November 28, 2008 - November 29, 2008
Plans for this getaway was made as early as September - fresh out of our high from Zambales. We realized we'd make good travel buddies and after contemplating on where to go, he surprised me with an email with the subject:
LOCKED IN!
The message consists of our flight details for Cagayan de Oro. It was supposed to be just Camiguin alone but changed plans at the last minute since he was told that the trip wouldn't be complete without the White Water Rafting experience at CDO so we had to bump one day off our reservation at Enigmata Treehouse in Camiguin by one day to accommodate the WWR adventure. I called in three WWR offices the night before the trip and was lucky enough to be squeezed in by Kagay White Water Rafting into their 12 noon schedule the following day. Yipee! Hannah drove us to the airport early morning in time for our 8:40 am flight. We reached the airport with time to spare for breakfast and make fun of all things we could make fun of.
Cargo count: 2 camera bags, 1 carry on, 1 military backpack, 1 tripod, 1 laptop bag (bummer! :P), 1 tripod, and a partridge in a pear tree.
I am not going to risk my luggage this time so I made sure that it was properly identified before it was sent over for check in. It was our first plane ride together, and since he rides planes as frequent as he takes a cab, he let me sit on the window side. One thing I learned from this trip, though, is to always book for the exit rows. Why? because his legs are too long to be accommodated on any regular rows. Same goes for buses- get the front or rear seats or else he'd be squirming on his seat for the rest of the trip.we were in CDO by 10 and that's were our mala "Amazing Race" adventure begins...
We decided to take the trip as it comes - no hotel resrvations in CDO, just our come-what-may attitudes. The first taxi driver that got hold of our luggage tried to bill us P350 to Divisoria- a mere 20 mins away from the airport! We immediately got our stuff together and searched for an alternative. Luckily, we chanced upon Lotlot, a driver who picks up travellers on the airport as a sideline. He charged us P150 for the ride to hunt for a hotel. We intended to make it quick since we have our WWR scheduled by 12 noon. Unfortuantely, there were two conferences going on around CDO at that time so all rooms were fully booked for the next three days! We weren't aware of what was happening simultaneously to the tourists over at Bangkok, but we sure can emphatize with them. Carrying all our baggage (my backpack is just as big as I am!), we were racing against time to make it to our WWR trip. We scoured and scoured, but fate has it's way of playing with us. A pouty face from me means a "No Vacancy" sign is posted on their doorway - A pout was permanently fixed till the end of the hunt. We decided we're not going to cancel the WWR experience so we texted our confirmation to the trip... carrying all our load with us. We looked like AR contestants while we made a pit stop to SM CDO for lunch. I got a text by 12 noon that said
"Medyo malalate lang po ung isang group. Wait lang po kayo. Si Mael po ang pipick up sa inyo, jeep na may 2 rafts"
I nonchalantly blurted out the message to him, and after absorbing the pun, we laughed. Hard. Oh yeah... one day in CDO and pipick up-in kami ng Mael! And even if we're weary from all the hassle, we eagerly waited for Mael to pick us up the streets of CDO.
The jeep finally arrived. Mael introduced himself to us, puzzled by our suppressed snickers. He handed out waivers that says they won't be held responsible for any damages during the trip which includes getting your teeth knocked off, breaking bones, getting bitten by snakes, getting spit on by monkeys, being kidnapped by terrorists, etc... Looking around the jeep, I realized I was the only one without capones on the trip! Fun eh? It took us around 40 minutes to get to our destination. We were given instructions on how to paddle, what to do when you fall off the raft, things to expect, and execute our wills.
I nearly knocked off my front teeth when we hit the first of our 21 rapids (advanced course kami, syempre! hehe). Everything was taken in stride after that. Each rapid is going to be celebrated by high fives of all our oars signifying how we conquered every single rocky bout with the river. Our guide also gave us a brief description of each rapid, whose names ranges from Dan's Drop to the Washing Machine. He also told us that we are sandwiched between CDO and Bukidnon and made jokes that rarely met our standards. We were allowed to jump into the river when it'll be a while before we hit the next rapid and all the while, our whole trip was documented by the trained monkey who takes our pictures and rides the raft alone (him being referred to as a monkey was from our guide, not mean us - one of his rare jokes na bumenta).
The whole adventure lasted for about 5 hours and for 1k per head, we'd say that it was more than worth it. One activity ticked off our bucket list!
That night, we were unfortunate to know that there are still no vacancies even at the seediest of all hotels in CDO. We were both cold and cranky and felt like we're Joseph and Mama Mary without any palce to stay, except that I'm not about to give birth, it was him who was about to unleash something not human. We have to find a place to stay, quick.
After Kagay exhausted all their resources and contacts, they gave us the final option - look for a motel along CDO hiway, and if there are still no vacancies, we'd have to spend the night at their office. The Kagay guys extended a hand by flagging one of them motorelas amidst the rain. We finally got one, and with all our baggage in tow, searched for, of all places, a motel.
By 8pm, we checked in at Queensland. Better that than nothing, and by some compensation by fate, it had what I needed the most at that time - a bubble bath! (It'd do with some scrubbing and disinfecting, of course) We've never felt so exhausted, and it was funny because with the tiredness and all, we actually did nothing kinky inside the motel! How ironic can that get?
Cagayan de Oro gave us one of our best adventures as a couple. We may have missed out on some of it's beauty, but drifting through it's rivers is enough to make that pitstop to CDO worth it. Thank you, CDO! You will be missed.
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