Hiking Cebu: Sitio Napo to Babag Traverse

xaydtrips (55)in #adventure • 6 years ago (edited)

I might not have expected it when I first moved to Cebu six years ago, but this island really has some awesome trails to offer. Growing up amidst the rainforests of the neighboring island of Negros, I was never accustomed to climbing sunny open trails but this feature is slowly becoming part of my training here in Cebu.

Last Sunday, my team ventured into another known hiking trail in Cebu City that traverses through Brgy. Napo to Brgy. Babag Uno and then down to Brgy. Busay. The jump-off point is a few minutes uphill of the church in Brgy. Guadalupe while the exit point is at the well-known Temple of Leah and Mountain View Resort.

_{Cebu hills, the ones you can see from Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapu-lapu City. (Photo owned by author)}

From the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish Church, we took a habal-habal to Sitio Napo in Sapangdaku. It costs 20php per ride and each ride could take two people. Once we reached the sitio, we began the hike through concrete footwalks in between houses that could get a little mossy at times. When passing through homesteads, make sure to be courteous and give the locals a kind greeting.

Sapangdaku is a hilly barangay in Cebu that owes its name to the river that traverses the land. "Sapa" is the Cebuano term for creek, while "daku" stands for large. The 'large creek' or the river of Sapangdaku serves as a natural irrigation to agricultural lands that provide livelihood to the residents. When hiking in the area, you will notice an abundance of fruit bearing trees and patches of vegetable farms.

_{Napo-Babag Hiking Team (Photo owned by author)}

Meet my team. Left to Right: Marquem, Mars, Neo, Philip, Xayd, Aileen, Tiki, and Zan.

Most parts of the trail is uphill that is why a lot of local climbers prefer to train here. There is a common resting spot where groups usually reconvene and refill their water bottles from a spring. Water is fresh, cold, and refreshing especially when coming from a hot day's hike.

_{Regrouping at the spring water source and meeting other hikers on the trail (Photo owned by author)}

Continuing onward from the spring, the trail was a mix of rolling and assault terrain amidst bamboo patches and mango plantation. This trail was good for me because I was on a physical conditioning mode. I am getting my body back into shape and accustoming my muscles to acquire the leg power needed for large elevation gains. Incidentally, our trail master, Marquem was on a trail running training mode so I had the chance to pace at his level. I didn't quite catch up with him though because I lost the trail on the way up to Babag Uno. It might have been my runner's high losing senses of the surroundings or it could have simply been my navigating skills failing me at best.

Nonetheless, I shortly caught up with him at Babag Uno along with at least thirty other hikers who were already either resting or having their lunch. After chatting with him and realizing that I am not friendly enough to talk to the big crowd of hikers before us, the rest of our team arrived and we got ourselves ready for lunch.

_{When you just want to eat healthy but someone else wants your lunch too :D (Photo owned by author)}

That was surely one of the longest lunch and coffee stops I have done in my life but it sure was worth it when you're with people who could pitch into a wide range of topics while enjoying the lovely city view to the east and the mountain view to the west.

We started walking again around two hours after and this time it was all downhill. We passed by a transmitter for a local television station and the seldom houses that lined the rough road. A few minutes later, we reached the concrete road which went on for another half an hour before we finally reached the crowd-filled Temple of Leah, to which I am still defiant about being a symbol of love (a topic for another blog, yes?).

_{A terrain map of the Napo to Babag Trail. (Top part of the trail on the left photo connects to the bottom part on the right photo, photo contributed by Tiki and Aileen Allado and owned by author)}

I wish I could tell you how much you would spend for a motorcycle ride back to the city but Ray picked me in his motorbike and we went straight to their home in Brgy. Bonbon. It should, however, cost you around 40-50php from Temple of Leah to JY Square, or should be around 15-20php via jitney in Busay.

This is how your itinerary might look like (feel free to adjust by hours as you see fit):

0830 - Meetup at Colon (optional)
0900 - Meetup at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish Church
0915 - Habal-habal ride to Sitio Napo
0930 - Start hike via footwalks
1000 - Start of assault (from creek)
1130 - Regroup at spring
1230 - Lunch at Babag Uno
1330 - Resume hike to Temple of Leah
1430 - Arrive at Temple of Leah
1500 - Arrive at Busay (highway), take motorcycle or jitney
1600 - Arrive at JY Square Mall

There are no food stalls in Babag Uno so make sure you carry your own snacks or lunch. They serve soda which is often a good treat after a long hike. While there is one water refilling stop during the hike, it is important to properly hydrate yourself before the hike as some parts of the trail are exposed to the midday heat. Proper body conditioning is important before a hike especially in Napo-Babag trail where majority of the way is uphill or ascending.

_{Overlooking the hills of Cebu City, visible here is Brgy. Babag Dos, Brgy. Bonbon, Brgy. Sirao, and Brgy. Pong-ol Sibugay traversed by the Transcentral Highway (Photo owned by author)}

Our Napo-Babag Hike last Sunday is part of a series of training hikes conducted by my team. We are preparing for a major multi-day hike for later this year so we need to prepare physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially. In the coming days and weeks, I hope to write more about the outdoors and mountaineering. I will also be introducing you to this expedition that we will be doing in August and hoping that the Steemit community could support and take part in our adventures and future endeavors with the great outdoors.

Stay posted and hope to hear from you guys in the comments section!