Caving at Sen. Ninoy Aquino Town, Sultan Kudarat

[jingvelos]

Guys, Last week, we visited the Municipality of Sen. Ninoy Aquino Town to do some caving exploration while also doing cave photography. Unfortunately for me, heavy rains struck the area causing flashfloods on some caves. With this we decided to postpone our caving photography session due to obvious risk and settled nalang for good ol' drinking days.

By the way, the province of Sultan Kudarat is one of the unspoiled caving area in the country in particular the Kulaman Karst Landscape comprising of 4 municipalities. Estimated of more than 300 caves abounds the area, some are unspoiled completed with rare minerals and gems, others with burial urns.

If you happen to see the Nat'l Geo Classic Photo Book of a Filipino Native doing some adulthood ritual of sharping the teeth of a young Manibo boy using knife, well you can see them here. I see a lot of adults with blacken rasor sharp teeth..

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[jingvelos]

Our Pulutan






Going to the caves take kms of trekking across limestone area


Conical Karst Mountains

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[Dave_D]

Thanks for sharing your adventure with us.

Kasi kami na medyo "oldies" na wala nang pag-asa mag-trek umaasa na lang sa mga kabataan na malalakas pa ang tuhod he he he.

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[Bluesman68]

Kasi kami na medyo "oldies" na wala nang pag-asa mag-trek umaasa na lang sa mga kabataan na malalakas pa ang tuhod he he he.

Ganun pala problema nyo na mga medyo "oldies" na....

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[Mon Corpuz]

Interesting place, I didn't know a Mindanao town was named after Ninoy.

The last picture probes "It's really worth trekking for".

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[Dave_D]

Ganun pala problema nyo na mga medyo "oldies" na....

Asa ka pa... kasama ka rin sa mga oldies he he he.

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[jingvelos]

Sen. Ninoy Aquino Town old name is Kulaman, its 86km (3 to 4 hrs) travel from Isulan, the Capital of Sultan Kudarat. Its located 800 mtrs above sea level and mostly inhabited by Ilocanos, Ilongos, Cebuanos and Manobos. It has unique geographical landscape due to its karst formation (tower and conical). It has plenty of good rivers, tropical rainforest , waterfalls and caves (km long). Fruits trees (durians, rambutans ect.) abounds the area.

Near SNA is Brgy Ned of Lake Sebu, its the home of the famous or infamous Tasaday People (thanks to our UP Professor who popularized the tribe (correct me if i'm wrong). I'm planning next year to explore the area to witness firsthand the tribe and photograph them at their natural state. I've heard some stay  still at the caves and having topless cloth....interesting sites for tavel and adventure photography

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[jnx414]

Asa ka pa... kasama ka rin sa mga oldies he he he.

away ng mga oldies to. peace mga oldies. 

thanks for sharing your adventure photos jing. yan pa ata ang isang hindi ko na ata magagawa in my lifetime kasi di na ako papayagan ni misis hehehe   

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[jason_b]

Ganun pala problema nyo na mga medyo "oldies" na....

Look who's talking?...Sabagay kaya pa naman magbitbit ng electricfan hehehe peace.

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[jingvelos]

Pictures of the cave taken in 2004 in film (Pentax ME Super 24mm f2.4 with Konica VX)

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[KNJO]

ganda naman jan...! caving is what i've always wanted to do, pero it's too late now with my condition, hingalin na ako.

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[jingvelos]

non technical caving (horizontal caves) is not that physical demanding than mountaineering. Some caves is just a meter away (from the road) while most are within a 1.5km radius from the road or barangay. It involves little hiking activity and away from the heat of the sun. It is also enjoyable as it involves swimming, a little climbing,crawling on muds (parang nong bata pa tayo na naglalaro sa putikan hehehe)and a bit of thrill as every turns is new discovery (because your depending on your headlights) and exploration and you will keep on wonderning whats next. You can also see millions years of formation of minerals and gems and if your lucky, you can see waterfalls inside....

Other interesting object are the cave animals living inside...you can see troglobites such as albino fish, glow worms, cave crickets (has longer antennae than the surface crickets) crocodile lizards and lots more...

In photography, its like taking photographs on studio except that you need lots of assistants cum models (to trigger you flashes)and you have to deal with unfriendly environment to your camera (water droplets, moisture, muds and lots of mods, uneven terrain and darkness. If you stay longer inside, your vulnerable to hypothermia.

Salamat!

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[edy_tanguilig]

wow! the conical Karst mountains are a sight to behold and yes i agree, the stalactites and stalagmites are still unspoiled as seen in your photos...di tulad sa bengao-ngao cave ng tublay, benguet...mag ra rappell ka ng 120 ft drop bago mo marating yung base ng bunganga...then when you beam the walls with a spot light you'll read "***** was here"...sows..

and nice gears you got there!pang expedition nga yang mga gamit nyo..

Thanks for sharing,

edy

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[malenzhe]

Ganun pala problema nyo na mga medyo "oldies" na....

hahhaah....ayos!!!

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[jingvelos]

Salamta!

Hope to visit Benguet n Sagada....Parang hindi ka yata maubusan ng magagandang tanawin dyan...caves, rice terraces, mountains and the fsct na your traveling at higher elevation...One of the place i dream..

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[edwink]

@jingvelos:  thank you for sharing your technical caving adventure.  another must try for me.

OT: I heard rumors about special caves in Sagada other than Sumaguing and Lumiang that only a few locals have access to.   

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[Rawen Balmaña]

Nice cave photos Jing, I always admire you work since the film days besides Chang Guzman. He is such a big lost to the caving community . Anyways I've always dreamed of caving in NAT after an invite to attend last year's congress which I failed to attend due to work. I'm planning to go to the congress this year, hope to see you guys in Nueva Vizcaya and share techniques in cartography and photography, conservation, some alcohol and adventure.

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