My Sweet Escape: Wawa Dam

This is my entry to SteemPH.Manila’s contest here.

Sometimes we need to take the time off from everything and everyone, not because you love them less but because you also need to love yourself as well. You usually give time for other people and you deserve that quiet time alone too. Usually, people go far away for the holidays, out of town or out of the country. In my case, I just go to my humble abode in Rodriguez, Rizal, which is still part of Mega Manila. I get to go to my house only once to four times in a month as I usually stay in at work or with my siblings in our ancestral house in Quezon City.

My house is my escape from the city as the air is still relatively fresher and I can spend time with myself there. We also have a clubhouse close by where I can swim if time is limited. But if I have the whole day free, I prefer to go to my sweet escape, around 30 minutes away from my house, Wawa Dam.

Wawa Dam used to be the only source of water for Manila during the American colonial period but was later on abandoned when Angat Dam was constructed. Going to the dam itself, you will be amazed at the big rock formations there.

A famous legend of Wawa is that of Bernardo Carpio, a lad with incredible strength who was trapped in between the boulders. Whenever there was an earthquake, they attributed it to Bernardo trying to free himself. Below is where you can take a picture as Bernardo Carpio.

Wawa Dam’s peak season is during Holy Week where a lot of people go to swim. There is, however, another urban legend there of the Wawa Dam lady/goddess/queen Pandora who claims the lives of people, especially during Holy week. Most of those who died are said to be first born males so they are advised not to swim there. There was a time I swam there with my nephews who were first born males so I intently watched them and they were fine. It is important to take extra caution. For this reason, I prefer to go alone and have an adventure all by myself.

During holy week, being the peak season, there were too many people at the gravity dam itself, which is about 15 minutes leisurely walk from the Barangay Hall. Walk some more up the path until you reach the fort like structure where you can take pictures and see the top view of the dam.

The fort is basically an empty structure inside but the view of the dam from there is breathtaking. During rainy season, the makeshift cottages beside the dam are destroyed by the raging waters. So they are actually reconstructed every time, especially in preparation of the peak season. Below is a top view of the gravity dam without the cottages when the strong force of the water won’t allow you to swim there.

When the water is too deep or there are too many people, I go up even farther. The water seems cleaner as well as you go higher up the water source and there is also less noise.

Farther up the path crossing some bamboo bridges or rowing a boat when the water is high, you come to this open space where you can take a picture in between two mountains, reminding me of the legend of Bernardo Carpio. Below is a picture when I went with my friends.

From this point on, the path is not as defined as you have to go through a small forested area where campers usually spend the night.

There are less and less people here. At some point, I was the only person there. Below is a flowing river during rainy season but it is dried up during the summer season.

You can hear birds, crickets and occasional goat sounds. But my favorite spot is still farther, following the river path.

I love waterfalls and this is one of the small waterfalls at Wawa. However, when I went there, there was less water so the water below the waterfall wasn’t as clean as well.

Going uphill some more, you can see some rock paths but it is a challenge to choose the path that is not so hard to tread. The rocks can be slippery or too steep. I personally am not a mountaineer so the hike up is manageable in my point of view. It took me less than an hour to get to my favorite spot, my sweetest escape, Sara Falls.

I just made up that name to refer to this cute waterfall where I usually swim at. As I have just mentioned, I love waterfalls and this is a perfect spot for me to swim. What I love about waterfalls is going under the falls and getting a natural massage. It is very refreshing!

Whenever I go there, I not only enjoy the scenery and the swim but I also bring with me some plastic or garbage bag. A famous activity that people do now is called “plogging”, jogging and picking up litter. I care for the environment and help as much as I can to collect the trash I see along the path that I take. See the trash I collected when I went there.

I cannot pick up every trash but I did my best to get as much as I could. I hope that everyone would be mindful of the impact on the environment that they make wherever they go. I pray that future generations can still enjoy these wonders as much as we do. Also, I hope you can also visit my sweet escape as well. Though my waterfall is small compared to the gravity dam, it is very special for me because that is where I can reflect, appreciate nature, get an adventure, help the environment and have an amazing time!