Third day : White water rafting
Great White Water Tours, Cagayan de Oro
We arrived at around 7:00 p.m. at Cagayan de Oro Agora Bus Terminal coming from the Port of Balingoan, Misamis Oriental. We headed straight to Victoria Suites where we booked two rooms good for three persons each to stay for the night.
After checking in we immediately hailed cabs to get us to Limketkai Mall to have dinner. We were surprised that the mall wass already closing when it was just 8:00 p.m. Luckily, the mall is surrounded by restaurants. The area is like Eastwood/Metrowalk where people hangout.
A friend of a friend suggested that we try eating at Candy's, an steak restaurant. Food was expensive but we had the chance to see Ryan Cayabyab, a famous Filipino composer and some lead vocalists of some famous bands in the country.
After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to sleep and rest since our rafting guide would pick us up at 7:00 a.m. We had breakfast at the hotel which was included in the package, two sets of meal per room. Since there are three of us in each room, there was an additional cost for the breakfast of the extra person.
We booked our rafting adventure with the Great White Water Tours. Our guide was right on time in the morning. We rode on a jeep with the rubber boat on top. We were also joined by two middle-aged couple.
I was a bit scared during the drive to the river anticipating the adventure ahead of us. The river was calm, which meant that it was deep and brown. The color of the water probably was because of the rain the previous night.
We were first dropped at the Great White Water Tours office to register and sign waivers. We also left our things there. We had the option to let them take pictures of us for a charge of P1,500 but since we have a DSLR camera of our own, we just let the guides use it to take pictures of us for free.
It was a bit of a long drive down the river. Cagayan River separates Cagayan de Oro from Bukidnon, Cagayan de Oro on the left and Bukidnon on the right.
When we got to the spot where the rafting starts, we were made to wear life vests and sunscreen. We were also briefed on basic rafting: how to paddle, the dos and the don'ts.
I could not describe how I was feeling when I hopped on the rubber boat. I was nervous and excited at the same time.
Then the adventure began.
We only took the beginners course since none of really know anything about rafting. According to the guide, we would embark on 14 rapids within two hours.
The first rapid was only a few meters away from where we started. I was anticipating how the boat would rock and trip off the boat on that scary rush of waters. I had my feet locked up on the boat so I won't fall off the boat. Then it came. We were all shouting as we rowed ourselves to the rush and got wet with the water splashing everywhere. And then the first rapid was over. We all cheered. I realized that it was not scary as I have anticipated. It was fun!
We had snacks some time during the two-hour rafting and the guides entertained us with their corny jokes. There was a time when one guide was telling a joke and we were all laughing that we did not realized that we were to plunged on a rapid. It almost tripped the boat! We learned that it was the style of the guides to divert our attention with their jokes and intentionally bring us to the water, adding more to the fun. But the guides were not successful to get us off the boat. We just laughed so hard afterwards. That moment when we were actually tripped was captured. I always laugh whenever I see this picture.
After two hours of rafting, we thanked our guides and headed back to the tour office to have lunch. We were served with chicken inasal and pork barbecue, rice and softdrinks. Then we were dropped back to the hotel. It was already past 12:00 noon and check out time.
We extended our stay for an hour to pack our things. The hotel charges P100.00 per extended hour. After packing, we headed to the airport to take the plane back to Manila.
Day 3 - Summary of Expenses
Cab to Victoria Suites - P120.00 per cab (three pax per cab)
Victoria Suites Deluxe Room - P1,000.00 (three pax per room)
Cab to Limketkai Mall - P70.00 (three pax per cab)
Dinner - prefer not to mention
Rafting Tour - P900.00 each (includes hotel pick-up and drop-off, tour, snacks and lunch)
Cab to Airport - P120.00 per cab (three pax shared)
Airfare to Manila - P400.00 each (Piso fare promo plus taxes and charges)
Day 3 total estimated - P1,735.00 per pax excluding food
