Time-out: Hiking Mt. Timbak in Atok, Benguet

While waiting for my plants to grow, (now on their 3rd week)I was fortunate enough to have joined climbing Mt. Timbak last Sunday, Feb 20. Mr. Ronald Fabon, our group's president and leader invited me to a "climb-for-beginners". Being another first for me, I decided to sign up. Roughly 4 hours from Baguio, we finally arrived at Timbak Elementary school. Good thing we were welcomed to stay in the school as long as we keep the place clean and quiet, therefore we didn't have to bring tents. The view of the sunset was already a treat even without climbing the summit. The following morning, we woke up early, around 3:30 am, had an early breakfast and prepared for assaulting the peak of Mt. Timbak. We were a large group of almost 20+ heads and Ronald decided to divide the group into 2, each team taking 2 different trails on the way up - the summit. The other group was led by Mr. Jay Z Jorge. The hike was considered to be for beginners but one still has to fight the cold and the thin air, but everything got easier as we went up and got our bodies warmer. we found ourselves walking alongside vegetable crops, careful not to damage any of the plants that is a source of livelihood for most people living in the area.

After 30 minutes, we reached the peak of Mt. Timbak, just right before sunrise. I am a self-proclaimed water-person, but it was then at the top that I realized why people enjoy climbing mountains, why Ron and he the team have made it a point to climb as much as they could, why I was there and what the place has got to do with me. I deeply enjoyed the seeing the sea of clouds becoming more visible as the sun shows up. My little camera was not good enough to capture the wonderful sight, and even if I did have a better cam, I don't
believe it would be enough to capture the state of awe I was in while enjoying the view. After endless picture-taking, we decided to go down, much less organized than we were on our way up. I met some locals and unsurprisingly, they spoke good english when they greeted us and they were exceptionally kind. I certainly hope that irresponsible climbing and television won't destroy their rich culture. Our next destination was the mummies of Timbak. Our other companion, Xavier Capul, was kind enough to enrich our trip with his knowledge and experience with the different tribes of the Cordillera region. After a long hike and an almost never-ending descent on a stone stairway, I was intrigued to see the mummies of Timbak. was a pity I didn't bother to equip myself with some reading about our destination, but Xavier told us that the mummies were sacred to the people who protect them and that we should be careful not to use flash when taking pictures because it may affect the preservation of the mummies. Though I appreciated viewing seeing the 100+ year old mummy Xavier showed me (he knew because one particular mummy was encased in wood without the use of nails), it was very unfortunate that we missed seeing the mummy of Apo Anno which was supposed to be the highlight of the trip. Apo Anno is a legend to the Ibaloi tribe, he was a legendary warrior who is believed to be a son of a mortal man and a goddess. I was told that his mummy was lost and even found its way to a museum in a foreign land. The Timbak mummies are included in the 100 Most Endangered Sites in the World according to Monument Watch, a non-profit organization aiming for the preservation of important sites in the world. It's also included in the World Monuments Preservation List of the American Express Foundation in 1998. I'm glad that the Apo Anno found his way back home. I hope that he will always be protected for future generations.

People in Timbak (Atok and Kabayan municipalities) are genuinely kind. They don't expect monetary gifts for their kindness (and one shouldn't even attempt to offer them money) and meeting them is such a breath of fresh air. The simplicity of their way of life reminds me that happiness and peace can truly be achieved even without the cultural and technological "advancement" people in the cities are very much proud of. At some point, I actually envy them knowing that they're far from pollution, stress and all other ugly things that living in a crowded city could offer. Though some of them may not realize it, but living a simple life in the mountains and growing your own food is more appealing to me than dying young and sick in a place far from the healing energies of nature. Going to Mt Timbak, I can say, has brought me much closer to my mother planet and further encouraged me to continue my quest in making our planet greener, one fish at a time.

*** On a side note, I'm currently in the stage of building my 2nd Aquaponic system, almost 5 times larger than the first. I am going to use the CHOP (Constant Height One Pump) system since I wanted to make use of the unused 550-gallon plastic drum as a fish tank and an old, broken refrigerator as a growbed. I am hoping to be able to finish the project by tomorrow before I got back to work. Peace.

Starting a mini Aquaponic system at home

It all started with me wanting to learn how to breed Tilapia in our backyard. After spending hours reading about how to grow the fish and how can i make them multiply in our small vacant lot, I remember in one website, somebody asked about Aquaponics. I've never heard the word before. Curious as always, I feverishly Googled for answers. The idea of growing plants without soil was intriguing. The thought of growing fish and plants together was even more exciting! So how does it work? In Aquaculture, you grow fish, feed them, the fish produce waste, you get rid of the waste by discarding the water or using a filter. In Hydroponics, you grow plants without soil. The plants are placed in other growing media such as rockwool, clay pellets, foam, recycled foam, gravel, peat, sawdust, or coconut fibres, then fed a nutrient solution to make them grow. However, water is also discarded. In Aquaponics which is the combination of Hydroponics and Aquaculture, instead of discarding the water from the fish, you give it to the plants, they like it because of the nutrients abundant in fish waste. The beneficial bacteria on the grow bed of the plants basically cleans the water for the fish to use again. Saves a lot of water, time, space and let me also add that almost everything is self-sufficient and natural (almost - because you still need to provide food for your fish).

Just like a lot of people who get enthusiastic about Aquaponics, I've always wanted to build my own system, and just like most people who like Aquaponics, I just can't seem to find the time.

I continued to read and read and read. I watched countless videos, experimented with auto-siphons and talked about Aquaponics to almost every person I meet. I was lucky that my ever-supportive girlfriend encouraged me to "just do it" one day, otherwise, I would just still be talking about it. Living here in the Philippines, I do have some advantages. Being in the tropics, temperature for the fish won't be a problem and I can easily acquire fish and seeds for the plants.

Finding materials for our very first Aquaponic system was no easy task. It's very easy to feel like giving up since some materials used in the systems I've seen are very hard to find here ( fiberglass fish tanks and grow beds, expanded clay pellets, etc.) It's nice that in other countries, they do sell kits. After scouring to different hardware and DIY shops, I was ready to build using local materials. I decided to try using Shubunkin Goldfish (Php 10.00 each) for the fishtank as they're hardy and easy to care for. For the plants, I tried directly planting seeds of corn, mustard, pechay (chinese chard), okra (lady's fingers) in the grow bed. I also added 2 young basil plants. Seeds started to germinate after 3 days. I planted the same type and number of seeds in the soil for me to be able to compare the rate of their growth.

Shubunkin Goldfish

seeds germinating after 3-4 days

after 2 weeks

It has been 2 weeks now since the first Aquaponic system went operational. So far, I'm very happy with the progress. I spend at least 15 minutes a day checking it, some minor tweaking and making sure that the grow bed floods and drains correctly. My girlfriend also took the liberty of adding some more fish and one day caught her "playing" with them(with that guilty smile on her face, saying "I'm just feeding them"). Water is crystal clear, which is a good sign. It will take several more days or weeks for the plants to mature, but I am already thinking of building another one with a bigger FT and bigger grow bed so I can plant more edible vegetables and grow edible fish.

Okra after 2 weeks

Corn after a week

Happy planting!