Monday, August 2, 2010

day 2 (AM): shooting rapids and lechong baka.

Day 2 for me was the highlight of the whole trip. Cagayan de Oro is all about shooting rapids, so if you've been there and never tried it, you SHOULD definitely go back!

Jego, our principal, told us that we should be ready by 5:30AM. We were all too excited to complain, so we were up and about just in time.

In uniform.

We hired KAGAY, CDO's premier whitewater rafting outfitter to take charge of the whole adventure. And because most of us were gutsy enough, we chose their Advance Course (even if most of us were first-timers), which covers 24 rapids in 4-5 hours. As an add-on, we paid Php300 for photos on top of their Php1,000 per head rate. The package includes jeepney transfer from hotel to "put in" (starting point), as well as headgear, life vests, and dry bags for storage.

Mga nanginginig ang tuhod

Chippie's clothes in a mesh bag, her cigarettes in a waterproof case.
"Mabasa na ang lahat, wag lang ang yosi!"

The gang and the signed waivers.
The waiver simply says: "if something bad happens, don't sue us". Haha!

By 7AM (I think) we were ready to roll.

The orientation.
Listen or you die! Hahaha!

Key points:
#1 Listen to your guide's instructions. If he says paddle forward, do so. Follow his count, too.
#2 In case you fall off the boat, do not panic. Just let your body float (head first) and wait for your knight-in-a-wetsuit a.k.a Kagay boy to save you.
#3 In case you fall off again, no need to swim against the rapids, just hold on to the rope that they will throw at you so they can pull you back.
#4 Swimming skills are not necessary. You're wearing a life vest the entire time anyway.
#5 Have fun and enjoy the ride!

We were divided into three groups, plus a couple from Unilab(?) who joined our team. May bago na namang kadaldalan si Mitor. Haha!

And now, presenting...*drumroll please*
ACTION SHOTS!

Welcome to SPLASH ISLAND!
Boat 1
Boat 2
Boat 3

Each rapid we conquered has a name and story behind it, as blessed and told by the Kagay boys. I can't remember most of it, though. The one that really stuck was Dan drop (a team mate named Dan fell on that part of the river) pero natawa ako kasi naisip ko ay Dan drop = Dandruff. NYE! Corny na kung corny!

We weren't paddling the whole time, by the way. There were parts of the course where we swam in still waters, climbed a huge rock, and was forced to jump!

Just keep swimming...just keep swimming

Rock and Roll!

Jump, Jump, Jump!

Mitor's awesome jumpshot.
Oo na, ikaw na ang pinakamatapang! Hmp!

*sings* Aaaaahhh....freak out!

Wuhoo!

Success!

Just a few steps from the "take-out" (end point) was a restaurant where we had one of the best lunches ever!

Lechong baka.
My verdict: 5 out of 5 stars!

We had a glorious time, as in super! There's actually a lot of rafting photos that I'd love to share but it's just too many so my advice is, just try out the adventure and see for yourself!

4 comments:

  1. ipopost ko dapat yung "Mga nanginginig ang tuhod". tawang tawa ako sa muscle ni mitor. kabang kaba lang. lol

    ReplyDelete
  2. wahahaha! napansin ko lang nung sinabi mo! bukol na bukol eh? hahaha

    ReplyDelete
  3. In my opinion, the advance course is the REAL way of experiencing what whitewater rafting is about. Great blog by the way.

    ReplyDelete
  4. i agree! thanks, rafting cagayan de oro! :)

    ReplyDelete