The long wait is over! After four months of planning for our flight, itinerary, activities, and OOTD’s — we made our Davao escapade a blast and extraordinary!
It was planned first by Rhica and Mel who are my friends and former division teammates. They just invited me to join them and without hesitation I booked a flight too. Rhica arrived earlier in Davao while Me and Mel landed around six in the evening — and went straight in Avida Towers where we checked in. This is the cheapest condo unit for staycation that we saw through Airbnb. For only Php 2,500 we enjoyed our three days and two nights of winding down in the city before going to Samal Island.
We went first in Roxas Night Market for our dinner and it is only a five-minute walk from Avida Towers. Upon entering, we’re all delighted to witness different budget-friendly and fresh cuisines from Davao. We have a lot of choices where to eat — from dishes, grill foods, seafoods, appetizers, desserts, and etc. We chose to dine in Chan-Chan BBQ and guess what? We only spent Php 350 and our hungry tummies were satisfied!
Ofcourse, we tried their famous Durian Shake and it doesn’t taste bad as we have thought. After exploring their famous Night Market, we decided to go back in condo and take a rest since we have a lot of activities for the next day.
For our second day, we woke up early for our Davao River White Water Rafting adventure! Around seven in the morning, we went straight in Base Camp office (Philippine Red Cross Building) near Marco Polo which is also a five minute walk from our unit. Believe it or not, we made a last minute booking! And supposedly, we need to pay Php 7,500 for our Water Rafting adventure but because we never reach the maximum of five joiners — they gave us a Php 500 discount. The package includes gears, river guide, transportation going to the river and vice versa, photo and video documentation, and lunch.
We met Kuya Jack, who is also our contact person and tour guide for this venture. He first asked us to read and sign the waiver; and he elucidate to us the pros and cons on doing water rafting. Also, on what should we expect. We are totally terrified and anxious during his introduction and while watching the video clips from the said activity. But ofcourse, we want to face our fears and rejoice our vacation leave. The more the risk, the more it would be fun!
It is a one-hour drive going to the Davao River from the city. While on our way, Kuya Jack introduces to us — Kuya Cookie, our photographer and videographer; and another companion/tour guide which I forgot the name. As we arrived, we left our things in the jeepney so we could begin the brief training and most-awaited activity. We started around nine in the morning and our estimated finish time is twelve in the afternoon since it is a 13 KMs of rafting.
First, he taught us on how to wear the gears, the proper way of floating and saving in case someone will fall, 5 steps in paddling, and etc. Then, our expedition starts! Actually, I was really excitable and jumpy the whole journey! I was just praying not to plunge in the river because I can’t swim and the wave is spine-chilling. We need to survive on the twenty (more or less) rapids so we make sure to follow all the instructions of Kuya Jack.
Everytime that we surpass the rapids we really feel relieved since we did not sink in the river waves. All our agonize were ease due to the fun that we experience; and we surprisingly, find ourselves longing for more! We also never notice that we already finished the three hour rafting. Thanks to our Tour Guides, who made our activity very enjoyable with their witty jokes and talk.
Also, they provide a box of lunch and drinks for us. Then, we headed back in their office so we could copy all the images and videos.
For bookings in Base Camp you may contact them through:
(082) 321-6311 or 0927-275-6099
Base Camp, Davao City. 4,221 likes · 126 talking about this · 1,402 were here. Base Camp is your River Rafting Adventure service provider in
discoholicmusic
jacobvanloon
baratheonpilled
janainaart
blakekathryn