Among all the rafting companies I emailed, it was 1st Rafting Pioneer which promptly emailed me back. They gave me a good package deal of (6+1) for 16 people:
1ST RAFTING ADVENTURE
Tiano Hayes St. Cagayan de Oro City
Contact Nos: (088) 856-3514 / 0917 325 5544
Email add: riverguide95@yahoo.com
Facebook
Account: Rafting Pioneer
Quotation for 16 pax:
Beginner course 700/head
16pax @ 700 = PHP 11,200.00
Less: 2pax @
700 (FOC) = 1,400.00
Total: PHP 9,800.00
Transportation
Certified
River Guide
Free
pictures of the whole group
Free
Video exclusive for your group
Free Bottled Water to
all individual
From their website, I saw that 1st Rafting Adventure was the pioneer in this field of extreme sport in Cagayan. That proved that they have expert guides and years of experience. I also liked that when I PM'd 1st Rafting on Facebook, they immediately corresponded to me. We were required to deposit a downpayment of 50% to seal the deal. They have two schedules--one in the morning, and one in the afternoon. For us to have a breather from our early morning trip from Manila, I decided to take the afternoon schedule set at 1:00 p.m.
At exactly 12 noon, the front desk called me to inform us that our jeepney bringing us to our adventure site was already waiting in front of our hotel.
Still a little groggy from a lack of sleep, I went down to find almost everyone dressed up in rash guards and aqua shoes, riding in the jeepney, all excited to rip their arm muscles to white water rafting. Shucks, kaya ba ng mga lola n'yo 'to?
This extreme sport is called white water rafting because using an inflatable raft, one has to navigate a river through numerous rapids. These rapids form bubbly or aerated currents, which produce a frothy water that looks white on the surface.
After a little over 40 minutes of jeepney ride, we finally reached our jump-off point at the Cagayan de Oro River. We were outfitted with safety gear like helmets and life vests, and were given single-bladed paddles each. Syempre, feel na feel namin ang aming outfits!
One of our tour guides, Ricky, gave us a short orientation on how to survive white water rafting. At first, he was just introducing info about Cagayan river: Bukidnon being on the left side, and CDO on the right side. But later on, the tips became more and more alarming like: "If you fell down from the raft, just make sure that you don't panic; float by positioning your feet first going downstream; and wait for your guide to rescue you." When I looked at the faces of the girls, ang iba namumutla na! Hahaha! I was so afraid that someone would back out. But hey, we are all Marians, so walang uurong dito!
And yes, we were all ready! Paddles up! Ahoo Ahoo!
The river was originally named Kalambaguasasahan because of the presence of Lambago trees along its river banks. When the Spaniards arrived, it was renamed simply as Cagayan River, coined from Ag, which means water, and Kagay, which means river, thus a place with a river. Obviously, they couldn't pronounce the original name. Buti na rin lang. Imagine people saying, oh we just finished white water rafting in Kalambablahblah River. Ang hirap, di ba?
Cagayan River is the natural boundary between the provinces of Bukidnon and Cagayan de Oro. Hmmm...the river doesn't look white at all....
We were also taught some basic rafting terms like: (1) forward, (2) backward, and (3) paddles up. Hindi naman kami mahirap turuan, kuya?
Off we go!!!!
After a few minutes of paddling on still waters, it started to rain.
And the adventure began when the rain poured heavily...
Nahulog tuloy si Maer!
Here we go again!
Ibang klase ka, sis, beauty pa rin ang smile mo, kahit na nasa rapids!
See? Nakukuha nang magpa-cute.....nina Kuya!
When we reached a certain calm part in the river, this "Kulit" Team decided to test the cool waters.
Our guide told us we could do the same if we wanted to. But when we saw how the guides pulled them out from the waters, we opted not to follow suit. Para silang ginawang tsaa kasi--hawak sa vest, iaahon, tapos iluloblob ulit! Hehehe!
No, thanks! Kodak-an mo na lang kami, Kuya!
Tama na ang smile. Another rapid comin' up! Heto naman si Mary Rose, nagpauto sa guide nila na umupo sa unahan ng raft. Tuwang-tuwa pa siya nung una...
Pero nung dumaan na sila sa rapids...
Hayun, yung legs na lang nyang naka-form ng V sa itaas ang nakita! Ang kukulit talaga!
Heto na nga ang totoong batong sinasabi nila!
Dyoskup, ayoko pong tumaob!
Now you know why it's called white water rafting?
Heto pa ang isang biktima!
H'wag po, Koya!
Kami naman!
Ay, nawala po sila nang parang bula!
At pakaway-kaway ka pa dyan, Tere! Akala ko, mga takot itong nasa raft na ito? Biglang tumapang! Pero teka, pagmasdan si Kuya--lawit na ang dila nang guide n'yo!
We conquered the 12-km stretch of 14 rapids for the Beginner Course in three hours. Iba't ibang reaksyon!
That's it?
Yun na yun? Sabi ni Kuya may free daw bukas! Kaso, pabalik ang direksyon. Upstream ang pagsagwan!
Mga basang sisiw!
Can't bilibit..but we did it!
White water rafting was truly an exhilarating experience. I thought we could do the Advanced course next time--ambisyosa! For now, though, we need some chow and catnap....
To be continued...
(Note: Photos and video by 1st Rafting Adventure)
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