The Taal Volcano

I have spent this week this week in a city that is magnificently perched on the rim of a massive volcano called the Taal volcano. The crater forms a huge lake which has several volcanic islands. It looks like something out of Jurassic Park – prehistoric.

The island in the middle of the crater has a crater located on top of it which contains another smaller lake which shows signs of ongoing thermal activity – hot rocks, smoking vents, boiling water, etc.
On the final day of my visit in Tagaytay I had 3 ½ hours of free time before the evening session when I would be giving the closing message to the 200+ delegates at our training event. I told Pete Forras, our missionary, that I thought we should rent a boat and guide ($10) and visit the “lake within the lake”. We talked to a guide and he insisted that it would take 30 minutes to drive to the boat, 30 minutes to cross the lake, and not long to hike to the top. Perfect! We had the time and I am not one to walk by an opportunity like this.

So we picked up our guide (Jerry) in the Starbucks parking lot and he directed us to down the crater rim to the lakeshore where we paid for our trip and waited for our boat. The two Philippino boat drivers joined Jerry, Pete and myself, and we shoved off shore.

Within fifteen minutes we were gliding across the lake past “fish farms” and floating houses. The volcanic peak in the middle of the lake loomed large before us. As we neared it, we could see that it might end up being a long, steep hike to the top of that peak.

2/3 of the way across the lake the boat engine began to sputter, cough, and the it quickly “died”. As the boat driver lifted the engine cover I heard him say something that must have been a Tagalag swear word.

Being the deluxe tour that this was, our companions had neither cell phones, radios, or signal flares. What they did have was bright orange life vests! Our guide suddenly grabbed one and I thought “he is going to use that as a float and start swimming or shore.” I was wrong. Next thing I knew, Jerry was standing high on top of the boat frantically waving a life vest.

Pete didn’t look happy and I couldn’t help but laugh. I reminded him that these things happen to me all the time and that it really can be a lot of fun.

I hopped on top of the boat and began waving a vest as well.

Far on the horizon I spotted movement and a small speck of a boat began making its way towards us! “We still might make it”, I suddenly thought.

Our rescue boat circled twice before our guide made his first attempt at throwing them a rope. It fell well short. Everyone on both boats was giving him a lot of advise on rope throwing.

His second throw was successful and we were soon being towed to shore. Once there we asked an important question: “How far is it to the lake at the top of this island.” 4.5 kilometers was the answer we got. Uphill. Dirt trail. 90 degrees and humid!

At least we had water. Peter surprised me and began running up the well worn dusty horse trail. Most people opted for horses, but these sickly horses were slow, and we had no time to waste.

We made our way through a very poor village – creating a spectacle as we strided towards the top of the mountain peak. After catching Pete we made a couple of guesses on what was the right trail to take, and it quickly gained steepness.

I gave Pete some trail running advise – run until you feel like walking, walk until you feel like running. It seemed to work for him and we were soon passing horses.

After going through a valley and up a steep ridge we saw what appeared to be the top of the volcanic rim! Turns out our guide has miscalculated and the trail wasn’t as long as we had feared.

Choosing our ruts up this eroded mess of a trail we made our way to the top. Nearing the top were some awckward stairs which. They were surrounded by the few local people there selling drinks to tourists and caring for the horses. They gawked as I ran up the stairs feeling for a moment like Rocky or Rambo.

Once at the top a breathtaking view greeted me – the rim was high and thin – the water below appeared to be boiling and steam vents were scattered across the landscape.

A razor like ridge etended along the rim with a trail that I hiked to its end. (Watching your step was something you had to take seriously).

Pete soon emerged at the top and we exchanged high 5s – took pictures, bought 4 waters for 100 pesos, and began our downhill charge back to our boat.

We were making good time and I was confident we would make it back on time.

On the run down the mountain we sometimes sprinted like madmen, passing several horses – one of which tried to pass us back.. We think we set a record to the Taal Volcano run (has anyone else done this in the volcano’s history?), and Jerry our guide was there to greet us.

Turns out he didn’t fix our boat, so we ended up being towed all the way back across the lake. Even with these delays, we had time to grab fast food for dinner and arrive with plenty of time to prepare for the evening session.

I shared my adventure with my Philippino friends and they were excited to hear about how much I enjoyed their beautiful country since this was my first trip outside the city of Manila.