INCA and the Mariit Wildlife Conservation Center

I planned this post to be titled Lambunao's Wilds as I was really planning to write about our encounter with the wild side of Lambunao, a second class municipality in central Iloilo. (The municipality is about 48 kilometers from Iloilo City and is known for its mountainous terrain, thick forests, countless waterfalls, and its hidden tourist draw - a 7-hectare mountaintop lake popularly known as Tinagong Dagat.) But after my initial scribblings about the Mariit Conservation Center, I ran out of words. Or I was just too lazy to write further. But as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. So, there. I'll just give you the pics and a short caption... and just let your imagination run wild and free. Just like the wilds of Lambunao.

The Iloilo College of Agriculture (INCA) campus may just be near. But it’s surprising that only a few of the local adventure seekers have discovered the beauty and challenges within the hundreds of hectares of campus. And this is not an ordinary campus, because aside from the school, within the campus are mountains of virgin forests, some waterfalls, endemic animals, a wildlife conservation center, and of course human settlers.

(Top photo) The main building of the Iloilo National College of Agriculture, now West Visayas State University - College of Agriculture and Forestry. (Above photo) Entrance to the Mariit Wildlife Conservation Center.

INCA is about ten kilometers from the poblacion of Lambunao, Iloilo. The roads are winding and Baguio-like and it could be hard to travel to this area during the rainy season. No wonder, the college just catered to just over 200 students. But by now, the roads are being paved. Thanks to the election season and to the mole of Gloria Arroyo plastered in big billboards along the way.

Flowers bloom inside the INCA campus - lirio (L) and madre de cacao blossoms (R).

But setting the road aside, INCA is the best location for those taking up BS in Agriculture and BS in Forestry. The place is just a gigantic greenhouse where plants would grow in ideal environment. And even if surrounded with a mountainous jungle and far from the poblacion, INCA is safe as there is a small community of settlers and professional staff and academics living nearby. And a military infantry station is visible in the tallest promontory as a 24/7 security blanket over the campus.

In our INCA adventure last weekend, my group of adventure seekers which was composed of my extended family, stayed in one of INCA’s fully equipped guest houses. Guests can select from among the many airconditioned or fan rooms for a nominal fee. We settled for the fan rooms, as we really planned to sleep in tents. The caretaker, a BS Hotel and Restaurant Management student of INCA, was at hand to prepare our food if in case we asked. In the evening, we told the kids stories about ghosts to spook them to sleep early.

Early, the next morning we jogged along the paved roads around the school buildings. The air was crisp and the low clouds still hovered about the trees. The grasses were wet with dew which was somehow uncommon to city dwellers like us. Behind the thin fog, we could see far away children grazing their carabaos. It was a nostalgic sight. It was the first morning I haven’t heard a sound of a motor vehicle.

Early morning at the INCA campus is bucolic indeed. The promenade invites joggers (top). Children enjoys grazing an albino carabao (photo above).

We headed to the nearby Mariit Wildlife Conservation Center (mariit is a Kinaray-a word which means enchanted). It was no less than the center’s Director, who toured us around. Good thing about the smalltown ambience. There was no such thing as protocol.

The Director informed us that they only allow visitors inside the center early in the morning during feeding time. Otherwise, the center was off-limits because it was breeding season for the animals.

(Photos from the top) The Mari-it center was the first in the world to successfully breed the Dolongan hornbill; the Tariktik hornbill; sections in the center are reserved for petting wild animals like the wild boar; and the spotted deer. 

The center have Dolongan and Tarictic Hornbills (kalaw), Arrow-tail Parrot (pikoy), White-spotted Deer, Wild Boars, Cloud Rats, Leopard Cat (singarong) and other species they rescued from the wild. We were informed that the center was the first in the world to successfully breed in captivity the Dolongan hornbill.

But our main purpose to venture into this side of Lambunao was to climb the mountains to see its waterfalls.

We started our mountain trek towards the waterfalls on a light note - everybody thought it would just be a walk in the park. Especially with the sight of wild flora never before seen by anyone of us.

But the trek turned into a challenge of endurance as we climbed 75-degrees mountainsides with nary a footpath to follow nor a handlebar to hold unto. We thought that after the initial climb, the top was already the place where we can finally sit and rest to behold the waterfalls we were looking for. But no, not yet. We had to descend to the other side at the same scary angle, and cross the extension of the same watery ledge we left. The climb was just a short cut, as we were told that if we went ahead to follow the creek, it was going to be harder and more dangerous especially to the kids.

And there were more ascents and descents at belabored pace. Many complained that we shouldn't have jogged early in the morning to prepare for this challenge.

I stayed at the tailend of the group as we climbed singlefile, not because I was holding the camera, but because I would like to be there to break the fall of anybody, especially the kids, if they happen to fall, slide or roll down accidentally. On the way down, I would also go down first, not just to record on cam the agony of the old and the excitement of the young, but also to be ready to catch whoever may thought he or she had some powers to roll at high speed in such a steep incline.

And the waterfalls, at last...

The view was fantastic and mesmerizing. But we had to beware of wet or moss covered rocks. They were slippery.

The INAS (Iloilo National Agricultural School, old name of INCA) Falls was nearer and conveniently situated. But the kids thought it was less attractive because getting there was less challenging.

The end of our mountain trek was Montillano Falls. It was refreshing to see until other groups arrived for a swim. We lit some charcoal to grill fish and chicken for our lunch. While we watched over the kids as they swam at the foot of the waterfalls, we gathered plastic wrappers of candies, chips, shampoo, cigaretes, etc., scattered along the banks and threw them into a nearby unused barbeque pit. We were warned beforehand by some people in INCA about the trash. Nevertheless, it was good to be in the area as we did some cleaning. But, as soon as most of the plastic wrappers disappeared from view, another batch of newly thrown wrappers littered the place. No, the other people in the vicinity didn't think of us as paid janitors to clean up their mess. It seemed it was just their habit to throw their garbage anywhere. I overheard some of the ladies saying they were working with a bank in Iloilo City. And bank employees have this dispecable habit? We pitied the place.

Inspite of the difficulties we encountered in our forays into the wilds of Lambunao, the kids seemed to love the experience. They kept on retelling their embarrassing moments as they clambered on mountain sides and the joys and novelty of swimming below the waterfalls. But as we left Lambunao, we saw this unsettling sight - a kaingin or what used to be a wooded mountainside that was burned and cleared for agriculture. The kids were thankful we had experienced Lambunao's wilds before these too are turned into a barren kaingin.@