Down and Out in the Bundoks (cont.)

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Down and Out in the Bundoks (cont.)


	Ben, Benny, and Oliver (left to right) ready to roll.

Sound bites from the river bank included "Total cowboy move"..."Utter lack of respect"..."No concern for safety"..."They could have been injured"..."Does anyone here have any idea at all what in the fuck those two were doing?" I couldn't help but sit down and laugh, thinking that just because we're on the river doesn't mean we're not in the Philippines.

The Kalinga guys simply sat on a rock and looked at us, waiting. For a moment it seemed as if our expedition coalition might dissolve. Bridget wanted to give them the boot, but changed her mind. Instead, they got a hearty lecture from Anton, who translated Bridget's tirade. We never learned why they hijacked the raft, but I think it was partly a demonstration. For centuries the Kalinga have fought off various nations—even their own country's government—that wanted to come to this land and leave behind armed regiments, mines, dams, churches, and fleets of earthmoving equipment. I have a feeling that those two guys were just fighting off any notions we may have had about them being afraid of this rafting shit. After their scolding, they joined us in the raft with their helmets and life jackets back on, looking as happy to be in that boat as the minute we launched.

Downstream we encountered nearly all 895 species of Philippine butterflies. Later, we paddled a rapids where the river widened way out and spilled through its course on steps strewn with car-size boulders. For every yard we went forward we seemed to fall one, like we were riding an aquatic escalator. We camped that night on a dried oxbow, with the tents spread along what was once the junction of two torrents. High-water marks were still many feet above us. Considering the near-constant rain, I checked every few minutes for an approaching flash flood and weighed my risks of sleeping there against the more unknown risks of sleeping in the jungle. Considering the Philippines have 167 reptiles and 110 mammals, the oxbow won out.



	Bridget Findley in vigilant mode.

Toward nightfall we all gathered around a big fire the Kalinga guides had magically built with thoroughly wet wood. As I swigged some champagne and chewed through a few dried and salted squid, I grappled with that age-old question: If I'm standing in front of a fire in a light rain, do I get drier or wetter? While I pondered this, Anton was pondering the future. "I hope you can all come back next year, when we finally get to run the upper Cagayan," he said. "Things with the guerrillas will be cooled off by then."

Dave, the actor, said, "I bet it'll be done raining then, too, right?"

Everyone laughed.

But then Anton and Greg began setting some dates for the renewed exploratory trip, and I realized they were serious. Our last day on the river, the rapids thinned out and lost the flamboyance of the previous day, except on a long stretch known as The Playground. There the Chico whipped through a gorge and the center of the current rose up like the hackles on an angry dog. The raft rode along the crest, bucking a series of smaller waves, as if it might slide off to either side.

The word "boondocks" comes from the Philippine word for mountain, bundok. It struck me as funny that we could be coming out of the boondocks while we were still way up in the bundoks, if you know what I mean. The valley widened, there were more cultivated banana plants and coconut trees, and less raw jungle. Mudslides off agricultural plots had recently ripped down hillsides, leaving scars like dirt roads with abrupt beginnings and ends. In the middle of the river, a nude man was building a series of large, mysterious rock cairns on a gravel bar, and we gave each other weird looks as the raft passed.

One of the bends in the river eventually turned out to be the bend and there was our jeepney, an out-of-place hunk of chrome shining on a large bank of fist-size gravel, seemingly blasted back from some future century. The lowland drivers looked as tense as they had when they'd dropped us off. We deflated the rafts and loaded them on the roof. Everyone jumped in and I sprawled out on a very comfortable pile of life jackets. The Kalinga guys waved goodbye. They were headed in a much different direction. Then the jeepney swung downhill, lurching along and dodging chickens.

Outfitter: Mukuni Wilderness Whitewater Expeditions, 800-235-3085; www.mukuni.com Dates: Cagayan River trips will run January 16- February 3 and February 6-24. Cost: $2,750-$3,150 per person (excluding airfare), which includes eight days of rafting, four days of sea kayaking, and two days of trekking

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