Jump, at Lake Pandin, San Pablo Laguna TAGS This is just the entrance to the reserve. 10 Summits Before 25 (8) A Song for Every Summer (1) Bibliophilia (3) Contests The reserve's karst terrain is also home to jade vines and titan arums (which, here, are purplish (1) Essays and Short Stories and bluish, for some reason), as well as to a variety of wildlife such as civet cats, monitor lizards, (15) Events (10) featured (8) Foodscapades cloud rats, macaques, migratory birds, and occasional raptors. Festivals (3) Foodscapades (28) From Me to Whomever (1) Guest The ecological diversity of Masungi becomes even more fascinating when you think of its past Post (2) I Spend My Birthday in the riddled with illegal logging and huge-scale quarrying. It had only been in the 2000s when Mountain and Other Stories (6) Masungi was declared as a protected area. And after almost 15 years of ardent reforestation and Poetry and Songs (4) Stroll community reintegration, this geological wonder has finally begun to recover. (31) The Celine Manifesto (5) The Great Outdoors (29) Tips and Reviews (12) Waterfun (23) COMMUNITY The visitor shed where guests are oriented of the reserve's policies In an initiative supported by the Tanay government and the communities of Cuyambay and Tandang Kutyo, Masungi – which had previously only accommodated private tours, mostly for research – has finally opened its doors to the public this December. And in just a brief period of time, the demand to experience its uniqueness has skyrocketed. Masungi's offered attraction is termed Discovery Trail. Ann Dumaliang, the reserve's project BLOG ARCHIVE officer, explains that the 4-to-5-hour trail "does not lead to a particular destination and is more ▼ 2015 (42) like a meandering path." ▼ December (8) Spend Under Php10,000 for 7 Days in Batanes 7 Days with Snow Skin Whitening Cream and Lotion Art As A Veritable Expression of Faith in Marikina... 3 Angono Delicacies That You Must Avoid (Or Not) Experience Ecotourism at Its Finest: The Ultimate ... 14 Things That Mean Something Different to Pinoy A... Minalungao National Park: It's Worth Your Visit Ann demonstrating how to safely climb this net contraption -- one of the many obstacle-course-like elements of the trail I Cry Like She's Family: Part 5 of I Spend My Birt... Aside from the rope bridges, obstacle-course-like elements, and the fascinating flora and fauna, ► November (15) Discovery Trail is also an informative tour tackling the ecological relevance of Masungi, and ► June (3) also includes these highlights: Sapot, Ditse, Patak, Duyan, Yungib ni Ruben, Tatay, Nanay, and ► May (4) Liwasan. ► April (4) ► February (4) ► January (4) ► 2014 (90) ► 2013 (22) Did you know that there are three types of sinkholes? Cover-subsidence, Cover-collapse, and Dissolution. The one Ann is pointing at is a Cover-subsidence sinkhole where continued erosion increases the size of the depression. Sapot Hovering over a cluster of limestones, Sapot was put up to get a great view without risking personal safety and damage to the rocks. This web-like industrial steel structure offers a 360- degree view which includes the superlative combo of the Sierra Madre mountain range on one side, and Laguna de Bay on the other. Sapot has a wonderful view of the Sierra Madre "A spider's web is proven to be structurally sound," says Ann. Create this design with the same material used in suspension bridges and you get a durable – and cool-looking – piece of engineering. Sapot hovers a cluster of jagged rocks Ditse One of the three prominent peaks of the rock spine, Ditse is surrounded with native cacti. There is also a small cavern with a stone mosaic of a rather cute monkey on its floor. A cute monkey is paved inside Ditse's cave floor. Patak Connected by a rope bridge to Ditse is an "air house" in the shape of a raindrop. Ann shares, "We couldn't really call it a tree house because it's not on a tree." Held by a length of rope bridges on both sides: Patak the Air House Largely constructed of bamboo, Patak is suspended high above thick canopies. Patak, with Ditse in the background Duyan Basically a hammock fit for a giant, Duyan is the most photographed of all the trail features. And it's easy to see why: the white of the braided ropes provide a stark albeit beautiful contrast to the emerald green of the trees, and then there's the spectacular sprawl of rainforest everywhere. Ann and me on Duyan, just chillin' Yungib ni Ruben "He's the one who takes care of this cave," replies Ann when I asked who Ruben was. The eerie and fantastical insides of the Yungib Yungib ni Ruben is a fantastical example of a cave formation in a karst landscape. A nesting ground for bats and swiftlets, there is also a number of stalactites and stalagmites in this part. Also, the path to it is lit with oil lamps, and with the slight chill and the slice of sunlight illuminating the dim surroundings, the inside seemed like a site for some esoteric ritual. Tatay The taller of the three peaks, Tatay boasts of the best view of the whole landscape. With rocks piled haphazardly, Tatay looks like a piece of natural sculpture. At the topmost part of Tatay. It gets pretty windy up here. Nanay Completing the family of peaks, it features a cluster of five limestone interconnected with bridges. From afar, Nanay looks as if it is about to topple over, but up close it's as steady and firm as all the mothers out there. The bridged platform of Nanay Liwasan "Not for swimming, just for meditating," Ann assures us. Seeing how barely above-the-ankles the pools were, swimming never really crossed my mind. The water isn't muddy. The flooring is just tan. Constructed in the summer of 2015, the reflecting pools of Liwasan also serve as a grand birdbath – you know, for birds who are thirsty and want to cool down.