Row, row, row your boat...(White water rafting in Cagayan de Oro)

This year alone I've been to Cagayan de Oro (the CDO as my friends from there like to call it. As in the OC) 3 times. I think I've been to the CDO more than I've been able to go home to Tarlac this year. It's probably going to take more than one entry to talk about the many wonderful things that the CDO has to offer. So I won't. Instead I'll go through it in bits and pieces.

One of the great things about the CDO is that it has all the conveniences that a modern city has to offer - malls, malls and malls - while offering the best eco-adventures for your mountain-climbing, tree-hugging, deep-sea diving friends.

Several years ago I got to try CDO's famous white water rafting at the Cagayan de Oro river. We went on the basic white water rafting course which is basically you riding on a small raft and floating effortlessly through several rapids. 

Last month I got to try the advanced rafting with some friends. And being the lazy sort of person that I am, I got worried when we got picked up by our contacts from Red Rafts and I saw the yellow paddles. Man, we might actually have to, uhm, work and exert some effort.

The folks from Red Rafts were great, they were friendly and chatted with us every now and then on the way to the river which made us feel more at ease. 6 people including one guide from 

Red Rafts, fit 1 raft. Another raft would be ahead of us to take pictures and to check the direction we should take.

We began with a little orientation. We were taught how to row and paddle, what to do in case we fall off the raft, what to do when we reach the rapids. My biceps were so unprepared for this.

So here I am, doing my best "I'm a rower, I'm a man ,I can do this", look.

The advance rafting course has more than 15 rapids. And every conquered rapid is a call for celebration! In front is PJ, furiously rowing amidst our rejoicing. 

Each rapid is different. Some are extremely bumpy because of huge rocks, some allow you to stand on the raft, which we did, while others make you feel like a woodpecker has landed on your skull.
Ofcourse, after a couple of hours, even the dangerous rapids and the tiresome rowing can get boring. Thus our guides make us do the craziest things. Like rowing back to the rapids. Which means going against enormous rocks and the river's natural flow, the purpose of which is to topple the raft so we'd fall off  our asses and enjoy the risk of dying a dangerous death. yay! 

We tried it once but we all stayed on the raft. We tried it twice, thrice and still nothing. So finally, in frustration, one our guides decided to push as off the rock. He's right behind the raft.We were shouting "Manong we can see you behind that raft!" and then all we heard was the sound of rushing water as I almost drown. I kid about the drowning part.

And what do you know. He succeeds. We fall off. And this is me, holding on to dear life. 

We also stopped in one the taller rocks and jumped off its peak. Ofcourse. And because I'm more afraid of heights than the water, it took me some time and Ate Ces's hands before I finally decided to jump. This is not me in the picture, by the way. I'm embarrassed to show you mine because you'd see the extreme fear in my face.

All in all it was a good ride. For 1200 php per person which includes a filling lunch of grilled fish, squid and shrimps, you get 4 hours of rafting through exciting rapids, bustling forests, woodland creatures and labanderas . Add 200 php per person for pictures and videos. This I thought was extravagant at first. But the pictures were beautifully shot and captured all the heart stopping parts of the trip. There was no way we could have taken those shots ourselves in between screaming for our lives and rowing to save our butts. 

Oh yeah, we have to do a high five with our paddles after every rapid. If you're into that kind of Go Team activity then I suggest you take the first flight to the CDO and start pumping those biceps!