SENIOR BYAHERO
As a traveler who enjoys staying with the locals and learning more about their culture, food and history, I got excited when I learned that the Tourisms Promotions Board and provincial tourism office were taking us to sev-eral community-based tourism projects in Camarines Norte.
Community-based tourism or CBT started in the Philippines many years ago but has not gained much mo-mentum because local tourists tend to seek comfort and convenience instead of experience. CBT offers authen-tic local experience to travelers who seek to learn more about the community they visit, to gain more knowledge about their culture and to seek better understanding about their people.
The local communities are the most knowledgeable about their places. They know what are the best to pre-serve whatever they have. They are motivated to minimize negative impact to their community in order to con-tinue living in them. They hold knowledge for preservation and sustainability beyond what tourism profession-als can provide. In Camarines Norte, we saw how local barangays and cooperatives have organized themselves to offer visitors authentic local experience.
The first CBT project in Camarines Norte we visited was the Canapawan Eco-Tourism & Farm in Sitio Cogui-tin, Barangay Canapawan, in the municipality of Labo. The local barangay of Canapawan has converted their mini-dam into an eco-tourism site where visitors can camp, swim and go on a family picnic. The mini-dam is located between two rivers on the foot of Mt. Labo. The water is cool and crystal clear.
The barangay chairman admitted that their eco-tourism farm is still less than a year old and that they still need to build additional facilities like multi-purpose hall in addition to the floating cottage which they already have, but they are happy with the support and enthusiasm of their members to provide visitors with the unique farm experience of having a family picnic by the river for only a ₱10 entrance fee.
The next CBT project we visited was the Malatap Falls Multi-Purpose Cooperative, also in Labo. The munic-ipality of Labo has over 30 waterfalls, and among the prettiest and the most accessible is the one in Barangay Malatap. The waterfalls is but a 10-minute walk from the national highway, and being accessible means without proper control, the waterfalls may suffer from human misuse.
When the cooperative took over, they converted the waterfalls into a resort, adding cottages, putting up comfort rooms, fencing the whole perimeter, and adding an entrance gate to control the entry of visitors (en-trance fee is only ₱10 per person). Cooperative members take turns in manning the facilities, cleaning the wa-terfalls, and even guiding the visitors in exploring the upper river. During the hot summer days, the waterfalls has become a favorite place among the locals to cool down and enjoy its refreshing scenery.
But the best example of community-based tourism was the last we visited that day in Camarines Norte, the San Nicolas Mangrove Forest in Talisay. I already knew it was different the moment we entered the barangay road when we were greeted by schoolchildren who had waited for us for hours. As soon as we entered the man-grove park, the local community started showing us around. We saw century old mangrove trees as we walked through the boardwalk, we saw the clean San Vicente-Talisay River system which has benefited from many years of conservation efforts which the local communities are doing, and we saw some of the activities like floating cottages, boating and kayaking which can be enjoyed at the mangrove park.
After the tour, we were brought to their multi-purpose hall where we got the biggest surprise – a parade of dishes prepared using “tuhoy,” a local mangrove clam that can only be found in San Vicente-Talisay River sys-tem. The barangay women created several dishes using “tuhoy” and they looked delicious. There was inihaw and barbecue, made from fresh “tuhoy” and dipped in spicy vinegar. There was also “tuhoy” sisig, balls, lum-pia, and even, tacos. We were told that these dishes can be ordered from the park, as part of the elevated man-grove experience.
Aside from Bagasbas Beach and Calaguas, the province of Camarines Norte is not well-known as a tour-ist destination. Only a few are brave enough to go through the old road of Santa Elena to explore the province. But for those who do, Camarines Norte is home to many community-based tourism destina-tions where one can experience the warm hospitality of the local community who operate them. For community-based tourism to succeed, visitors must be willing to trade comfort and convenience with authentic experience.