Dicovering Cagayan De Oro
This was my first time in Cagayan de Oro. I honestly didn’t know much about the place except that this was the whitewater rafting capital of the Philippines.
I went there via Cebu Pacific Air with the Philippine Travel Agencies Association (PTAA) since they recently had their 31st 2024 Travel Tour Expo in Manila and for the first time, they have extended this to the Visayas and Mindanao region, naming the extension of the expo in Cagayan de Oro the “VizMin Edition.”
The PTAA is an organization born out of a union of the national associations of outbound travel agencies and inbound tour operators in 1979. It has over 500 members and was founded to foster unity in the travel industry.
The Expo was well-attended, featuring several local booths offering travel packages around the country. Representatives from the Department of Tourism Region X, PTAA officers, and local government officials were present during the opening of the expo that would last for a few days. There were booths selling native crafts, clothes, fabric, and food as well.
And speaking of food, Cagayan de Oro has so much to offer! Everyone advised me to go to two restaurants there and they are not to be missed! Kagay-Anon serves local food and you must try their kinilaw na malasugue or blue marlin, which is marinated in tuba vinegar made from coconut sap and tabon tabon, a local fruit used in the Northern Mindanao kinilaw to neutralize the acidity of the vinegar and remove the “fishy” or “lansa” smell of the fish.
The other restaurant is Cusina Higala, which serves an amazing Dinulutan a Seda, a Maguindanaoan delicacy made with crispy mud fish (dalag), coconut milk, chili, green mango, and roasted coconut.
Another must-try food here would be “binaki,” a type of sweet corn tamales steamed in corn husks and supposedly named after “ven aqui,” Spanish for “come here.”
Do try the juice of kuyamis, a golden coconut common in the area. This type of coconut is so abundant that they even have a festival named after it! The clear coconut juice oil of the kuyamis is unbelievably sweet.
The religious visit the Shrine of Divine Mercy here. This tourist destination for the faithful is massive and has a 50-foot statue of Jesus, where the faithful climb to the chest of Jesus where there is a “chamber of adoration.”
Cagayan de Oro can boast of several beautiful waterfalls, and we did go visit one, Sinulom Falls. This borders Cagayan de pro and Bukidnon and over two dozen waterfalls from the Talakag Mountains fall into the Cagayan de Oro River. Within this complex also is the Bolao Cold Springs where one may bathe to be relieved of the scorching heat.
It was imperative for me to do whitewater rafting, something I have never done. I asked the guide how long the actual raft trip would take and he answered, “Three hours,” a length of time that almost made me want to back out. I rationalized one hour would be enough (for my Instagram photos... as they all say, “Do it for the ’gram”) but he said I wouldn’t even notice the time and it would be fun. He was right! Three hours went by quickly, making we want to do it all over again!
Three days there was a great introduction to my first time in Northern Mindanao. I have been discovering more about our great country and would love to come back to discover more waterfalls and the amazing cuisine this region has to offer!
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