I once said that
you should never get transportation at the airport and instead just walk away
because there will surely be a highway connecting it to the city where public
utility vehicles will be present. I do not know why I could not even take my own
advice. What the hell is wrong with me, selective amnesia? It cost 300 pesos
care of the taxi driver. Perfect. We arrived at My Hotel after 30 minutes.
I left my things
and headed out after checking in. I was quite hungry since I have not eaten
anything that morning. I walked around the vicinity and found a lot of parks.
Osmeña Park had many monobloc benches and people there were getting a good
massage from reflexologists. Next to it is the pastel green building, opposite
of which is the San Pedro Cathedral, which has an odd shape. Two more parks could be found
as you approach the Lachmi Shopping center: Rizal and Quezon (in front of the
city hall). I ate at Jollibee before I called it a day and celebrated my first
day of unemployment with the best gift ever: an early and long night of sleep.
I forgot to
mention that I also went to Museo Dabawenyo before seeing any of the parks. I
saw it while looking for fast food. The entrance fee is waived except on Sundays
and holidays. I think this is a good place to get to know Davao. The displays
are very detailed and there are a lot of texts you could read next to each
exhibit. If you are a big fan of history then this place is for you.
The next day
started as early as 4 AM but I lazed out a little, browsed the net, did some
stretching, read some of my language lessons, and took a shower. I left for
Calinan at past 8. The Philippine Eagle Center was my destination. Find your
way to the Annil Terminal at the market and there would be L300 vans there
going to the said place. Once you reach Calinan, most people would advise you to
take a habal-habal to get to the PEC. The one I got asked for 150 round trip.
I was expecting
the place to be some sort of big house where the eagles would be kept in glass
displays a la Ocean Park, except that these are birds, not fish. Well, the
Philippine Eagle Center is located in a forest reserve,which shares the land
area with a water corporation, thus the 5-peso entrance fee to the park. You
shell out another 50 for the center itself. Do not be stringy now, remember that
you are helping the eagles and their barkada. Yup, the place is not exclusive
for eagles. There are other inhabitants in there like deers (Philippine Brown),
boars (sleeping, did not even pose for the camera), a species of monkey (busy
fishing), and other fellow birds like owls and other eagles.
I could say that
Pag-Asa and Dakila are experts when it comes to camwhoring. Who are they, you
may ask? Pag-Asa was hatched in 1992 and used to be very popular. Dakila is the other eagle on the other side of the sanctuary. They were at the far side of
their caged habitat when I approached and since my phone camera’s zoom sucks,
I almost gave up on a photo. Wait! There they flew closer and closer until they were at the front side, mightily posing for a photo-op. Yes, both of them. I
think ALL of them have this habit of keeping their wings spread, impressing
you with its span after landing. They hold that position for a half a
minute or so. Awesome and cute!
I wanted to go to
the nearby Malagos Garden Resort but I have had enough of animals that morning
and so I asked the driver to get me to the bus terminal where I rode a bus to
Davao, and then getting off at SM. I ate lunch and had a movie break. This is one thing
I like most about going to the province, most films no longer showing in Manila
are still being shown most of the time. The movie I saw was Amigo. That was at
11:30 AM. By 2 PM I was on my way to Hilltop for the zipline.
Get on a multicab
or a jeep headed to Ma-a. Ask the driver to drop you off the street where the
habal-habal drivers are waiting. The said street intersects the rather long
Ma-a Road (it has a new name, butI forgot what it is). The intersection in
question is the one sandwiched by a gas station and a church. Turn right for the
Crocodile Park. Left, for Zip City and Outland. You will reach Outland first. I
did not go there so who knows what excitement I missed. Zip City looks boring.
Sorry for this but I already had my fill of ziplines the previous week and Gen
San set the bar quite high when it comes to ziplines. I thought the 300-peso
fee to be too expensive. Getting up there is easy because of the many habal-habals
down the hill. Going down is based on luck if you do not have a vehicle of your
own.
There is a Dencio’s
branch a few meters away from Zip City. I did not check it out. Instead, I
banked on luck and found a habal-habal driving past me. He brought me straight
to Crocodile Park for a hundred pesos. Beggars cannot be choosers and soon
enough I am literally going to turn into one if I keep this up.
Crocodile Park is
located in what seems to be an exclusive subdivision. Within the vicinity are a
few residential houses, the Tribu K’Mindanawan, and a Butterfly Park. There is
also a Zorb Ball facility. You can reach the park by walking but make sure you
allot around half an hour for that. That was what I did going out to the
highway. I was walking alone but the area was well-lit so it was not that scary.
For 150 pesos, you gain
access to the Crocodile Park, Butterfly Park, and Tribu K’Mindanawan. I was
already pressed for time so I let go of any plan going to the Butterfly Park.
The Crocodile Park is full of many kinds of animals aside from the reptiles.
There is an Ostrich field where around half a dozen or so are running around. I
actually mistook them for football players from afar. Weird enough, there was a
football match going on at the park next to theirs, separated by a mere fence. Ostriches are
kind of creepy when viewed up-close. They actually remind me of those
velociraptors in Jurassic Park. Like, freaky.
There was an
animal show at 4 PM which included daring a fourteen-year old girl to kiss Kuya
Carlo on the lips, which she did (watch the video), a cockatoo playing basketball, provoking Pangil
which resulted in a wet and wild experience for the audience, and a few more
gimmicks here and there. Grab a snack or tour the park after that. You should
be at the Tribu K’Mindanawan by quarter to six for the tribal dance show, which
is concluded with a fire dance. Those guys are not just awesome dancers, they
are also human pyrotechnic displays. Amazed much.
I ended my Davao
trip at Abreeza: 1 hour of malling and dinner at the open air food court. This
Ayala Mall is new but already full of people and stores waiting for you to
spend your hard-earned dinero. Just do some research as to how to get there. I
was already low-bat by then that I just took a taxi. Transportation costs
would lead me to bankruptcy, believe me. Next stop: Cagayan de Oro. I am really loving
Mindanao!
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