The Underground River of Colombio |
Mindanao has so many wonders of nature unknown to both the locals and the tourists. What seems so ordinary for the Mindanaoans maybe a big deal of a tourist attraction to the outsiders. With the discovery of Fetam Klego, people in Mindanao don't need to go to Palawan to experience the famous underground river because in Barangay Sinapulan, Colombio, Sultan Kudarat, there's a hidden wonder called Fetam Klego. If you're wondering what it is, Fetam Klego is simply a B'laan word which just means “Underground River”.
Fetam Klego |
If you still can't get it, the hidden gem is actually located in an area where native B'laan tribes thrive. Aside from the beautiful gift of nature, Barangay Sinapulan is blessed with rich culture religiously preserved by the locals. The B'laans can talk with you in Bisaya or Tagalog, but they highly value their own dialect mainly evident with the name of the places and the tourist spots in the area. If you are not familiar with the B'laan dialect, you may find it hard to read the name of the places in this area.
Going to Fetam Klego maybe a bit of a challenge. You need to travel to the Municipality of Colombio first. When we went there, roads are still under construction, so it was extra difficult for us because we need to pass through one lane, and sometimes we need to hurdle through underdeveloped roads. If the road to Colombio will be fully developed, I guess it would be more easy to travel there. Our service can only take us up to a certain point in Barangay Sinapulan, after that, we rented a habal habal to take us to the receiving point of Fetam Klego. It was a wild journey because although the road was concrete, we passed through rivers and some steep portion to reach Sitio Asmakul Basag.
The mountains at Barangay Sinapulan |
The beautiful view of the mountains and the cold air helped alleviate our habal habal mishaps. We all arrived at the starting point of trekking safe and sound, albeit slightly challenged with the roller coaster rides. And oh, did I mention hiking? Yes, the journey did not end there.
Trail to Fetam Klego |
We walked around 45 minutes to one hour to reach the underground river. The area is no longer accessible by any form of vehicles, so we have no choice but to use and rely on the strength of our knees to reach our target location. So it's safe to say that it's semi mountain climbing. Although we did not really trek a “mountain-mountain” but at least, it's still part of the mountain, only in range. There are some climbing parts, but we mostly just trekked. It was an easy trek though, thanks to the picturesque view of the mountains and the refreshing air we forgot we were panting while hiking.
With the beautiful formation of rocks in the underground river |
When we arrived at Fetam Klego, I said nothing but praises to this beautiful gift of nature. The sound of the water coming from some random mini falls felt so relaxing. The crystal clear water of the river looks so inviting you can't even resist not to dive and swim. The cold breeze of wind whispered by the happily standing trees that enveloped the area as if hiding it from the outside world made us feel so secured and safe. The peaceful ambiance where all we heard was laughter of people enjoying the gift of nature was so assuring that we were indeed in a paradise.
The waterfalls at Sinapulan |
As of now, few tourists and some locals are enjoying this treasure. With all its exposure to social media, I will not be surprised if soon, Fetam Klego will be one of the famous tourist spots in Mindanao. I must say though that Mindanao has found a gem with Fetam Klego. There's no need to develop the area because it is already as amazing in its natural form. If you are in Mindanao, why not include a one day tour to Fetam Klego in your itinerary? I assure you, it's all worth it.
Diving site at the falls |
Comments
Post a Comment