Trip to Mindanao - December 2005

A trip to the province is always a relaxing experience. Mindanao is really one destination not to be missed. But unlike the nearby provinces in Luzon where one can just drive leisurely or even take a bus ride; the transportation cost of taking a plane ride to Mindanao prevents more people from visiting.

But in the last couple of years, the airfares were reduced drastically (but hopefully the fuel surcharge does not go up further because of the present escalating World Crude prices), and lower costs can always be enjoyed by reserving your flights early. Also; take advantage of the promos by the local airlines and SEE the Philippines!



Mindanao just suffers from serious misconception of people and tourists. Media has sometimes portrayed Mindanao as a place of violence; kidnappings and armed conflicts. These is the farthest from the truth. Yes; there are places that sadly experience this, but most of them are in the remote areas.

Mindanao is where nature is at its best. Hopefully, people recognize this and take steps to preserve the remaining forest cover and all the other natural wonders they have. They have beautiful mountains; beaches; falls, rivers and rapids etc all over the island. It is truly a vacationers paradise.

But Mindanao is NOT a land "left by time". It is not a backward place far away from civilization as some may have come to imagine. Take for example, our landing point which is Cagayan de Oro (CDO) city. It is a bustling city wherein traffic occurs regularly because of the influx of people, cars and business. They have SM near the present airport (a bigger airport is set to be constructed ...this is indeed very welcome as it really needs a lot of improvement. We hope they also improve the Manila domestic airport) and they also Limketkai Mall which has been upgraded (and mind you, this was almost 2 and a half years ago). There are many restaurants; cafes and beach resorts all over the city. Who knows what new developments have been made there as big businesses are still locating near Cagayan de Oro.



The flight to CDO was around an hour and 15 minutes. Just about the same time a ride from Paranaque to Quezon City takes. After taking a morning and very hassle free flight; pretty soon we were already experiencing some of the traffic there and found ourselves taking our lunch there in one of the "ihaw-ihaw" restaurants.