Adventures in Cagayan de Oro

The first time I went to Cagayan de Oro City in 2004 was with my family to celebrate the holy week there, so it was more of visiting churches and other tourist spots. (We also went to Iligan and Bukidnon, which was one of the nicest places I’ve been to.)

I had another opportunity to go to CDO in 2006, this time with Paul, Jane, and Rico—a birthday gift for myself. And this time, it was all about adventure!

Cebu Pacific flies almost everyday to CDO. We arrived in CDO around lunch time of Saturday, September 2. We went straight to our hotel to freshen up. Cagayan Park View Hotel, along Divisoria road, is a cheap but nice hotel. Let me tell you that it is worth your money. A room for two costs only PhP520…and that’s already the deluxe room, complete with aircon, cable TV, and hot and cold shower! The hotel is also located conveniently at the center of the city.

When we got out for lunch, it was drizzling! Of all the luck! But we still braved the drizzle and walked to look for a nice place to eat. Yes, we walked. In all my travels, one thing I learned is that if you want to appreciate and learn about a place more, walk. Do not zoom by the place because you will be missing a lot…when you walk, you get to stop by places (like souvenir shops or museums or a hidden spot) and meet and talk with locals, from whom you’d be able to learn a lot.

We stopped ate lunch at Reyna del Rio Floating Restaurant. This restaurant was afloat the Cagayan de Oro River. It was like eating in a ship that was not moving! We ordered our lunch, mostly Filipino food, delicious and reasonable (although I didn’t like their mango shake). By the time we were eating, it was already raining hard, and we didn’t think we’d be able to scour the place in this condition. So we just went back to the hotel and let the rain pass.

When it was time to get out, it was already late afternoon….gosh, time for dinner already? Anyway, as we walked out of the hotel, we found the whole Divisoria road (yes, they have a Divisoria also) packed with stall of clothes, shoes, and FOOD! It was like a fiesta! Ganto pala dito every Friday and Saturday (I was hoping that there’s something like this in Paranaque). We walked the street from end to end, looking everything they offered. Para ka ngang asa Divisoria sa Manila. However, the mood here is more festive than "tiangge-ive". There were performers singing at the middle. We decided to eat there and enjoy the mood…para kang asa malaking malaking party! We decided to feast on chicken barbeque and tuna panga. It was already late when we decided to call it a night and prepare for the adventure in store for us the next day.

Early morning (7 a.m.) of the next day, Sunday, met with the crew of Mr. Roldan Kaamino at Jollibee Divisoria for our white water rafting. Kagay (the group that offers white water rafting) has years of experience, reliable (and friendly) guides, and dependable equpment. Now, white water rafting is very popular in CDO because it has one of the "roughest" rivers. Many tourists, especially the adventurous ones, come and try this activity. I’ve contacted Roldan while still in Manila, so everything was already taken care of. All we had to do was show up.  They came with a jeep with three big inflatable rafts on top (it was impossible to miss them). The fee for the white water rafting was PhP900 per person, plus PhP200 if you’re going to avail of their "buffet" lunch (which I strongly recommend you do because it would be inconvenient to be preparing and bringing your own lunch). We were at the meeting place on the dot but had to wait for the others to arrive. So we ate at Chowking first to eat breakfast, it was going to be a long, long day.

When we arrived at the site, I could feel my blood circulating in my body very fast…I was so excited! This is the first time I’d be trying white water rafting. And seeing (and hearing) the river absolutely switched on my adventure mode to the maximum level! Much more when we were putting on our life vests and helmets. Before we boarded our rafts, we were given a brief introduction of the sport and instructions on how to go about…we learned about the paddling instructions like "heavy right" and "heavy left" for turning. My, rafting does have its own techniques pala…you can’t just jump on a raft and go! Before going into our rafts, we put all our things inside a dry bag that the Kagay team brought. By the way, they allow cameras to be taken out of the wet bags when the raft is on still water. So you can take pics…

Paul, Jane, Rico, and I were the only ones on a raft along with our two "chaperones." (Other rafts had six to eight people plus their guides.) The two men (Paul and Rico) stayed in front while Jane and I stayed at the back para balanced ang left and right sides. Imagine if Jane and I were on one side, pag heavy right baka walang mangyari! The first part was still peaceful…pero when we got to the rapids (rapids are where there is white water! Water that flows through a shallower, constricted, or steeper section forms a rapid), the excitement began! CDO river has rapids that range from Class II to Class III+.

Class II: (easy to moderate) Small-to-medium-sized regular waves with some obstacles. Some manuevering is required but passages are clear. Splashy and fun!
Class III: (moderate to exciting) Numerous waves that are bigger and a bit irregular with currents that can be tricky. Obstacles require maneuvering, but the narrow passages are generally straightforward. Scouting from shore is recommended and usually required. Big splashes and exciting rides!

