Racing with the Rapids

The flight to Cagayan de Oro city was a pleasant one from take off in the NAIA runway until we exit the airport of the city. This is the first installment of the two one-peso promotional plane tickets we bought from Cebu Pacific Air early this year.

It is actually the second time I visited the place. Last year, my good friends in the office, Glenn and Yelli were with us-- me and my partner both in crime and in heart, Pizza. We basked into the Island of Camiguin as our main destination and managed only to pass through Cagayan de Oro or also known as CDO. What we missed last time was the famous white water rafting.

So last weekend, our plans worked out perfectly. This time around, we were joined with other close friends. Fellow IT engineer Markus was with his girlfriend Hya. Pizza’s colleagues in the planning department Drew and Angel, and housemate Evie also tagged along.

Esem CDO

Since we weren’t able to purchase tickets of the same flight schedule, we waited until Drew, Angel and Evie came out of the arrival area of CDO Airport. So what a better way to spend more than 3 hours of waiting is to try out the SM mall in CDO. We ate lunch at P. Joe’s, some dine-in we thought of not found anywhere in mega Manila, chit-chat with Pizza’s little kins and stroll the familiar façade of the mall.

We ate dinner in Bacolod Inasal located in the Divisoria version of Cagayan De Oro. And I can tell you, their Pinakbet is as good as that cooked by Ilocanos. At a price of 80 pesos, I thought it will only satisfy my stomach, but I was mistaken in the end. The amount of their serving is good for at least 4 persons. The ambiance is very relaxing too, with its wooden and bamboo emblazoned facility.

A few more hours later we found ourselves resting in the house where Pizza grew up. This one is literally found a few meters away from the sea shore.

Gear up for the Rapids

Waking up early in the morning didn’t come that hard. The nearby sea shore was silent and the morning temperature chilled the skin enough to take refuge with a blanket. By 5 AM, we geared ourselves in preparation for an hour travel to the starting point of the water rafting course.

We met Marku and the the rest of the river guides at the heart of the city of golden friendship, where a historical bust of Justiniano Borja stands, an honest public servant, tagged as most admired and respected mayor of Cagayan De Oro.

We initially read the waiver attesting that we fully understand and realize the danger at hand, and that accidents could happen at any time during the activity. We signed the waiver and began our journey.

Stop by at Macahambus

Macahambus Adventure prides itself as a warming up stage before the main water event. It features a Skyline bridge connecting very tall trees that go down to more than 100 feet of altitude. Braving the 1 feet narrow bridge would send chills to those who are afraid of heights. That’s where the challenge lies. For a price of 300 pesos, one can traverse the bridge and back through a zipline. And for those who are up for tougher challenge, an additional 200 pesos would let you rappel down to view the creek and cave down below. Of course harnesses and safety gadgets including helmets are provided for this kind of sport.

As soon as we reached the destination, I was unaware of the time. In a split second, rubber boats have found themselves readied to hit the waters. Bunch of paddles, life vests and helmets were scattered all over, waiting to be grabbed and owned.

Marku led the briefing of everyone, including other groups we were joined with. He explain the safety reminders we need to keep in mind, putting emphasis on what reactions should be exerted once the boat turn over or should someone fell outside of it and onto the deep river. Keep afloat and feet apart facing towards the flow of water, not against it, this would at least prevent unwanted accidents of hitting rocks.

High Five and the 13 Rapids

The white water rafting course stretches to as much as 12.5 kilometers of the river. It serves as a boundary between the city of Cagayan De Oro and the province of Bukidnon, known for its vast plantation of Pineapples.

White water rafting in CDO is still young considering that it started only 12 years ago. The group of river guides that accompanied us was the first to establish their position in this kind of sport. And through the years, they were able to coin names to the 13 rapids we were about to hurdle. They called them Washing Machine, Macabundol, Standing, Surprise, Face The Wall, Paolo Santos Drop, Snake, and the other names were taken away by the river and failed to register in mind. Nonetheless, these carry a distinctive characteristics that give justice on why they were named as such.

Washing Machine. Once on the rapids, the boat will flow in a rotating fashion creating a spinning effect and thrill to the paddle.

The Macabundol. Macabundol is Bisayan word for "crash". It features a curve flow in the rapid and the point where the river switches direction is a massive wall of cliff and giant rocks. The danger and exciting part was when our boat bounced in to the wall, there was little space between the waters and cliff which forced us to lie down and avoid getting hit. This had happened very fast.

