Mindanao – World Travel

Siargao Mindanao

WorldTravelDB.com — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 06:01:07 +0000

After several days of either riding the waves or simply watching others take them on, your mission to decompress and take it easy accomplished, it’s still difficult to pack up and leave. Siargao (shar-gao) is the kind of place that seems to give off a magnetic force, transforming weekend-long stays into weeks or for the handful of foreign surfing lifers now calling the island home, forever. Time spent here makes you ask the existential question, ‘Why can’t I do this every day for the rest of my life?’

Until recently, when Siargao was plucked from relative obscurity by officials hoping to make it one of the shining stars in the Philippines’ tourism firmament, the only visitors were Filipino day-trippers and seriously laid-back and committed Aussie and American surfers. Land values have gone up tenfold in the last ten years and the Cloud Nine surf break is now on the international surfing trail map. Siargao has plenty of natural attractions for nonsurfers too: beaches and rock pools, extensive mangrove swamps, inland forest and waterfalls. Wildlife includes tarsiers, flying lemurs and monitor lizards. Attractive islands are nearby, especially Bucas Grande with Sohoton Cave. This is not the island for people seeking an active nightlife, but the resorts are enough for a quiet sunset drink or two.

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Mindanao

WorldTravelDB.com — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 07:01:23 +0000

Sprawling Mindanao, the world’s 19th-largest island, is known for dazzling scenery, primitive hill tribes and an almost complete lack of tourists because of political unrest and occasional fighting between the government and Muslim separatists. What most tourists don’t realise is that the lovely coastal stretch of northern Mindanao between Cagayan de Oro and Siargao Island is Catholic, Cebuano (Visayan) speaking – and quite safe. The area is known for first-rate surfing on Siargao and a peaceful island-life existence on Camiguin. Elsewhere, Mindanao offers up plenty of cherries for the intrepid traveller, including the Philippines’ highest mountain, Mt Apo (2954m), accessible from Davao in southern Mindanao. Exercise caution if you are heading south or west of Cagayan de Oro.

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Camiguin Mindanao

WorldTravelDB.com — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 07:01:35 +0000

In a country of thousands of islands it’s hard for one to stand out. Camiguin (cam-ee-gin) manages to distinguish itself, at least in part because of its fortuitous location. It’s far removed from any threat of violence, but because it’s part of Mindanao, many people scratch it off their itinerary. Because it’s uncorrupted by large numbers of tourists, those who do come tend to feel proprietorial about this little jewel and guard news of its treasures like a secret.

The landscape is lush and varied like other islands, but volcanic Camiguin rises more dramatically from the sea like a Hawaiian island, managing to be both imposing and inviting, a less menacing version of Jurassic Park. The island is only 33km long and 14km at its widest, and it’s possible to see the islands of the southern Visayas on clear days. Besides the usual diving, snorkelling, sandy beaches, waterfalls and hot and cold springs, Camiguin offers the chance for jungle trekking, volcano climbing, rappelling as well as the general opportunity to figure out your own way around the many natural attractions.

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Cagayan De Oro Mindanao

WorldTravelDB.com — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 07:01:36 +0000

Endowed with an impressive name (the ‘Oro’ part, after all, refers to the gold discovered by the Spanish in the river here), the city unfortunately has the usual traffic-clogged streets and is primarily a stop to or from Camiguin Island or the departure point for the road journey south to Davao. That it is comparatively wealthy becomes obvious when you’re inching forward on the northern access road lined with new car lots. Today, much of the city’s economic activity centres on the vegetable gold of the Del Monte pineapple processing plant a few kilometres north of town, and the company’s plantations in the hills above Cagayan. Every Friday and Saturday night Divisoria or Golden Friendship Park is closed to street traffic and lined with food stalls and street cafés. The presence of Xavier University explains the significant student population cramming the Internet cafés.

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