They say that bad decisions make the best stories, but, did our decision to push through our camp on a rainy night make a good story? Read on and find out.
Hey there, wholesome reader!
I was invited by a friend, named Jasmine, to join their group on a camping adventure over the weekend at Lake Bensis in Toeldo City, Cebu, Philippines. I was very much thrilled as it was my first time to camp overnight somewhere faraway from home.
The camp was planned to be on a Saturday and the weather was not that good at all but we still pushed it through as we were thinking that maybe by late afternoon, the rain will stop and we'll have a great night camping.
We arrived at the camping grounds at around 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The sky was still gloomy and the rain never stopped from pouring. But this did not stop us, neither. As soon as we arrived, we went to find a spot to build up our tents. The ground was very wet and there were even small puddles of water from the rain.
It was such a struggle to set up our tents. Aside from the rain blurring our vision, there was also the wind, which, by the way, was not in our favor.
One of the locals there told us that there was another group of campers who arrived before us. But, dismayed by the weather, they decided to postpone their camp and went back home.
After minutes of trying our best to set up the tents, I felt a pang of regret. I had thoughts of going back home. But, unfortunately, it was already late in the afternoon. The way home may be more dangerous for us since there were no street lights along the way and it was still raining. And worse, there might be a possibility of a landslide somewhere down the road.
Our tents are finally up!
We finally succeeded to set up our tents, but sadly, the rain has not yet stopped by the time we finished. Thoughts of how we will be able to sleep in the night under the crying sky flooded our minds.
By that time, our stomachs started to churn. Since there was a little hut with roof within the site, we decided to stay there while the rain continued to pour. We also set up our cooking apparatuses so we can make food for our grumbling stomachs. I was not able to grab some photos since I was one of the cooks and I got busy preparing our food.
Later on, as one of the locals visited the site, we found out that the hut, where we cooked our food, was actually for rent. The owner himself told us that we can rent the hut and place our tents there so that we can sleep safely inside, canceling the fear of getting soaked in the rain for the whole night.
Nighttime fun and games
Since the weather was gloomy, at around 5:30pm, the surroundings already started to get dark. There was no electricity in the campsite so you can really feel the real camp vibes in the place.
Before it got totally dark, we started to cook our dinner. I volunteered to cook because I simply love cooking! We fried some chicken drumsticks and we also cooked rice.
After we ate our dinner, we thought of an activity for the night. The initial plan was to build a bonfire. We collected several pieces of wood but they were damp from the rain. Still, we tried making a fire out of those wood pieces. They lit for a while but died out too soon.
And then, we thought of just using the butane stove that we brought as the source of fire. We put our marshmallows-on-sticks above the flame and let it melt a little. We all knew that it was a very unhealthy way but we found no other way to do it. We jokingly cheered "Carcinogen!" as we ate the molten and slightly burnt mallows.
It was too early to sleep so we thought of playing a game. We did not bring any board games, but one of our friends has this mobile charades game on her phone. We split into two groups and played inside one of our tents. We did not notice the time and slept at around 12 midnight.
Morning came and guess what?
We were expecting another rainy day but when we woke up, the sun tried its best to peek through the grayish clouds. We felt the sun's happiness, too!
We decided to cook our breakfast outside, where we can see the view of the lake in front of us. The whole breakfast, from cooking to eating, we spent doing outside.
The morning still felt cold from last night's rain and we can smell the grass everywhere. It was such a calm and beautiful morning for us, especially after experiencing yesterday's struggles and whatnots.
Early morning realizations
With the beautiful view in front of me, beautiful thoughts also blossomed inside my head. While I was out with nature, I felt free. There are so many things to learn from the trees like how you can grow into the person that you want to be, and doing it unapologetically, stretching your arms as far as you can and try to reach for the sky. But at the same time, growing roots from where you were planted, making sure you won't be so easily shaken by anything. I felt so grateful for the mountains for protecting us from storms and for being a great home for so many species of animals and even people. In that moment, I felt so grateful to be alive and to be able to experience nature's beauty.
Although the sun did not fully get out of its bed, we were grateful that it shone a little on us that day. We did not expect such warming culmination to our rainy camping experience.
To answer the question prompted in the beginning of this blog post, I could definitely say that this was one of the best decisions I've made. I was so happy that we pushed through this camp despite the rain that welcomed us on our first day. I appreciated the experience more after being soaked in the rain and then witnessing the warmth of the sun on the second day. But, still, be careful out there and don't forget to always put your health and safety first.
For those of you who are wondering where this beautiful lake is, Lake Bensis is located in Toeldo City in Cebu, Philippines. It is also known as "Lake Pingganon". This place is perfect for those who are seeking for some tranquil adventures and those who wish to spend time with nature. 😉
Thank you for reading my post up to this point. I hope you have a great time ahead!
I'll take delight in writing for you again soon.
Love,
Sam ♡
Hello, in case you have not read my intro post, my name is Samantha. You may call me Sam for short. I am from Cebu, a beautiful island in the Philippines. I created this space in an attempt to put all the good things in one place, thus, my blog name 
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