6 AM when I woke up the next day (January 2) at Dive & Trek Resort and Marine Sanctuary. I was a little feverish last night so I assumed it'll be so difficult for me to climb up a mountain as what we planned to do. However, I was a little okay. But not hundred percent. I still have headache but not really so terrible that I could not manage. I walked directly to the dining area and made myself a hot cup of coffee. I sat down to wait for everybody who'll climb today.
"This would be a good day", I thought as I sipped. Wow, cloudless sky. I could see the sun rising slowly warming the misty blue horizon. I could feel that we're going to have a beautiful weather.
It's 6:30, when the team was completed--Kuya Richard, his sons: Miguel and Jared, my nephews: Anthony and Raymond were already there.
"But where is Max?" I initiated.
"Oops, I don't know", Anthony answered silently.
"He must be just around--somewhere.", Raymond suddenly commented.
Max is our tour guide. According to the resort's manager, he is really an excellent guide. He's always ready to guide visitors whenever they wanted to climb the nearby mountain.
You might be thinking of an adventure-lover, trekking expert guy but you are wrong. In fact, Max is a dog.
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| Max |
At first, I was not convinced that this dog could help us on our way up to the mountain. That morning, I was still hesitating that something would happen--like getting lost and would have trouble figuring out our way back. For me, he is a dog. And he is just a dog. You could not ask him certain questions like: Left or right? How far? Should we go there?
He might just be answering you with his clueless stares, signals you by moving his tail and with all that 'baw-waws'.
But where is Max then? We already spent few minutes looking for him.
See what I mean? You could not even remind him that he'll have an appointment with us--that the dining area would be the meeting place.
Until Kuya Richard started lifting up the spirit. "We'll figure out the way", he said.
I was not so comfortable that moment. I was still stuck with my idea of getting lost. I'm enough to be the adventurous guy but since I was not so 100% fine that time, I would assume that I would not be so helpful figuring out the right path.
But anyways, this shouldn't be postponed since we have planned this. No backing out.
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As we walked our way up, here comes Bogart.
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| Bogart |
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| Being guided by Bogart |
But as what you can see, he is trying.
Since Bogart could no longer climb, we assisted him to just go back to the resort.
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We started walking again. The sun was already up though I could still feel the cold morning air.
On our way, surprisingly here came, Max. Running towards us. I don't know where did he come from, but the best thing is, he made it to our 'appointment'.
Now the team was complete.
I started to appreciate the scenery as we went up with Max.
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| Following Max |
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| Max leading the way
After few minutes, we walked 1 kilometer, 163 feet above sea level. Thanks to Kuya Richard's techy wrist watch for this accurate count!
Every scene was getting so amazing:
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Higher and higher, everybody was getting tired, even Max:
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| Tired and resting under this big tree |
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| Kuya Richard giving Max some water |
Until we reached the top: 1.78 kilometers, 263 feet above sea level.
This must be the highest point. Not really a hard climb though. It's much more of appreciating how amazing this earth that God provided us. This experience is telling me that I want to live longer.
To Max and Bogart, good job guys! Before, I have a great fear of dogs. But because of you two, I realized that this fear is starting to fade away from my phobia list. These dogs are amazing. They think like human. Intelligent dogs.
Hope we'll see each other again next year!
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