Be Spontaneous: The Casili Adventure

Iris Palma in Travel

Jan 15, 2021 • 2 min Read

My friends and I planned to go on a boat ride. The destination was Sitio Casili beyond the famous Wawa Dam in Montalban, and then a side trek to the nearby Marambibit Falls. But it rained the night before. Dang.

Cowards that we were—I was fearful for my friends than for myself—we decided to just hang out in Wawa. We shared each other’s breakfast and laughed while it rained. Someone had a birthmark, we thought.

So, while having breakfast and coffee, fate brought a nice man who assured us that a boat joyride to Casili and back would be smooth because the waters were high. The fiber boat would have no difficulty navigating the swollen river. After a short discussion, we decided to be spontaneous that morning.

We crossed the scenic bridge before the dam, entered the mini-cave, and bravely rode a boat.

There were rough sections in the river because of the current and we gladly screamed. We were on an adventure and it felt good to scream and smile while the heavens sent showers to drench us a bit.

The iconic long, white bridge welcomed us to Casili after about 30 minutes or so. No one kept track of time. That, itself, was a mark of true and spontaneous adventure.

Sitio Casili, situated along the boundary of Montalban and San Mateo, boasts of Marambibit Falls. To get there, one has to walk about 2 kilometers, go down a fairly steep hill, cross a river via a raft, and walk some more.

What pushed the trek to an adventure level for us was the fact that we had to struggle down a muddy and slippery hill. Remember it rained the night before and we were not appropriately “dressed.” And the raft ride was a bit scary, we had to sit or kneel or squat—whatever position our rusty knees allowed.

Once we crossed the river, we had to walk another kilometer or so. Deeper and deeper into the mountains, past a tributary as it snaked along the mountain sides, and up to where the Lady Marambibet poured her emotions on a small pool wide enough for a party of five exhausted ladies.

The falls was gorgeous! And cold! And magnificent!

The gloomy skies peaked at us while we laughed and shrieked without restrain—like mares out in the wild. Our adventure was a spontaneous success. We were tired but we were ecstatic.

Nature refreshed us. We left with wide smiles on our faces.

“We shall return,” we promised to one another.