Trip Ko!

Ok, I will not talk about Cebu for now, coz I want to  talk about my first trip to Davao. My first trip to Davao was almost two years ago. We went there to attend a three day convention, but I stayed in Davao for almost 7 days.

Davao Airport

Our flight to Davao was delayed  by a few hours so we arrived in Davao at around 4PM Thursday instead of the scheduled 12NN. We went straight to the convention hall as we had some things we needed to attend to before we go to our accommodation.

99 Pesos Eat-All-You-Can

We stayed at a friend’s  friends’s house and when we got there, we rested after eating. Except for the flight delay, we had an uneventful first day in Davao. The next three days were spent on the convention. At nights, we go to a barbeque place to have dinner near the Chinatown of Davao and go to Gaisano Mall to buy some things that we need. During the last night of the convention, we went to an Eat-all-you-Can buffet restaurant that costs only 99 pesos. Cheap right? But the food is good and you have lots of choices.

Scuba Diving in Davao

On our fifth day in Davao, we had planned to go scuba diving and so we did. We went to the port area of Davao and went to a dive shop where we paid 1,250 pesos per person for the boat ride, lunch, use of Kayak, diving lessons and a 30 minute dive 40 feet below the surface of the sea. The diving instructor taught us basic diving instructions, like breathing through your mouth, the signals for when you want to go up or down or if your ok, or if you are having problems, how to remove fog or mist from your goggles and so forth.

After the instruction, we were allowed to ask questions and then the diving began. It was so much fun to be under the water watching animal and plant life. 30 minutes is too short coz you enjoy what you are seeing. I got to see a variety of live corals and fishes, like NEMO or clown fish playing with the sea anemone and many other colorful fishes. I just love the underwater world.

Kayaking

After my turn in diving, we tried out the kayak. I had a partner with me but she was tired so i did most of the rowing. It was fun  and scary at the same time  coz the kayak might turn over due to the waves and the current is to strong and it’s taking us away from the boat. But it was fun and is a good excercise.

We finished around 2 or 3 o’ clock  and then we rested and then went to the mall in the evening to eat and just look around. The next day, we went to EDEN Park. It is one of the main tourist attractions of Davao. They have zip lines and lots of nice views and and the tour is very educational.

Eden Park and Zip Line

We had to take a 15 to 30 minute ride in a motorbike (habal habal) for 50 pesos each to get to Eden Park because the park is located up in the mountain. We got there quite late as it was already getting dark because some of my companions had to finish some business before going there. Still, we went inside. The entrance fee is 400 pesos. We didn’t get to go around the whole area as the tour usually ends at around 5:00 pm. but we walked around and visited some areas that are easily reached by foot and played around the playground and the zip line pratice area. The zip line practice area is a place where you could safely try the zip line. The line is very low so even if you fall down there is very little chance of injury. The zipline closes at around 5 PM too so we weren’t able to try the actual zipline that goes from one mountain to the other. We went back home after an hour or so as it was already getting late and we asked the motorbike driver to wait for us.

Souvenirs and of course, Durian

Our last day in Davao was spent shopping for pasalubong (English: presents). As you may already know, Davao is known for Durian fruit, a spiny fruit known for its amazing taste and challenging aroma. There are lots of stuff made from Durian that you can buy there as a pasalubong. There’s the actual fruit, which you can ask the vendor to remove from the skin and put inside a microwaveable container (so it is much lighter to carry and the smell can be contained), there’s the candy, the yema, the jam, and the pastilles. Aside from Durian though there are lots of other flavors you can choose from, like cheese, mangosteen, langka, etc. The most popular place to buy sweets as pasalubong is at Lola Ebon’s. A must try in Lola Ebons is their Durian Ice cream and Ice Candy. Those were very delicious. For those who has not yet acquired the taste for Durian (yes, Durian is an acquired taste, some people do not like it the first time they eat it) , the Durian Ice cream is a  must try.

Durian Fruit from Davao

After the shopping for pasalubong, we went back to our accommodation to get our bags then went to the airport for our flight. A trip well enjoyed. Indeed,   Davao is a very nice place to visit…

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