Pete's Pitstop

Kuya Ronelo (Nic) Hidalgo

This week, I accompanied some other Peace Corps Volunteers and my friends from the local climbing club, Saypung Club, to Kan Apoy cave. I went to the cave last year as well, and enjoyed it a lot both times. It is a relatively short cave with some vertical dynamics that really make a rope crucial if you want to view all of the chambers. The biggest attraction of the cave is the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of bats everywhere, leaving lots of feces (gwano) which lends itself to an amazing ecosystem of millipedes, cockroaches, and all sorts of beetles who live in the stinky stuff.

Kuya Nic, as I like to call the leader of the group, is a head english teacher at the local high school, with lots of charisma and passion for teaching others about protecting important ecological niches like Kan Apoy. The club is in need of harnesses and ropes, along with financial assistance for transportation for ongoing trekking events in the area to keep the learning process alive, if anyone is willing to give. Thus far, I've been able to get tents from James Madison University and some name recognition for the club, and we've given a rope to the club, but they need good helmets, harnesses, sleeping mats, and other stuff for outdoor trekking. Although great for the members of the club, trekking clubs are also crucial for preservation of the environment of the Philippines and local treasures like cave Kan Apoy. The more foreigners and visitors show an interest in visiting places like this, the less likely it is that they will be exploited for their raw natural resources. If you're wondering if this is a plug for support, it is, but it's a well-deserved plug.

Rappelling like a Champ, PCV Kelly

On the job training: The Filipinos who were along with us were eager to learn about rigging for rappelling. We all shared my one harness, carabiner and figure 8. It took a while, but was a safe descent.

At the bottom of the pit looking up at the rigging point. The rocks of the cave are unlike the flowstone patterns in limestone caves of Virginia and West Virginia. Vines fall some 80 feet from tall Mahogany trees outside the cave.

The labrynthe of vines and mossy stones at the main skylit hole makes for a great group shot.

The bats are primarily fruit bats, feeding on the plethora of fruits outside the cave at night and the associated flying insects. I would estimate that the wingspan of most of the bats is 15 or 16 inches.