Camiguin - CDO - Bukidnon
If you are planning where to go in your next travel escape, then I highly recommend a short trip to Camiguin, Cagayan De Oro (CDO) and Bukidnon. These beautiful places are all found in Mindanao, the second largest and southernmost major island in the Philippines. Me and my college "barkada" (Squad) took on this adventure last year and boy it was great. I want to share the stuff that we did and the places we've been to and hope that this will help you, my co-travel enthusiast, plot your next journey!
Our first destination was the beautiful island of Camiguin - a small volcanic island off the northern coast of Mindanao. In getting there we took a Cebu Pacific flight from Mactan Cebu International Airport for less than an hour - fast and convenient.
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| Touchdown Camiguin! |
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| That mandatory airport welcome signboard groufie |
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| Photobomb! (haha) |
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| Old walls of the main church |
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| Tower |
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| I love Camiguin! |
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| Beautiful place |
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| Blogger pose |
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| Below that cross is the sunken cemetery |
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| To the top of the old volcano! |
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| We're almost there! |
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| View from the top. Tiring yet worth it! |
- Katibawasan Falls - Features luscious flora and clear waters dropping more than 70m to a plunge pool. Makes you appreciate nature even more.
- Sto. Niño Cold Spring - a huge pool of cold spring water sprouting from the sandy bottom. Perfect for a hot summer day.
- Soda Water Swimming Pool - a volcanic spring of Bura, Camiguin where you can swim in a pool full of soda water. Very relaxing and first of its kind.
- Ardent Natural Hot Spring - bubbling in the heart of Camiguin, this mineral pool is heated by Mt. Hibok-Hibok with water around 40 degrees Celsius. Rejuvenating and good for the health.
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| Katibawasan Falls |
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| Feetfie in Sto. Nino Cold Spring |
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| Soda waters of Bura, which means bubbles in Bisaya |
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| Water temperature can go around 35 to 40 degrees Celsius |
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| What a sight to see! |
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| Sea urchins - Sold and eaten raw |
After this experience, I could say that I have officially fallen in love with the beauty of this island. Leaving it was tough and I have promised myself that sooner or later I will return and answer its call saying, "Come again to Camiguin!"
We took a ferry from Benoni Port, Camiguin around noontime and arrived in Balingoan, Misamis Oriental after an hour or so. From the terminal, we rode a bus going to Cagayan De Oro City for about 2 - 2 1/2 hours. When we got there we checked in at Victoria Suites and since it was a Sunday, we just spent the rest of the day by visiting their plaza, lighting some candles in their church, going to the Mall, and exploring other sights in the city. All of us then had a good night sleep in order to prepare for tomorrow's big adventure.
For our itinerary the next day, we booked a Kagay tour package which offered a trip to Dahilayan Adventure Park and the White Water River Rafting (you can contact them through their website at http://www.kagaycagayandeororafting.com/). From our hotel, a Kagay service van drove us to Dahilayan Park in Bukidnon. Wandering around the place we saw lots of pine tress. What I loved about it, aside from the many thrilling rides, was the very cold climate - even colder than Baguio in my opinion. Due to time and budget constraints, we only tried 3 ziplines, but as I said, Dahilayan offers many more exciting things for all adrenaline junkies out there. You can visit their website at http://www.dahilayanadventurepark.com/ for more information.
I took down the Great White!
Next to Dahilayan, our Kagay tour package took us to this buffet restaurant to have a very sumptuous lunch. We fed ourselves full and very excitingly changed our outfits and prepared for the next activity - White Water River Rafting. This time we rode a jeepney and went to the start off point of the river challenge. We were given a short briefing from our tour guide on some safety reminders before we started, especially on what to do if we were capsized and got driven by the strong rapids. Then we jumped on our rubber boat and started rafting through the long and winding Cagayan River. After an hour of rowing and getting hyped whenever we see huge rapids, we were able to say that we took down the Great White Water Rafting challenge of CDO. It was full of adrenaline and we had a blast!
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| WE SURVIVED! |
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| See you again Camiguin-CDO-Bukidnon! |
-------------------------------------Expenses--------------------------------
Day 1:
1700.00 - Multicab Rental (Day Tour around Camiguin)
300.00 - Tip – Kuya Driver
2,108.00 - Myrna's Homestay, Camiguin (2D1N Check IN)
100.00 - Stations of the Cross + 2 kilos lanzones
40.00 - Donation - Old Church Ruins
329.00 - Lunch
179.00 - Chooks-To-Go
100.00 - Lunch - Kuya
210.00 - Sto. Niño Cold Spring
60.00 - Salbabida
210.00 - Soda Water Swimming Pool
210.00 - Katibawasan Falls
210.00 - Ardent Hot Spring
Day 2:
140.00 - White Island
900.00 - Pumpboat - White Island
1050.00 - Breakfast – Checkpoint (good for 7)
70.00 - Motorela to Van terminal
210.00 - Van to Benoni Port
105.00 - Terminal fee - Benoni Port
1190.00 - Shuttle Ferry to Balingoan, Misamis Oriental (good
for 7)
60.00 - Motorela to Balingoan bus terminal
840.00 – Bus from Balingaon, Misamis Oriental to Cagayan de
Oro City (good for 7)
100.00 – Motorela from CDO Terminal to Victoria Suites Hotel
2,200.00 - Victoria Suites 2 rooms (1,000.00-Deluxe; 1,200.00-Suite)
860.00 - Greenwich
50.00 - Motorela to Centrio Mall CDO
865.00 - Drinks - Mango Mania
50.00 – Motorela going back to Victoria Suites
Day 3:
2200.00 - Victoria Suites
360.00 – Breakfast (good for 7)
14,700.00 - Kagay Package (Dahilayan Adventure and White
Water River Rafting) – includes Van to and from Dahilayan, Buffet Lunch, Jeep
to and from White Water River Rafting, CD burning of photos and vids from river
rafting.
200.00 - Tip - Guide
21.00 - Motorela to Victoria Suites (3pax; from Kagay
office)
49.00 - Jeep to Limketkai
49.00 - Jeep to Victoria Suites
Day 4:
1,750.00 - Van Rental (Divine Mercy Shrine/Laguindingan
Airport)
