White Water Rafting in CDO Extreme Adventure of a Lifetime

White Water Rafting in CDO

Extreme Adventure  of a Lifetime 
(CDO and Bukidnon Series 6)

‘This is what we came for to CDO.’

I told my fifteen year old daughter

as  I booked for a white water at the hotel

immediately after arriving in the city.

We were given a choice if we wanted the

The 3 hour shorter  beginner’s  rafting adventure

or  the longer advanced rafting adventure.

.

We chose the one for beginners  as we had

 no previous experience In white water rafting

except of course  for the more benign

 theme park  rides like Seaworld’s

Shipwreck Island in San Diego.

…the Grizzly River Run  at Disney’s

California Adventure Park in Anaheim,

…and locally, Enchanted Kingdom’s

Rio Grande Rapids in Sta. Rosa.

source: http://www.enchantedkingdom.ph/RnA/riogrande.html

I booked on the Wednesday night,

our first day in the city, for a Saturday

morning rafting as we would be staying

overnight in Dahilayan the next day.

Saturday  came, my daughter and

I woke up very early for the rafting.

My wife and young son were still asleep.

We had a heavy breakfast at the Misto,

…and a jeepney picked us up at the hotel

 by three guys from  Bugsay,

the rafting operator contracted by Seda Hotel.

We were taken aback for a while

when we saw the jeepney,

 

… it has been more than  two decades

since I have taken my last jeepney ride.

I also have no knowledge if my daughter

had ever taken a jeepney in her lifetime.

She said ‘yes, in school’ when I asked her.

It turned out as a pleasant surprise that the rough

jeepney ride was an adventure on its own.

Does this car have any suspension at all?

I jokingly asked the driver as it felt like riding

a roller coaster despite the very smooth city roads.

We picked up a Singaporean family of four

from another hotel who would be joining

us on the rafting expedition.

 They need at least four to six persons per boat

so that makes us six in our group -

together with the two guides

makes us eight. A  very ideal number

and according one of the guides- lucky.

We dropped by their office near Divisoria

to pay our dues and sign consent….

…and off we went uphill and upstream where

 our white water rafting adventure will begin.

We had a pre- rafting orientation by the riverside

and this was the time we knew that Bugsay

is a Visayan word  for paddle.

We would be apparently passing fourteen

major rapids and the first one was just few

meters away from the starting point.

The official photographer and videographer
that Bugsay commissioned for the trip was also ready..



I looked scary at first- but after the

thrilling rough rolling and tumbling-

we were ready to rock-

Our first rapid got us all excited and
had all our adrenalins rushing to the max-

and when it  was over-
…and we were asking for more rapids- 

…and more.

....and much much more.

Later, we gained so much confidence that we  were 
brave enough  to face the next rapid standing up.

In between the rocking and the rolling,

we were treated to some 

of the most beautiful sights in our lives.

It was nature at its best…

We paddled under waterfalls,

…inside bat caves,

…amidst virgin rain forests,
and rustic countryside.

The guides also allowed us to swim on

the safe parts of the river…

…and even allowed the kids to ride

the smaller canoe.

After our fourteenth and final rapid…

...it left us craving for more

and we didn’t want to stop anymore.

Our White Water rafting experience

was an  extreme adventure of our lifetime-

...that made our trip to Cagayan de Oro

worthwhile and worth coming back again.

We’ll have enough time to prepare

For more advanced rafting adventure

on our return to Cagayan de Oro.

When we returned to Seda Hotel and realized

that we would be returning home to Naga City
 the next day- we started missing CDO already
and we have not even left yet.

Watch out for my Blogs on

Cagayan de Oro and Bukidnon Series

Seda Hotel Centrio 
Cagayan de Oro 

(CDO and Bukidnon Series 1)

Scenic Roadtrip: 

CDO to Dahilayan Bukidnon.
(CDO and Bukidnon Series 2)

Forest Park, Dahilayan Bukidnon

Stay Stray, Play and Feast.

(CDO and Bukidnon Series 3)

Dahilayan: Fair Bukidnon

Baguio in Memoriam
(CDO and Bukidnon Series 4)

Army Navy Centrio

Big Servings for Big Appetites

(CDO and Bukidnon Series 5)

CDO White Water Rafting:

Extreme Adventure  of a Lifetime
(CDO and Bukidnon Series 6)

CDO’s N Hotel Buffet

Sumptuous Spread of Good Food.

(CDO and Bukidnon Series 7)

Pancake House & Sbarro Centrio

Fused Cuisine

(CDO and Bukidnon Series 8)

CDO and Dahilayan Bukidnon

Epilogue

(CDO and Bukidnon Series 9)