The Masungi Georeserve is a conservation site located in Rizal, Philippines. If there's one thing our group would take away from our trip is that pictures cannot truly justify the beauty of the Masungi Georeserve.
Our group made minimal preparations for the trip hence we were left unprepared for some less than ideal situations that happened during the course of our visit. We booked the visit a month in advance, paid the conservation fees right away, and reserved a van with driver for our transportation. Getting to the site itself is an easy task as the location can be easily plotted via Waze and/or Google Maps. All you have to do is to be on time! Our guide informed us that the georeserve has an average of 16 scheduled group visits with 30 minutes interval per group going into the site. Don't forget to eat a healthy amount of breakfast prior to the visit! This is the mistake that our group made prior to the visit. We just ate quickly at a McDonald's on our way to the georeserve which didn't satisfy our appetite at all.
The day of our visit was very hot! Good thing we wore light and airy clothing, a must if you're going to trek in very warm conditions. We didn't bring any hydration as we are aware that the local guide would be providing us 1 liter of water per person. We did bring FitBars and some candies in case we would need to have some light snack during the course of our trekking. In line with this, remember to KEEP YOUR TRASH WITH YOU and don't leave any mess behind.
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| (c) Nino Royeca |
Ropes, heights, and stairs! Those are the three main things you have to prepare for during the approximately 3-4 hours trekking. You would be climbing and going down through ropes with only a helmet as a safety precaution. Don't sweat though as there have been no accidents yet that happened in the georeserve. If you're afraid of heights, you would have no choice but to get over it. Again, don't sweat as the breathtaking views would be worth it. The trek would be very tiring! The numerous amount of stairs and climbing would take a toll on your body so be prepared for a leg day exercise. You would be visiting around 8 main trail destinations with a lot of trekking in between. The 8 main trail destinations are the photographs which you often see online and on social media which are: sapot, yungib ni ruben, tatay, nanay, ditse, patak, duyan, and liwasan. Your group would be treated with some snacks and cold towel at the end of the trekking, which is a very welcoming sight after climbing and trekking for so long.
Main takeaway from our trip: nature is definitely a breathtaking sight if only we protect and take care of it well. In return, nature would protect us as well from calamities and the like. No amount of words could express our group's gratitude and admiration for all the locals and other individuals who saved and are now taking care of the Masungi Georeserve. For more information on the Masungi Georeserve, visit their website at http://www.masungigeoreserve.com/
