Nueva Vizcaya was featured as the "home to the fifth longest cave system in the country, the Capisaan Cave..." by the Manila Bulletin - Travel Magazine, Volume I, Issue 11, last 13th of November 2008.
Curiosity to adventure....
On a fine December evening, 19th of December 2008, I was dropped off by the jeepney driver to an abode near the Capisaan Cave in Malabing Valley, Barangay Capisaan, Kasibu Town, Nueva Vizcaya. I was aboard the vehicle for almost five hours before arriving on the recommended stopped over by my fellow passengers, i.e. the home of the Reverend of the Church of Christ at the said Barangay.
So, what it's like?
Trekking from the house of the Reverend to the mouth of the cave....
The smell of fresh air and wet grass assailed my nose, so different from the smog-filled air of the metropolis. It was chilly and drizzling, yet it was not bitingly cold. It was pitch black. We cannot even see our feet much less beyond the the horizon. The few lights that guide our way came from the flashlights and oil lamps that we carry. We walked on unpaved road and squeak our boots on soft earth. We were enveloped in silence except for the sounds that came from our boots, our voices, and the distant sounds of fireflies.
Inside the cave....
We were greeted by varying sizes of stalactites and stalagmites. The cave was painted by splashes of white and brown. And, of course, black. The temperature changes dramatically, from chilly just outside the cave to warm. Warm air enclosed us and yet it was not overwhelmingly warm that gave one the feeling of being cave-in. The murky water that we trudged on on the first few of our steps due to the soft earth gave way to clear and flowing water on the deeper recesses of the cave. It was chillingly cold. We plunged into knee-deep to over-the-head bodies of water. There was the smell of earth, water and moist in the air. And there was silence but for the sloshed of our boots, the echo of our voices, and the chirp of a bird.
The outcome....
