Environment
Trapped by a
Flash Flood in
Mindoro
By Gregg Yan
W
E WERE TRAPPED
A sudden downpour engorged
Occidental Mindoro’s mountain
rivers an hour ago. The small
stream we forded three days
ago was now a raging torrent of
churning, life-taking brown water.
Fording was suicide. The only
crossing was through a bamboo
‘monkey bridge’ made of two
slippery poles – a rotting base pole and a flimsy handrail. Which of
course, was broken. Like in the movies.
Beside me sat an old Taw’buid woman, shivering and sheltered
by a flimsy banana leaf. As an anthropologist, I knew that a
Siganon or lowlander like me cannot touch a female Taw’buid
tribeswoman even for warmth. I gave her an umbrella and
dropped my pack.
Award-winning communicator
Gregg Yan is the Director of
Best Alternatives, an envi-
ronmental nonprofit. He is
a Loyola Mountaineer and
a graduate of the advanced
Jungle Environment Survival
Training (JEST) School in Subic
Bay. Read more about his
adventures on the Wild Side,
his monthly online column.
(Bernard Magcarang)
The swollen river. The broken bamboo
‘monkey bridge’ can be seen on the
upper left. Image quality is not too
high as more pressing matters were
at stake. Mountaineers and travelers
should wait for the flow to subside
before attempting to cross such
dangerous obstacles. (Gregg Yan)
52
When the going gets tough, the
tough get going.
Ploughing forward to repair the
bridge, I tied myself to a branch
with thick vines – a trick I learned
from jungle survival school. White-
knuckling the broken bamboo
rail, I took a step. Another. Knew I
should’ve dieted more. Suddenly I felt
the rotting bamboo pole give way.
Craaaaack!
THE WILD, WILD MOUNTAINS OF
MINDORO
The Iglit-Baco Natural Park in
Mindoro spans 75,445 hectares and
is dominated by Mt. Baco (2488m)
and Mt. Iglit (2364m). Eight major
river systems wend through its
grassy peaks. When I first visited at
the height of the monsoon season of
2012, we crossed a total of 42 rivers
and streams. My ankles were leech
magnets.