Tour guide for a few days

About a month ago, two of my former staff from Letran Media Center paid me a visit. They were able to buy airplane tickets on a promotional sale from a budget airline, and so they decided to spend a few days vacation in Davao City. When they told me of their plan to visit Davao for a few days, I volunteered to be their tour guide.

Upon their arrival at Bangoy International Airport in Davao City at around 6:30 in the morning, we proceeded to the wharf where we took a boat to take us to Paradise Island Resort in Samal Island for P20.00 per person. Since it was still very early in the morning, we had to wait for a few minutes to allow more passengers to board the boat. The boat ride took only about 10 minutes. The entrance fee for a day tour is P200.00 per person, with P50.00 consumable on food and drinks. We chose a place near the beach for us to have breakfast. The resort is very clean. There is an aviary and a mini zoo. To go back to Davao City, we had to pay a minimum of P150.00 for the boat because we were the only passengers.

From Samal Island, we proceeded to our house in Bajada. We had lunch at Penong’s. We enjoyed chicken and pork barbecue and pinakbet with unlimited rice for only about P140.00 per person. After lunch, we went to the Philippine Eagle Conservation Park in Calinan. The trip from Lanang to Calinan was about almost an hour. The Philippine Eagle Conservation Park is situated inside the Davao Water District facility. And so aside from the P50.00 entrance fee to the park, we had to pay another P5.00 to the water district.

We were lucky enough to have arrived at the time when the caretaker of the birds was there. We had a chance to have our photos taken – as if the bird was perched on our outstretched arm, with its wings wide open. He also allowed us to photograph a small owl that he took out of its cage. We even saw “Pag-asa”, one of the most famous Philippine Eagles in the park.

From Calinan we then went to the Crocodile Park to catch the Tribu Kamindanawan Fire show. For an entrance fee of P200.00 per person, we got to see some of the crocodiles and other animals in the park. Since it was almost 5:30 PM, we immediately went to the stage of the fire show. Before the show started, there was a short demonstration on how to use the fire extinguisher. After the demonstration, a group of female drum beaters presented a number, and then a group of female dancers performed a traditional T’boli dance. One of the performers also gave a short demonstration on how to do the swirling of a pair of fireballs with flaglets instead of real fire. They picked three volunteers from the audience who gamely obliged to join in the demonstration. When the sun has set, the fire show began with different spectacular and breathtaking numbers. It was indeed a visual treat of fire glowing in the dark. At several instances the audience can’t help but shout with delight at the visual feast. The show lasted for about 40 minutes. My friends said it was truly an amazing and spectacular show and a “must see” in Davao City.

The next day, we traveled to Gen. Santos City, since they wanted to visit our mission house where we have a small chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Manaoag. The following morning we visited the fish port and saw a lot of large yellow fin tuna and other kinds of fishes. In the afternoon, we went to Marbel, where we had buko halo halo for P60.00 each. It’s halo halo served on a fresh coconut shell and you can actually eat the coconut meat. On our way back to Gen. Santos City, we dropped by Tupi and bought fresh fruits by the roadside – pineapple, ripe mangoes, papaya, guyabano, mangosteen and lanzones. Along the way we also dropped by Durian Garden, where we actually saw durian fruits hanging from durian trees.

The following day, my guests took a three hour road trip on the Yellow Bus going back to Davao City to catch their flight back to Manila.