Standing. Probably this was the easiest of the rapid flows of water since we were asked to stand while paddling through it.

Surprise. It wasn’t easy neither difficult. The hair-raising part is when the boat just suddenly drop. The feeling is synonymous to riding super fast buses on a superhighway and crossing an elevated bridge would make your stomach twitch.

Face the Wall. This is quite similar to the Macabundol. The difference is that the boat is automatically position so that all rafters will be facing the wall. Synchronous back paddling will helped avoid hitting it.

Paolo Santos Drop. This was the rapid where the once famous guitarist-singer fell onto the raving waters.

Snake. Allan, Our river guide has a lot to say when it comes to this water sport. He is part of the national team that will compete in Korea next month in an event dubbed as the world cup of white water rafting.

And in this portion of the river he said snakes often come out when the temperature is hot. Dangling lines and ropes are a favorite spots of snakes where shed skins are visible. We thought we would see a great boa constrictor but managed to see one though, a small live green snake.

Water sport has never been part of my active lifestyle. This one put my experience to another level. I’m sure to see myself doing this again in the near future.

Next Stop.. Caving

We ate lunch in a seemingly old-fashion, happy and festive way, the boodle fight. A pair of lechon manok, a fishnet of shrimp, slices of grilled pork liempo, especially cooked rice covered in a stack of weaved coconut leaf, topped with the best serving for the day, a basin of delicious crabs.

I guess a great way of celebrating a successful rafting is a good lunch under a shade of tree and using a piece of a banana trunk as a plate catapulted the afternoon into a good moment worth keeping.

The next destination however also involves water, but underneath the ground. Mambuaya cave is home to a galore of stalactites and stalagmites similar to that found in the caves of Sagada, This time however, the golden shades of stones and collection of white crystals are smaller but larger in numbers. Since majority of the group has already traversed the greatSumaging cave in the Mountain Province, one can’t avoid to compare the scenery that laid before our eyes. There is a portion of the cave where you have to crawl with the neck and the rest of the body submerged in water to get through deeper.

Mambuaya Cave however has sort of been tampered with. According to the person’s in charge of guarding the precious cave, the mayor has ordered to put up lighting inside it, forcing metal screws into the stones. It does provide lighting inside the cave but it damages the whole view since electrical tubing can be an obstruction to the viewing eye.

Nonetheless, Mambuaya deserves its piece of attention to nature lovers. It’s not everyday that you see these kind of stones, unless of course one resides with close proximity into it.

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Luneta Para sa Masa (Luneta for the Masses)

When was the last time you visited Luneta? asked Ivan in his blog a couple of weeks ago.Rizal park was paved to commemorate the place where the Philippines’ national hero died. History tells that he was sentenced to death for his writings and being part of the revolution for freedom — which let you and I, right now, have and cherish.

The park is home to dozens of busts and figures of other heroes who had their share in restoring our freedom from “mananakops” (invaders).

Behind the stillness in the face of Rizal’s statue, the park has been home for the common Filipino: the masses. I was there last Sunday a perfect day for lovers in pairs, a family having a picnic, and children cheerfully playing. This has also been a perfect opportunity to do business, just like Caloy, who’s been a bystander photographer since 1972, the time when Marcos was still the president. He was carrying with him a vintage Konica film SLR, a proof that he’s been there long before I was born. Usually they offer 50 pesos to 75 pesos per shot which will be printed while you grace the scene of the park in about 25 minutes. I had my shot taken twice and printed into a 5R size photograph and he only charge me 100 pesos, maybe because I save him from the hot sunday afternoon by breaking his boredom.

Fortunately for me, my eyes are still virgin to the place. Yes, you read me right.During my elementary days in a public school named after Dr. Clement N. Dayrit Sr., I wasn’t able to join my classmates when they had field trips to places such as Rizal’s house in Calamba, Laguna, the Manila Zoo, Luneta park. These historic landmarks are usually included in public classroom’s curriculum, if not part of their activities in closing out a school year.
My mom is a typical housewife, (a term regarded as occupation for some) and my dad works in a construction as a carpenter in Saudi Arabia. So it was certain that they won’t afford to send me in the educational trips. And I never insisted since I already understand that the payment for one field trip will already feed us for a week.
I carried this in heart and mind as I grew up, went to high school, finished college, passed the board, and became an engineer working as an IT analyst in one of the firms in Laguna.
I owe to my parents what I have with me and what I am right now. This blog is dedicated to them as I tasked myself to see the rest of the Philippines, and hopefully the rest of the world.

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