Day 3: Bukidnon (Dahilayan Forest Park + Dahilayan Adventure Park + Pineappling)
* Oh my god, this post is ridiculously delayed, really. The following events transpired last January 21, 2012. It is already March 19, 2012. Whaddup. Photos c/o Andrew Valencia and/or Jhan the guide.
01.19.12-01.23.12
Our CDO trip was jampacked with adventure (see day 1 and day 2 here), and it’s kind of hard to pick which activity/adventure I loved best because they were all fun in their own right. But the place I loved the most in our CDO-Bukidnon-Camiguin-Iligan trip was undoubtedly Bukidnon.
I don’t know, blame it on Karlo and his Baguio roots perhaps that I’ve become a mountain-loving person (I always used to vote in favor of the beach), but Bukidnon was just… *sigh*. I imagine that maybe that’s what Baguio might have been like 20-30 years ago: pine tree-lined, nippy aired, quiet.
We actually got to Bukidnon late afternoon of Day 2. And we stopped for the best pineapple I have ever tasted in my life before getting to the Dahilayan area. And they had this super awesome cutting mechanism that creates perfect slices of pineapple and leaves some sweet pineapple juice at the bottom of the fruit. I do not have pictures of the perfect slices or of us drinking from the fruit, but I have this:
Haha. I want that pineapple slicer.
Anyway, we spent the night at Dahilayan Forest Park, which we were able to avail promo rates for despite being walk-ins (we seemed to be the only people there that night). Forest Park was a “splurge” for our group at ~P600/person for the night (in their Deluxe room) because the room and facilities were nicer and the sunrise view promisingly more epic than it would have been at Cowboy Grill, which was only a few steps away, but also highly recommended.
I forget how much their rates were exactly, but I remember thinking that we had to spend an extra P200 (more or less) to stay at Forest Park vs. Cowboy Grill.
It was nice just hanging around and chatting that night after all the physical activity and adrenaline pumping in the last two days. So we kind of just pigged out that night with pizza and chips we brought, plus beer or hot chocolate. Yum. Perfect for cool mountain air. Ah.
And then we woke up early the next day, around 7-ish.
And this was the first thing I did:
And this was the first thing I did:
I apologize for my face (sup, biyatch?), but yeah, I was sleepy (and apparently, so was Karlo, based on this picture). I hadn’t changed out of my PJ’s, nor did I have breakfast yet, which is probably not recommended before taking on the Zorbit anyway. And well, we Zorbived (lol) but yeah, it might have been useful if the Zorbit staff told us it would be better if similar weighing people were in the Zorbit together so that the rolling would be smoother. But oh well, this led to our initial whoaaaa’s turning into owwwww’s after sort of feeling our heads hit the bottom of the Zorbit hard. That definitely woke us up. :P
After that, zipline!
But before getting to the longest zipline, a rollercoaster ride on this baby first. Mucho fun. :D
Buh-bye, world. Peace out.
The zipline is so long, you could get bored while flying. Haha.
But it’s something I’m glad to get off my unwritten bucket list.
After all that excitement, we head to lunch at the Del Monte plantation or wherever it is that they serve their steaks.
I’m not a steak person so I wouldn’t really go there for the steak.
And my steak friends said it was just okay, so I guess either way, I wouldn’t really recommend going there for the steak.
But ooh la la, they had bottomless pineapple juice their for P20. That, I would go for.
Then we stopped on the side of the road before leaving Bukidnon for some obligatory jump shots in the pineapple field. :D
Ah, how I love pineapple. And how I loved Bukidnon. :)
But yeah, at this point, we were also rushing to the ferry to Camiguin, which I will write about soon enough.
For now, you can watch this video by @avalaunched a.k.a. Ardent Videos for a quick summary of our adventure-filled trip. :D
And if you want a helpful guide/driver/photographer in one, get in touch with Jhan at (0927) 407 8359 , and tell him you found out about him through my blog. :P
Pine & zipline,
Jen
My Cagayan de Oro-Bukidnon-Camiguin-Iligan Trip last Jan. 19-23, 2012
Steadfastly documented and edited by one of my favorite travel companions, @avalaunched a.k.a. Ardent Videos.
This is proof that CDO and the rest of Northern Mindanao are indeed recovering from Sendong. So yeah, watch the video, (LIKE it on YouTube), spread the word and help boost tourism in that beautiful region once again. :)
Read about our Mapawa River Trek & Rappelling, and White Water-Rafting in CDO.