Wow, when the rapids came, it was like being in a roller coaster, only you get wet! This was where the "heavy right" and "heavy left" came in. Our arms’ strengths were tested by the rough rapids! If you didn’t do it properly, the raft will capsize. Our guides admitted to us that sometimes, they do tumble the raft on purpose if they don’t like the group (but no worries, we had life jackets on). Anyway, going through the rapids was physically demanding, but it was so, so, so much fun! Adventure talaga! We had fun using our energies to navigate the raft through the rapids. (Later on, we learned that our two guides were actually helping us…har, har! And to think we gave too much credit to ourselves!). There were also times when they let us jump into the river and feel the cool (and brownish) water of the river. It was so relaxing.

About a third of the way, we stopped by a spot along the side of the river and had our lunch. Lunch was composed of seafood…fish, shrimp, and crab! Sarap! We rested for a while, swam a little, before we proceeded to finish the remaining one-third of the river. All in all, our run lasted for around 3 hours…just enough to fill our adventure tanks. It was such a wonderful experience. Something I’d try again in the future. For those who want to try, I advice you do so. Don’t forget to wearr something that dries easily, and wear slippers, not shoes.

But our adventure for the day was not over yet! We still had the Macahambus adventure, also care of Roldan. We proceeded to Macahambus Adventure Park with the group (they all knew each other). Another set of adventure-packed activities! The fee for the three activities, namely, zipline, rapelling, and sky bridge (canopy walk), was PhP500 per person, less if you’re not going to try all. Although tired from the white water rafting, we excitedly wanted to try these three activities. First up was the sky bridge. These bridges are suspended in mid-air among gigantic trees that are a hundred feet tall. Going through them was not really that scary (just don’t look down), but the bridges were very narrow and shaky that when it moves, you’ll tighten your grip on the ropes. There are stations between bridges, ones that are like treehouses. Going through the bridges was also like a nature fields trip. You get to look at and appreciate nature.

At the end of the sky bridges is the zipline. Now, this is the first scary part of this adventure. There we were, a hundred feet up, with a zipline connecting a tree to the destination a hundred feet way…and we only had a wire to bring (zip) us there! I opted to go first because I wanted to get over ASAP! As I was being tied up, my heart was beating so fast! And as I let go of the hand that was keeping me safe and stationary at the station, I just let a shout as I zoomed through the line…I just focused on the destination para di ako matakot! Haaaaaaa!!!! As I reached the end, I was so happy….but you know what? After the initial scare, it was so exciting!

Last up was rappelling. While walking to the "treehouse" that was to serve our jumping point, I was so confident that this was going to be easy. I mean I’ve watched people on TV rappelling, and it seemed so easy. But let me tell you that when we got to the tree and I looked down to the 150 feet that we had to rappel, my heart went to my feet! I wanted to back out! But then the adventurous person in me took over and I volunteered to go first (again!). The hardest part was actually letting go of the guide’s hands. When you do this, all your weight goes to the harness, and it would seem for a split second that you’re going to fall. But the harness then catches your butt! The next thing to do is to rappel down the tree. This was not a hard thing to do; you’d get your rhythm in a few tries. I avoided looking down because. After a moment, I felt the ground under my feet. Whew… Paul, Jane, and Rico came after me. At the bottom was a cave that you can explore for an additional fee. We decided to skip that one…too much adventure na for one day. Having feeling tired after all the adventures, we headed back to the city. We were done at around 4:00 p.m.

We had our dinner near a mall, Gaisano, if I remember correctly. It was a street with a long row of restaurants beside the mall, far from the Divisoria road. When we went home, we passed by the fruit stands and (bravely I must say) tried their durians. Only Paul liked it. Rico, Jane ,and I were absolutely repulsed by the taste! I guess it’s either you like it or you hate it…no more durians for us. We called it a night after that. We still had to get up early the next morning to go to Camiguin (I’ll be writing a separate post on Camiguin).

Our trip to Cagayan de Oro was one of the most memorable for me. The adventures that we had through the trip was a different experience for me–something that I will always remember. And although my body felt the pain afterward, it was yearning for more adventure! So for those of you who are seeking for adventure, CDO is a must-go-to!

For more information on Cagayan de Oro

For CDO information:

http://cagayandeoro.gov.ph/

http://visitcagayandeoro.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=37

http://www.cdo.ph/

http://www.cagayan-de-oro.com/

http://www.dumagueteinfo.com/PhilippinesTravel/mindanao/cagayan-de-oro-the-city-of-golden-friendship/27/ 

For accommodations:

http://www.world66.com/asia/southeastasia/philippines/mindanaoisland/cagayandeoro/accommodation

http://www.cdoguide.com/hotels

You may also contact me because I have a comprehensive list of hotels, and their locations, prices, and contact info, I got from the Intenet. Unfortunately, I can’t find the site anymore. So do contact me if you need the list. It’s very useful (better than the sites above).

For white water rafting and Macahambus adventure

Mr Roldan Kaamino: 0917-7122323; http://www.cdorafting-map.com/macahambus/

Mr. Rupert Domingo: +63 88 8571270 / +63 0917 3863195;

                                                    WHITERAFTING@CAGAYANDEORO.NET

                                                     http://www. dipolognon.com/cagayandeoro/AttractionsWhiteWater.htm

http://www.rafting.com 

P.S. Please note that the prices I quoted are 2006 prices, so there may be increases already at this time.