HiveComb

My quiet humble town nestles peacefully on the east coast of the Nothern Cebu. Yes, it’s a coastal town, with a unique coast of a rocky, rugged cliffs, but beyond this, our town also boasts endless valleys and hills of green that are often called by local tourists as the "Little Batanes". Well, "Little Batanes" may be a bit of an exaggeration knowing that the scenic and real Batanes of the Philippines are beyond comparison. However, I believe that the feeling you’ll get upon visiting this certain part of my town carries the same vibes as that of Batanes. Now I wonder who gave this name to my town by the way. Haha.

More so of this little Batanes, our town has this peculiar sight/ scenery every year that entices every passerby, well not just passersby but also locals from neighboring towns. The moment they hear of this and see this on the Municipality’s Facebook Page, they race to visit the place and witness its once-in-a-blue-moon cottony beautiful sight, the blooming season of the wild Cogon Grass.

Every summer, the wide evergreen valleys and plains of my town are turned into a field covered with soft feathery flowers that harmoniously sway with the wind. This means that this is the season of the year that these wild grasses bear their beautiful cotton-like flowers! Locals flock to this special place as it gives off a ‘different part of the world” vibes. My Facebook newsfeed at this time is filled with the trending post of this beautiful view of my town.

And like any other citizen of my town who was also enchanted by this marvelous view, together with my hiking buddies, we set a day to have a stroll in this lovely place. However, little did I know, that witnessing the full beauty of these plants in bloom requires perfect timing!

In full bloom where the flowers are the most carefree, there must be no rain, like the whole week must be all sunny day! If this is the situation one would really see the soft cotton balls flowers of the Cogon Grass covering the whole fields.

Unfortunately, on the day of our scheduled hike, it rained that night, and in fact, part of the skies were still cloudy during that day. Unknowingly we went there and were surprised to see that the flowers were still soaked by the rain and had shrunk just like those tiny little chickens drenched under the rain unable to spread their tiny little wings.

So instead of a field covered with soft cotton balls, what we saw were grasses with flowers that had been chilled by the rain. Huhu. It was a far cry from the vibrant view I imagined, but it's okay they are still quite a beauty.

I was a little disappointed not because of what was only present in the view but rather because I was disappointed with how late I was to not be able to visit this place while the weather was still hot and dry. However as nature has its healing power, I found myself still appreciating this grand view in front of me. There wasn't a cloud-like view on the ground this time, but my eyes were filled with the beautiful stretch of greenery across the valleys.

This place has remained untouched for I can't remember how long allowing the grass to grow wilder and freer as they are. And this beautiful view of nature is worth the gaze and the wander.

Many travelers take this part of the road as their stopover too! Some bring their snacks for the food trip, while others bring their camping chairs just to sit here and stay for a long while and savor the beautiful view of nature.

As for us, we took a walk, enjoying the gentle breeze of the wind. I may not be able to witness the fluffy white flowers of the cogon grasses but still, I was able to enjoy this relaxing and soothing view of mother nature.

If you wish to see this festive view of wildflowers in my town, make sure to visit during summertime. Though it gets scorching hot in the sun but its all worth it. Just don’t forget to bring your hat.! Trust me you won't regret it!

That's it! Hoping to catch the full bloom next year!