WHEN: September 19-21, 2009
WHERE: Tanay, Rizal – Gen. Nakar, Quezon
3 days of backpacking, body tubing, rappelling, zip lining, spelunking, trekking and camping.
It wasnt that appealing to me when I first heard about it in May 2009. It was too extreme for me. First, I can’t swim and second, I have a terrible fear of heights. So I thought that AFTI is not for me. AFTI2 happened some time in August, I did not attend on that one either because it was my brothers birthday and it’s still not that appealing to me. But after AFTI2, I got curious of what’s with AFTI and makes people keep on coming back.
And I decided to conquer my fear…
Day 1 was a bit relaxed since the jeepney from Daraitan left around 3:00 pm. We arrived late at the dam and camped out. Well, it aint supposed to be like that. If we were early, we were supposed to do something else. We camped at the dam. It was a tunnel. Literally, where water is supposed to flow. There was a river nearby so we didnt worry too much about water. The weather was nice too.
Day 2, where all the best happened. Since I slept early, I woke up at around 5 in the morning, I was waiting for someone to get up, because I don’t want to start making noises and wake up everyone in the camp. So when I heard movement, I started fixing my things, prepared breakfast and fixed myself. Then we started rappelling. I felt numb hearing the word – rappelling, heights, fall, jump. But in everything I do, once I’ve decided that I can do it, I will do it. I don’t really care if you trust me, for as long as I trust my self, I will be able to do it. So there you go.
I’ve tried rappelling several times, I cried, screamed, freaked out and all, but this time I stayed quiet. – I think. Haha. Okay, or at least I tried. Conquering your fear, for me, is just as simple as will power. After my first jump here…
I can’t help but jump… jump… and jump…
I’m beginning to understand why AFTI is so addictive. But I ignored it. I said to myself, I havent even reached half of the trip. Too early to tell. I was trying to convince my self that this is just an ordinary adventure. 
After rappelling, I said to my self… “bitin” I honestly want more and I don’t know why. It’s just that, the sun is up high already and we were far from our itinerary so we had to start body tubing.
That’s another exciting part of the day. Imagine off road travel, via the river from Laiban dam to Daraitan. 8 kilometers of body tubing. Google it if you don’t trust me. We had 5 or 6 tubes per group.
The river was full of surprises. The first 200 meters was calm, we were seeing rapids from afar already but since we havent warmed up yet, we kinda… under estimated the rapids. Hehehe We didn’t saw the big rock behind us because the baggage covered it, so me and another Immortal fell from the tube and next thing I know, I was 100 meters away from them. Not to worry tho, even thou I’m not a good swimmer, we all had life vests. Marc Gaña to the rescue! He assisted me so I could reach the shore. But since we saw our tubes floating by themselves, quickly disappearing before our eyes, okay, Marc, I can take it from here. Darn. Hehe There goes Super Marc rescuing our tubes and baggage. The rest of us walked our way to the calm riverside so to re start. I was expecting my fellow Immortals to be loud as possible during the body tubing, but the water was so calm and relaxing that some of us managed to sleep. hehehe It wasn’t as scary as I thought. All you need is ‘presence of mind’ and a good balance to survive. We even managed to take five before the rain started.
And finally we reached Daraitan. The water was chocolaty already because of the rain. It was freezing cold out there. But we arrived around 30 to 45 minutes earlier than expected. We were all STARVING. And too bad the manang from the carinderia wasn’t expecting people to have lunch at 4 in the afternoon. Good thing there’s the fishball manong and we sold almost all of his fish balls. And finally, late late lunch is served. After a couple of minutes of rest, we started trekking going to the camp site, which is still in Daraitan. The trail was a bit technical, it was exciting too. We were not able to capture the ‘exciting’ parts of the trail because we were too busy saving our lives. Hehehe But inspite and despite the challenge, smiles are still pretty.
When we reached the camp, it was drizzling and the water from the river was too high. I was too tired that after dinner, I didn’t managed to mingle with them and fell asleep. Tho, I heard a lion like sound at the middle of the night, I was scared, but I was more tired than scared so I ignored it. The next morning, I found at that the lion like sound was… Well, I think you should try AFTI so you’d find out.
Day3. I didn’t expect more activities, since I thought, we won’t be able to cross the river since the water is still high. But Super Marc wont permit that. Again, I woke up early and prepared breakfast, only to find out that the water in my hydration pack was gone since it has a leak. Marc and Bates had to look for water for us to have coffee. It took them, more or less 15 minutes before they came back. – I think.
Afterwards, Super Marc crossed the river and zip lining begun! For those who arent familiar, A zip line is an elevated and inclined wire from which a pulley and a one-person seating apparatus -in this case-a harness- are suspended allowing the person to move between two points by the action of gravity. It looks easy and looks fun. Well, it is! Hehe The difficult part is going back, since you have to pull yourself upward so to reach the other end. But I loved the activity. It was something that you’ll see, most of the time in the movies. I wonder how female action stars does it. It might took them lot’s of training and exercise before they become too fit to be able to manage carrying themselves. Hehe
And just when you thought that it’s the end of AFTI, think again. After zip lining, we visited two or three caves, I can’t really remember. We went spelunking. I’m running out of words to describe spelunking-caving, so let your eyes be the judge…
After spelunking, we had to go back to the camp. Where we had to cross the river through a zip line again. This was the most difficult part of the day, for me, because I had to pull myself up and I weigh 130 lbs. Before I reached the other end of the zip line, I was too tired already, thanks to Donnie who helped me reach the other end. After everybody has crossed already, we fixed our things, break camp and start trekking back.
AFTI, really, is full of surprises. All you have to do is commit yourself in this three day activity and anything goes. Just accept the challenge and be ready for any adventure that mother nature has to offer. But of course, safety always comes first. And now, I can’t wait for the next AFTI. I must admit I enjoyed AFTI more than any other adventure. It’s an all in one adventure. If you’re looking for challenge, this is the best adventure for you.
Special thanks to Marc Gaña, who made things happen, to Mel, who made the happenings funny, to James, Bates, Donnie, Joseph & Marc B. who captured the moments, to the girls, Gia, Maila and Hannah, and of course to Jerome, who packed my things and made sure I brought everything that I needed even though he didn’t join me in this trip, he was with me the whole time – in spirit. Sobrang cheeesy!! hehe
Now i know why AFTI is so addictive. It gives you this adrenaline rush, that you’ll keep on craving for more. Now I’m so excited for the next AFTI. 
The best climber in the world is the one who’s having the most fun. (Alex Lowe)
