explorer’s diary (part 1 of 4)

In an effort to make my blog site more informative, and to promote local tourism, I will start posting my previous trips here, the budget, itinerary, places to go and other tips for travelers… tara! byahe tayo! ü

This is the 1st part of the four part series of my travelogue…

Cagayan de Oro and Camiguin

Day 1: On the Road to Camiguin

Camiguin is so called "the island born of fire", it is a small volcanic islands on the north-eastern part of Mindanao… the island is blessed with nature's gift and kind-hearted people.

From Manila, we took the flight to Cagayan de Oro City, and from CDO we went straight to Camiguin, we took the earliest PAL flight to CDO that departed Manila at 0500H, we arrived at CDO 0700H, we rode a van to Agora Market (P300), from Agora Market we took a 3 hour bus to Balingoan Port (85/person), Balingoan Port to Camiguin (P70/person) is a 2 hour boat ride, we reached Camiguin at lunch time, we rented a transient house near Paras in Mambajao,  P1400/night, good for 6 persons, the house is near the shore fronting the white island, do not expect white island beaches in Camiguin per se, it is a volcanic island, the white beach we usually sea in post cards is a separate island/sandbar that can be reached via 5-10 minutes pump boat ride.

After lunch, we rented a multicab for P800/whole day, to tour us to the island, the half day tour is scheduled the next day. Multicab ride is fun with fresh air and no traffic… we went to Sto. Niño cold spring, Gui-ob church ruins, Sunken Cemetery, Via Cruzez (14 Stations of the Cross to old volcano) and last stop to Ardent Hot Spring around 5 to 6 pm.

Day 2: The Perfect Storm - Katibawasan Experience

We woke up at 0600H to witness the sunrise in the white island, we went there via pump boat docked at the breakwaters for P300/boat back and forth, the pump boat can accommodate up to 8 persons. The white island sunrise was breathtaking, the uninhabited island is a really cool place with the volcanoes of Camiguin as its backdraft. The island is not as big as Boracay but the place is captivating. The island/sandbar is no bigger than the Mall of Asia; you can see it from end to end. We spent two hours at the white island…

After the white island experience, we continue our island tour, this time a trip to Katibawasan Falls with clear stream of water cascading 70 meters into a rock pool surrounded by ground orchids, wild ferns, trees and "slippery" boulders. I love the place, it was a "perfect storm" feeling.

We went back to our room around noon and prepared for our return to Cagayan de Oro. The trip back to CDO was 4 hours more or less, via boat (70php) to Balingoan, bus (P85) to Agora Market, then we took taxi to Lauremar Beach Resort in Opol, Misamis Oriental, a 30 minutes "altis" taxi ride from the city (P100.00). We availed the palakbayan promo of PAL, ended up sharing P800 each for a room of three persons. The hotel is nice. It has a swimming pool and a beach, the beach is great and ideal for surfing due to its big waves especially during late afternoon.

We spent the night in Lim-Ket-Kai Mall, a pretty good mall comparable to Glorietta and other metro mall. The restaurants are cozy and the foods are great.

Day 3: The Big Day

This was our scheduled rafting day. We met the team in CDO's Divisoria. Before going to the river we dropped by at Macahambus Park where we tried the canopy walk and the zip. The canopy in Macahambus is not the real thing found in Claveria, but it was fun. At the end, one needs to zip back to return. It was a great experience.

At 1000h we arrived at the Cagayan de Oro river's starting point for the white water rafting. It is a three hours rafting ranging from class 1 to 3 rapids. The scenic view of Cagayan de Oro from the river is picturesque.  We stopped at around 1200h for a lunch, kamayan style. While rafting, we passed by a 20 ft high bridge where we jumped. I felt the adrenaline rushing thru my veins when I jumped off the bridge. But I did liked it and did it twice… haha! Other highlights of the rafting were seeing a snake off the river wall, river crossing across strong current rapids, go-with-the-flow of the smooth current and a rodeo style rafting. I enjoyed it.

At night, we were all tired so we just took a very good sleep, but we sneaked out at night to buy cake and surprise the "shaolin kids"… hehehe… We bought a mango cake at the Gaisano CDO and put a magic candle in the cake. They had a hard time blowing the candle off… hahaha!

Day 4: Leaving CDO

We woke up early to avail the free breakfast at Lauremar. The hot chocolate drinks was delicious. We still had some time to swim in the beach. At noon, we headed to the airport, along the highway; our van was hit by a jeep. We were lucky that we had no serious injuries… and so, we just hired a taxi to get us to the airport…