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| Bicol Road Trip 2021: Day 3 |
Day 3: July 19,2021
Jovellar Underground River & Solong Eco-Park
Gloomy morning everyone! Fresh off our Cagraray Trip yesterday, we didn't waste the opportunity to explore another destination even if it looks like it was going to rain hard the whole day.
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| Breakfast before we go |
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| Do you want to come with us today? |
For today's road trip, our two-vehicle convoy headed southwest of Casa Nicerio in Camalig, Albay going to the town of Jovellar which is also in the same province.
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| Welcome to Jovellar |
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| Welcome to Jovellar |
This would be the first time for us to visit Jovellar despite our numerous family road trips in Albay. From our place, the road going to Jovellar was a mix of two-lane, one-lane, paved, and unpaved provincial roads. My driving skills were truly tested during this road trip.
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| Arcangel Park in Quitinday, Jovellar |
From Casa Nicerio, it took us 30 minutes to navigate and reach our destination. The municipality of Jovellar is famous for its underground cave and waterfalls. When we reached Jovellar, we parked in the covered court in Arcangel Park in Hacienda Arcangel. From there, we proceeded to the Jovellar Underground River Registration Office where we paid the following:
Registration Fee: 50 pesos per person (P200 for foreigners)
Parking Fee: 30 pesos (4-wheels)
Tour Guide Fee: 200 pesos (mandatory)
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| Walking to Jovellar Underground River |
After paying the fees our guide brought us to our first destination which is the Jovellar Underground River. I have seen this place in a Facebook post of a friend a few years ago which made me very eager to see it with my own eyes.
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| Team Nicerio visits Jovellar Underground River |
Sadly, it has been raining in the area for the past few days making the river water brownish. On a regular day, the water in the Jovellar Underground River is teal-ish in color which makes the balsa ride and swim more appealing. However, since the water is dark, the underground river looked gloomy hence we decided to skip the balsa ride exploration and chose to just take photos instead.
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| Meroj Spot Cascades and Swimming Area |
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| Going down the Meroj Spot Cascades and Swimming Area |
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My father checked out the Meroj Spot Cascades and Swimming Area
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From the Jovellar Underground River area, we proceeded to the Meroj Spot Cascades and Swimming Area. Since the water flowing here comes from the underground river it naturally had the same color as its source so we decided to skip the swimming part and just took photos again.
Our last stop for the Jovellar tour is the Sigpit Falls. It's not a swimming spot so we just enjoyed the view of the majestic falls and of course, snapped a lot of photos of it before heading back to our vehicle to continue our drive to our next destination.
For our next destination, we drove 19.2 kilometers back to Camalig where Solong Eco-Park is located. I already visited this place with my wife, daughter, and parents during the 3rd day of our 2019 Bicol Road Trip. We revisited it this year so that my brother and sister would get the opportunity to enjoy this awesome place.
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| Ginisang Ampalaya |
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| Roasted Dilis |
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| Aice Watermelon Stick Ice cream dessert |
Our first activity in Solong Eco-Park was to eat lunch. Well, it was a bit past lunch already when we arrived. After that, my siblings and I decided to start the tour and exploration of the 6.5 hectares of Solong Eco-Park. My parents and wife knew that there was hiking involved so they begged off choosing to rest in the shaded area of the eco-park. It was just me, my daughter, and my siblings who would go exploring.
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| Team Nicerio explores Solong Eco-Park |
We were provided with a guide (no extra fees for this and it is mandatory) because we plan to go spelunking in Solong Cave/Crystal Cave and then hike Solong Hill after. I was a bit worried about my daughter who's just 8 years old but she proved to be as adventurous as me and was really up for the challenge. Here are our photos inside Solong Cave
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| Team Nicerio explores Solong Cave |
Here are our photos on top of Solong Hill
We got back to the parking area almost around 4PM. We were aiming to visit other destinations after Solong Eco-Park because we wanted to maximize our day as my brother Patrick would be flying back to Manila tomorrow. However, it seems like most of us used up our energy with all the walking that we did today so we decided to just call it a day and just head back to Casa Nicerio and bond there instead.
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| Thank you for being an awesome guide, Ate Amelia! |
That night, we watched the film Tomorrow War before calling it a day. Well, that basically wraps up our 3rd day here in Albay. See you on our 4th day of adventure.
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