Nature spins magic in Enchanted River

Inquirer Mindanao
By Romel M. Oribe

Looking at pictures of the Enchanted River in countless Internet sites, one may scream “Photoshopped!” But such is the essence of the most famous tourist spot in Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur: It’s too magical to be natural.

Barangay Cambatong, where the river is found, is steeped in oral tradition. And the lore of how the water body got its mystical tint is not hard to believe. For who else could have created this bewitching palette of colors but the ethereal beings endowed with the powers of magic and enchantment?

Legend has it that one firefly-lit night, fairies floated above the river while elves watched from cliffs and banks. With their wands, the fairies stirred the water, toyed with sapphire and jade, and made the tones fade and meld to achieve a shade of bluish green that now paints the riverbed.

Twelve kilometers from the highway junction, the Enchanted River shapes the boundary of Barangays Talisay and Cambatong in Hinatuan. Though some portions of the well-maintained dirt road are undulating, these don’t make the ride bumpy and dusty as some tourists wrote in their blogs. 

 

Neptune’s party

Also, there’s a cave farther away, just before the river flows out to the Hinatuan Bay facing the Pacific Ocean. Accessible by foot during low tide, the cave showcases limestone naturally carved as furniture sets and positioned as though Neptune were hosting a party for underwater denizens.

An added attraction when visiting the Enchanted River happens at noon when the bell is rung and bathers are requested to get out of the water for about an hour. As the Hinatuan Hymn begins to play, groups of fish come out from nowhere like on cue and feed on food scraps the caretaker and tourists throw into the river. This feeding frenzy makes spinning scales and tails catch light, turning the natural pool into a liquid canvas of the magical and the fabulous.

It was the Father of Tourism himself, Modesto Farolan, who gave it its name through a poem titled “Rio Encantado” (The same had been set to music by Francisco Rio). Then a prewar manager of the Madrigal-owned Port Lamon Lumber Co., which exported round timber, Farolan wrote it for Geminia, a local lass that was his inamorata.

The poem is a romantic evocation of the Enchanted River as an unspoiled, untouched and undiscovered trysting cocoon for lovers. It talks of a “crystalline stream flowing from hidden spring,” “rocky brims ’mongst vines,” “orchids and ferns,” “canopy of rich green mirrored in water-tinted blue,” and “gold lined with gems.”