I really got so excited when a friend and former college classmate (right most at the picture below) invited me for a three-province trip in Mindanao – southern part of the Philippines – on August 2011. Less than two months before that, I just came from a trip to Batanes. But I couldn’t resist the temptation of going to Camiguin, Cagayan de Oro, and Bukidnon in just three days! It seemed impossible but we actually did it! It was one memorable adventure!:)
We took a plane going to the province of Misamis Oriental, where a jeepneywe rented was waiting for us. Its capital city, by the way, is Cagayan de Oro , tagged as the “City of Golden Friendship.”
The jeepney took us to the Balingoan seaport where we could ride a ferry going to the island of Camiguin. It was a long, two hour drive from the airport to the seaport. Mind you, that jeepney we took was really fast! It was a good thing that there weren’t many vehicles on the road, so we were not that worried. I must say, motorists in the area were very friendly as well: this one even waved at us (or he knew we were taking a picture that was why).
The passenger lounge at the pier was already filled with locals and tourists when we arrived.
After another hour or so of waiting, the ferry finally came. Besides seeing the boat that will lead us to our target destination, the fact that we got out of that hot, humid, and crowded passenger lounge area was a relief!
We sat at the very last row.
We definitely enjoyed the ferry ride.
After about thirty minutes, we already saw the silhouette of Camiguin – the second smallest province in the country in both population and land area (after Batanes).
After another thirty minutes, we finally reached the Port of Benoni in Camiguin!
Did we stopped and refreshed ourselves afterwards? Nope! We headed straight to one of the tourist spots in the province, the Sto. Niño Cold Springs! B-)
The water, as the name suggested, was really cold! But it was just the perfect thing to refresh us after the long travel we had to go there.
The resort had two pools: one was a kiddie pool, and the other was a much bigger one and about 2 meters deep.
The adult pool had some interesting feature: it had small fishes! The fishes were so tiny you wouldn’t see and feel them initially. But once you stopped flapping and kicking, you would feel them coming and swarming to your feet! They eat dead skin and perhaps, fungi and other nasty stuffs from your feet, leaving them “clean” afterwards. B-)
We could have stayed longer here if we wanted to, but Kuya Boyet, our guide and driver in Camiguin, told us that it would be better if we see the Sunken Cemetery during sunset, and we still have one more place to visit before going there: the Catarman Old Church Ruins.
So we had no time to lose; we just dried up ourselves a bit (without changing clothes) and hop in our multicab. We were not complicated tourists; we could be easily convinced. Hah!
Catarman Old Church Ruins, also known as Ruins of Gui-ob Church were the results of an earthquake and the eruption of Mt. Vulcan which happened in the 1870’s. What remained of the old church, the belfry, and the convent in the area built during the 1600s were pieces of their adobe walls, where molds and different ferns had found shelter for many years.
This was part of the belfry:
This, a part of the convent:
And these were some parts of the remaining walls of the church:
Inside the compound was a relatively new chapel which the locals in the area had built:
The ruins had since become remembrance of what Mt. Vulcan had caused in the island. The same event in the province’s history had also made the Sunken Cemetery.
We came to the place overlooking the Sunken Cemetery just in time for the sunset.
The eruption of Mt. Vulcan in the early 1870’s made some areas of the island to subside, including a cemetery, thus sinking them to below sea level. The huge cross as seen in the picture above was built in 1982 to commemorate the loved ones who were buried in that cemetery.
One may rent a boat to go to the place of the cross.
With or without the cross, the sunset was indeed very beautiful!
It had already been a long day for us, but we were not yet done. The Island of Seven Volcanoes must have some hot springs! So, before we finally called it a day, we headed to the Ardent Hibok-Hibok Hot Spring, said to be the most popular hot spring resort in the island.
The resort was open to public during evenings. In fact, the resort was packed with both tourists and locals when we arrived. Unfortunately, we had no decent photos of the resort; primarily because upon seeing the pools and experiencing its warm waters, we basically forgot to take pictures! We just enjoyed the night soaking ourselves and relaxing our muscles.
We booked for an overnight stay in July’s Haven.
I have to say, even if it was just a simple lodge, the view at the back was pretty awesome, especially during sunrise. B-)
For the second day, we were off early to see two more tourist spots in the province before we head back to Cagayan de Oro.
We went to see the White Island first. We had to ride a boat for a few minutes to reach that white sand bar at the middle of the sea. It was one very small, narrow boat.
Many people were already at the island when we came.
They were enjoying the scenery with the mountains and volcanoes as backdrops as much as we did!
The fine white sand was very relaxing to walk on.
While the water, on the other hand, was so clear it was not very visible in photos!
The “island”, or better yet, the sandbar, was horse-shoe in shape. The right time, as they say, to go to the White Island was early in the morning, or late in the afternoon. Practically, it’s just to coordinate with the tides.
For example, this was the sandbar earlier that morning:
…and a few minutes after:
So, before the waters fully engulfed the remaining dry parts of the island, we called our boat back to fetch us. Boats were not allowed to stay too long at the island, so the boatmen leave their cellphone numbers to their customers for communication.
By the way, beside the shore where the boats wait for their passengers were boulders good for photo ops! We didn’t let that pass of course. B-)
The last place we went before heading to the pier and travel back to Cagayan de Oro, was the Katibawasan Falls.
It was a 70 meter cascading waterfalls surrounded by lush greens of trees, moss, and ferns along with some rock formations. At the bottom was a pool lined with rocks and boulders, perfect for bathing.
I wasn’t planning on swimming there so I opted just to marvel at its beauty.
Some of my friends, however, immediately jumped right in!
They had good 15 minutes or so swimming in the cold, refreshing waters of Katibawasan Falls before we went straight to the pier to catch our ferry.
We had one tight schedule while we were in Camiguin, basically since we were planning to visit three provinces in three days, and going there took a lot of our first day.
Still, we managed to go to as much interesting places as we could, and enjoy each and every moment we had together. Truly, with good company comes good adventure!
Thanks to my travel buddies Myca, Ces, Roni, Isay, and Hansen for the pics!
Follow the next story of our trip in Mindanao : Cagayan de Oro and Bukidnon, Philippines (Day 2 and 3)!
No comments:
Post a Comment