* Exploring Samar’s longest river in a boat

[Kano]

Exploring Samar's longest river in a boat


Philippine Daily Inquirer  04/15/2011

PARANAS, SAMAR, Philippines–An exciting ride awaits adventurous tourists who want to have fun this summer. A 21-kilometer exhilarating boat ride along the Ulot, Samar's longest river, that passes through rapids into the wilderness is the newest ecotourism adventure in Samar.

A joint project of the Department of Tourism and the Samar Island Natural Park (SINP), the Torpedo Boat Extreme Ride was launched on Nov. 30 last year, but the operation was stopped in January after floods hit the area.

It reopened in the third week of March after the quality of water in the river improved, according to forester Angelito B. Villanueva, SINP chief on ecotourism.

Samar, the country's third biggest island composed of the provinces of Samar, Eastern Samar and Northern Samar, has the biggest natural park in the country–the SINP, which was declared a protected area in 2003.

Park features

The SINP covers 333,330 hectares of land and a buffer zone of 125,400 ha or a total of 455,700 ha, including about "120,000 hectares of primary forest and a large, contiguous tract of secondary forest in good ecological condition."

It boasts of many caves, various wildlife species and river systems, such as the Ulot River, which is within the Ulot Watershed Area, one of the eight watershed areas in Samar.

Seventeen local tourists comprised the first customers when the ride along the river reopened. So far, 100 local tourists have made reservations this summer.

The navigable 90-km Ulot River starts from the mountainous town of San Jose de Buan, Samar, in the north, flowing downstream to Paranas, Samar, and finally draining at Can-avid town in Eastern Samar in the east. Including its tributaries, the length could reach over 500 km.

For centuries, it has been used as a nautical highway, with the early people using raft or banca. The river was the only link then from Samar to Eastern Samar until the 1940s when a gravel road from the west to the east was opened.

The adventure ride will bring tourists to a 10.5-km journey downstream in canoes without outriggers but powered by 16-horsepower engines. The canoes will conquer the rapids into a jungle spot called Deni Point, where they can go swimming or commune with nature in a tranquil, secluded place surrounded by a forest, the natural habitat of exotic flora and fauna.

With sides elevated to prevent water from spilling in, the four-meter boats are manned by experienced boatmen trained on safe river travel.

The trip also includes another exciting 10.5-km trip upstream, this time in going back to the takeoff point in Sitio Campo Uno.

The boats are named "Torpedo" because the boatmen and the guides are members of the Tenani Boat Operators for River Protection and Environmental Development Organization (Torpedo). They had been operating boats before–to transport illegally cut trees in the area–but now they are helping protect and conserve the SINP.

The Torpedo is part of the Ulot Watershed Model Forest Stakeholder Federation, an umbrella of groups involved with the SINP.

Ex-illegal loggers

"The advantage is that their awareness about environmental management has increased since they became members of the people's organization. They had abandoned illegal logging activities when they joined the group," Villanueva says.

The boatmen, guides and other Torpedo members receive a share from the income of the boat ride. The package costs P1,800 per tourist, inclusive of the SINP entrance fee, boat rental, tour guiding fee, safety gears rental and community development fee.

Kayaking and tubing are also offered along the Ulot River for P50 for a single kayak, P75 for tandem kayak, and P20 for tube rental.

The SINP headquarters has accommodations for visitors who wish to stay overnight. It has three air-conditioned rooms with a bed capacity of 30 persons at P100 to P150 a day per visitor.

Manulito Ragub, SINP project manager and park superintendent, says his office has to provide jobs and livelihood projects related to agroforestry and ecotourism to about 70,000 upland dwellers to ease the pressure of population on the forests.

If the people remain poor, he adds, they are bound to destroy the forests by timber poaching and hunting wild animals, among other activities.

Ragub, technical director for research of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Eastern Visayas, says the forests of the SINP play a very significant role in carbon absorption that the park should be preserved to mitigate global warming.

So, if you're thinking of having an adventurous summer, join the exciting Torpedo Boat Extreme Ride in Barangay Tenani in Paranas, Samar, a place along the Wright-Taft Road located about a hundred kilometers from Tacloban City.


Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20110415-331397/Exploring-Samars-longest-river-in-a-boat