Mindanao Adventure Day 1 Part 2 CDO: White Water Rafting

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:

           

1^ST RAFTING ADVENTURE

Tiano Hayes St. Cagayan de Oro City

Contact Nos: (088) 856-3514 / 0917 325 5544

Email add: riverguide95@yahoo.com

Website: www.raftingadventurephilippines.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

 Inclusions:

            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!

We still could manage to smile!

 Here we go again!

Ibang klase ka, sis, beauty pa rin ang smile mo, kahit na nasa rapids!

After the first two rapids, we were not afraid anymore. Besides, our guides spieled out some scripted jokes and trivias, sometimes funny, sometimes predictably corny, so we were not bored at all!

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!

Ang tawag daw dito ay "Kiss the Rock!"

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!

The same jeepney picked us up again at the end of the course and brought us back to our hotel. My only concern was we were wet inside the jeepney while the chilly wind was hitting us. It was good that no one caught a cold. 'lam mo na, mga tanders na kaya kami. The girls were all game though. We were sleepy ('di ba, Claring?), exhausted, but happy.

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)

I Dream a Dream

SO excited to see this movie.

I know there have been numerous interpretations of Les Miserables on the big screen, but it has fallen short of my expectations. When I watched those films, at the back of my mind, the songs from the musical kept playing in my head. Like when the scene where Fantine was dying, I swear I could hear her singing "Come to me, Cosette, the night is fading..." Or when Cosette was being maltreated by the Thenardiers, the angelic voice of a child played "There is a castle on a cloud..." in my head, and then I knew it would be all right. 

I was lucky to have watched Les Miserables the Musical by Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil on Broadway in New York two decades ago. Some songs were also part of the UP Concert Chorus repertoire in our 1990 world tour. So the music never left me.

In 1990, New York. With my UPCC friends.

Eponine's songs "On my Own" and "A little Fall of Rain" never fail to pinch my heart. Now when Filipina Lea Salonga took the part in the 10th Anniversary of the musical in 1995, all the other Eponine's faded. Just watch her here:

 Sniff. 

And now Les Miserables THE movie, based on the musical--and a dream cast too! Anne Hathaway as Fantine, Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean, Russell Crowe as Javert, Amanda Seyfried as Cosette, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen as the Thenardiers, etc, etc. Watch how they wove Anne Hathaway's heart-wrenching rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" with the powerful scenes of the movie. I swear I got misty-eyed when I saw this trailer for the first time last night.

Oh, I can't wait till it's on IMax.