The Cradle of Dreams – Lake Sebu, South Cotabato

June 8, 2020July 25, 2021 Rex Lim Lim 7 falls, featured, features, hikong alu, hikong bente, lahit, lake sebu, seloton, south cotabato, sox, tnlaka, TRANSIT PINAS, zipline

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The sun has just broken out from the purple horizon in Lake Sebu. The faint light casted warm orange hues to anything it touches. The closed petals of the regal Lotus flowers from yesterday finally bloomed, yet again, in unison.

Thousands of this pink pastel colored blooms are floating in a placid lake cradled by the bucolic mountains. Morning fog started to clear up around the lake revealing one of its many gleeful moods.

Lake Sebu is a paradise almost void of the trappings of modern society, time at the lake seemed to slow down that morning. Our wooden canoe, cut gracefully across the field of pink blooms.

The Owong glided across the glassy surface, creating ripples with each stroke of the paddle. In my mind, it felt like there’s T’boli musical styling that serves as our backdrop during our early musings around the lake.

This is the start of a picturesque day in Lake Sebu, a highland community in South Cotabato known for aquaculture and several indigenous tribes. Often dubbed as the Summer Capital of Southern Mindanao, the cool weather in here is because it is around a thousand meters above sea level.

Photo by Enciong Alave (IG: @encionggoes)

The Dreamweavers of the T’boli Tribe

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T’nalak is a cloth that has been synonymous to the T’boli tribe of Mindanao. In a hut situated by the side of the road, called the Lang Dulay Weaving Center, is where one of the most unique cultural emblems of the region are woven. Lang Dulay was a T’boli Princess, who was a National Living Treasure Awardee.

Lake Sebu, South Cotabato — One of the T’boli Weavers showing us how the T’nalak is made.

She’s known for preserving the tradition of the T’nalak and for hundreds of her designs like the Bulinglangit, Bangkiring and Kabangi.

Traditionally believed to have spawned from the very weaver’s dreams, the T’nalak is woven with stories unique to the one doing it. The distinct, complex and intricate geometric figures of the cloth are like fingerprints, an identity that only belongs to one person.

The vibrant patterns in red and black is a manifestation of the tribe’s collective subconscious. The weaving of the T’nalak is neither quick nor easy. Abaca fibers are carefully connected together in a spool. The next step is to dye it: the leaves of the Kenalum tree give the material its black color, while the roots of the Lokoh tree tint the fiber red.

A Lush Rush: The Seven Falls

Monkeys with their little ones traipsed the bamboo fences inside the park. Lake Sebu is an ecotourism destination famed for its seven interconnected waterfalls. This is surely one of the places you shouldn’t miss when in Lake Sebu to tick off from your proverbial bucket lists.

The hinterlands concealed by dense tropical jungles and towering massif, is where the seven falls are located. Hikong Alu, or passage is one of the two accessible waterfalls in the area followed by the immeasurable Hikong Bente, which one can reach after a short hike.

Despite the fact that one can’t actually swim at the raging waters of the waterfall system, it compensates by having one of the highest zipline rides in Asia.

The first part gives you a great glimpse of the immeasurable, Hikong Bente. Then the second part offers another look at the cascades of Hikong B’lebed (zigzag waterfall) connects with Hikong Lowig (booth waterfall), which then flows down into Hikong Ke-foi (wild flower). The last two are the smaller Hikong Ukol (short waterfall) and Hikong Tonok (land or soil).

The zipline towers 180 meters above the ground and rewards you with the fleeting view of the majestic interconnected waterfalls. The first one is 740 meters long, while the second is around 420 meters.

Second zipline ride over the other four cascades of Lake Sebu

It might be over before you know it because of the adrenaline rush. It will give you all the sublime chills especially when you are flying above the thunderous roar of the waterfalls.

One can wear the traditional T’nalak attire near Hikong Alu

The Lotus Fields

Perched on the highlands of South Cotabato are three lakes which are also important watersheds – Lakes Sebu, Seloton and Lahit. These bodies of water supply the Allah Valley Protected Landscape in South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat for irrigation.

Blessed by enviable weather all year round, a morning cruise in Lake Sebu will give you that much needed respite away from the hustle and bustle of the city. A few white herons glided across the placid lake water then comes to rest at the bamboo poles which marks the fishpens.

Thousands of lotus flowers bloom here during sunrise. Aboard our dug-out canoe called the “Owong”, our skilled helmsman guided the craft carefully across the Lotus flowers. Tranquility is Lake Sebu’s inviting first impression, coupled with the charming yet unimposing culture of the T’bolis.

The cradle of Filipino identity and natural beauty – which, in spite of the modernization of times, remains untarnished. Lake Sebu is one of those places that I want to get back to, or that I can always highly recommend.

I only spent the weekend here but it feels like I always felt home during my short stay.