Make a difference when you hike through this forest trail in Subic

SUBIC -- Most people take up hiking as a leisure activity to get away from the city and enjoy the great outdoors with friends. But what if you could make a difference in the communities you visited while doing that?

Social tourism platform MAD Travel, which stands for Make a Difference, aims to do just that.

Founder and tour guide Raf Dionisio believes that travel has the potential to change perspectives and inspire people to build a kinder and fairer world.

“Meeting people whom we wouldn’t normally encounter in our daily lives can help us develop greater empathy towards those who were born into less fortunate circumstances, learn about their culture, and find hope and inspiration in their strength,” says Dionisio.

Their Tribes and Treks tours aims to support marginalized communities in the Philippines through eco-tourism and reforestation activities. They've been offering tours in Zambales and Rizal for a while now and had just launched their latest destination within the forests of Subic, which travel writers and bloggers recently got to experience as part of the #LakbayNorte8 Media Tour.

Tribes & Treks Subic offers a pleasant hike that takes visitors through a canopy of bamboo trees, streams and waterfalls within the Bataan Forest of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Area. The whole trail is relatively easy with gently sloped inclines, making it suitable for novice hikers and families with active kids.

The forest, which is home to the Pastolan tribe of Aetas, is one of the last thriving rainforests in the area. Members of the tribe serve as guides, sharing their unique culture and respect for their forest.

According to Dionisio, the forest’s proximity to the highly developed Subic Bay Metropolitan Area makes the area vulnerable to land grabbers and cultural depreciation. The tours, done in collaboration with the Lighthouse Legacy Foundation, aims to create livelihoods that are derived from and grow with the forest instead of exploiting it.

During the trek from El Kabayo to Harbor Liwanag’s Forest Home, guides share their indigenous knowledge of particular trees and plants and the role they play in their community’s daily lives.

They identify and demonstrate how to drink from water vines from the forest and point out which types of leaves naturally stick to clothes and can be used as camouflage.

Guides demonstrate jungle survival skills including how to carve utensils and cooking instruments from bamboo and how to start a fire using stalks and wood dust, which hikers can try firsthand.

Tree-planting is one of the staples of Tribes and Treks tours and hikers can do their part in planting trees to help reforest the area. One of MAD Travel’s aims is to grow a fruit forest and develop an array of bamboo products in hopes that this will encourage and empower the community to continue preserving the forest.

While the streams and waterfalls in the area are fairly small, these offer refreshing spots for hikers to take a dip should they want to cool down from the hike.

Upon returning to the jump-off point, hikers can also enjoy a native meal prepared by the local women of the tribe, including fish cooked in leaves and rice cooked in bamboo. The women of the tribe also share their practice of using traditional herbal medicines and leaves and offer plant cuttings for hikers to take home.

Guests can also purchase other modern souvenir items, including woven bracelets and bamboo cups.

With the focus on environmental preservation, culture and sustainability, MAD Travel’s Tribes & Treks tours are ideal for educational field trips, CSR programs and corporate team-building trips.

The hike can be booked as a day tour from Subic (P1,800/ pax) or as a package bundled with an overnight stay at either Subic Bay Hostel (a deluxe Japanese-style capsule dorm) or The Lighthouse Resort (a 4-star beachfront eco-hotel).

Photos by Mac Dillera courtesy of North Philippines Visitors Bureau (NPVB)