South Cotabato: The Seven Falls of Lake Sebu

I’m so lucky to have a work that requires me to travel a lot. This time, I went to General Santos City. When you heard the name General Santos City or Gensan for short, of course Manny Pacquiao first comes to your mind. This is his hometown! Gensan is also the “Tuna Capital of the Philippines.” So when you’re at the city, you cannot miss out to eat tuna especially the tuna belly and tuna panga. So Yummy!

But what I was really looking forward was to go to Lake Sebu. It is located in Surallah, South Cotabato. From Gensan, it is approximately 2 and ½ hours travel using a private vehicle. In Surallah, you will be greeted by these nice landscapes.

After 30 mins drive from Surallah proper, we arrived at Lake Sebu. There’s an entrance fee of 20 pesos for adults.

From the entrance, you have to trek down to see the falls.

This is the first falls or the Hikong Alu, which means "Passage" in T'boli. 

The second falls or the Hikong Bente, whicn means "Immeasurable" in T'boli. 

The highlight of our Lake Sebu trip is their zipline. It is dubbed as the  “Asia’s Highest Zipline". At first, I was really scared because of the height. It's too high, like mountain to moutain zipline. What I love about the zipline here is the scenery. You will see the waterfalls from below. It was awesome. I wasn't able to take picture of the waterfalls but it's so beautiful. 

We tried the two ziplines, a 700m zipline and a 400m zipline. They said that we must focus on our right to see the falls. And so I chose the right side. Hehe. For the 700m zipline, you will see the waterfalls two, three, four and five. For the 400m zipline, you will see waterfalls three, four and five. 

Overall, my Lake Sebu trip is so much fun and I will definitely comeback to try the zipline again. 

Cagayan de Oro: Conquered White Water Rafting

Last week, our client visited us in our staffhouse. He and my boss were talking about work and places that would be very nice to visit in Cagayan de Oro. And thanks to him, he convinced our boss to go to Camiguin. My boss was so excited that she told me to do the costing and itinerary. Of course for me, I was more than willing. Another place on my bucket list again.

Unfortunately, when we went to Balingoan Port, they have said that it is closed because of the bad weather. Our second option was the White Water Rafting. Of course my officemates were disappointed, but as for me, I was so happy. I think it’s about time to conquer White Water Rafting.

Before we started rafting, there was a briefing on how to paddle and what to do in case the boat flip. And of course, a complementary picture taking.

We separated on 2 teams, 5 persons each not including our river guide. We took the advanced course, 17 kms paddle which has 30 over-all rapids. It’s a 4 hours paddle.

We started rafting around 10:30 am and we have a favorable weather. The sky was dark and there was no sun. Blood rushing through my veins whenever we were on the rapids. Our river guide, kuya Val, was so talkative but informative. He was also helping us to form a good position for us to have a better rafting experience. We tried to stand on the raft while on the rapid. That was so awesome! Adrenaline rush! 

In between rapids, there were still water. Kuya Val will tell us when and where we could dipped in the water. In our group, I was always the first one to jumped off the raft. I just love swimming and floating while watching the scenery.

And because we were exhausted from paddling and shouting, we stopped to drink on to the spring water.

There was this rock where we stopped, took picture and jumped off into the water. It was a nice feeling that I thought I was into the water for almost 20 seconds. 

There was also this part when my boss' raft docked somewhere and I thought it was over. I asked kuya Val and he said, "No, we still have more rapids to go." And then my boss shouted, "Kath, do you remember this place?" I said, "No Ma'am, I can't remember this place." Then, one of my officemates said, "I-Witness." At that point I remembered the documentary of Jay Taruc on I-witness entitled "Muton." The blue rope on the pic was the muton the boy used in the documentary to cross the river and go to school.

Last photo before our White Water Rafting ends.

Iligan City: Maria Cristina Falls

After enjoying ourselves at Tinago Falls, we proceeded to Maria Cristina Falls. Though we’re running out of time, we didn't hesitate to go there. Why? Because I personally didn't want to go back to Manila half hearted.

Maria Cristina Falls is located inside the premises of NPC (National Power Corporation). It is also called “The Twin Falls”. Also, there’s the Maria Cristina Hydroelectric Power Plant which is the main source of electricity for the whole Mindanao region. There’s an entrance fee of 35 php and you have to sign up the registration form.

We climbed on the top of Maria Cristina Hydroelectric Power Plant to have a better view. Though even from afar, you can see how majestic the falls is.

Those raging water currents’ like inviting you to go on kayaking. Hehe.

Bukidnon: Dahilayan Adventure Park and Forest Park

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!! Let’s leave the past and embrace the future.

Continuing my Bukidnon Trip, we arrived at Dahilayan Adventure Park around 10am. It’s located at Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon. Dahilayan Adventure Park is the home of the longest dual cable zipline in Asia which is 840 meters long. This zipline is actually the reason why we went here.

Actually, it was my first time to try zipline. So for me, it was mixed emotion. Nervousness and excitement.

After zipline, we roamed around, appreciate the surrounding and take picture. I noticed how serene the place is. You can hear the Pine trees whistling. It’s very relaxing since you’re surrounded by nature.

I wanted to try the rope course but then it was hot at that time and none of my officemates wanted to accompany me.

After we roamed around, we went to Forest Park. There's a playground inside and once again, we became kids longing to play around. Kids at heart. Yey!

We wanted to try the ATV and Buggy Ride, unfortunately with us, they require that we must know how to drive. Since only 2 in our group knew how to drive, we dropped the idea and it was very disappointing on my part. I must learn how to drive. I promised to myself that I will come back here and try ATV and Buggy Ride.

There you have it, my Bukidnon experience. It was fun and I enjoyed every moment of it. We all went back to Cagayan de Oro with a smile.