Our Family's Davao Getaway

Exactly one year ago today, our family went to Davao upon the invitation of a Couples for Christ brother and sister, Edward and Rownee Braceros.  We stayed at their house as Bro. Edward was against us checking-in in a nearby hotel.  Except for Jun, my husband, all of us are first timers at Davao.

It all started when Cebu Pacific had a promo.  Airplane fares to domestic destinations were slashed by 50%.  I readily went online to book our reservation.  The best time for us was the November break as all our children are on semestral break.  When you have grown children, it is so difficult to plan a vacation as everyone has his own schedule to contend with.

We took the first flight for Davao to be able to maximize our time there.  I was wrong.  We were late to go to our first destination for a lunch at the beach of Samal Island as the children were all sleepy as they didn't have enough sleep. Lunch we had but we have to forego of the swimming as the children were tired.  The only other activity for our first day was a Mass.

On the way to Samal Island

The following day, we were all excited in going to the different tourist attractions.  We have already regained our strength and energy after a sumptuous dinner cooked by no less than Bro. Edward and a full night's sleep.  We spent the morning at the Philippine Eagle Center where the nearly extinct Philippine eagles are cared for.  Aside from the eagles, there were monkeys, crocodiles, hawks, owls, snakes and other big birds that you can only see in books.  We should really take a stake in the upkeep of this place is we want our grandchildren to see the nearly extinct birds.

Sir Arny, Philippine Eagle

It  was the Eden Nature Park in the afternoon.  Cool and serene, this park showcases the different trees and vegetables that Eden Farms are producing that end up in the vegetable/fruit sections of known supermarkets in Metro Manila.  We rode an open van that brought us to the different parts of the park:  lodges, camping ground (I would try this on our next Davao trip), swimming area, fishing area, big tracts of land planted to vegetables and fruit trees like mangosteen, durian, and others that are synonymous with Davao.  To cap our day, we had a merienda of fresh vegetable salad straight from the farm.

Our last day in Davao, we spent the day buying tuna and pomelo and a visit at the Crocodile Farm and the Butterfly House.  We learned a lot from Crocodile Farm.  We saw crocodiles of different stages, from babies to mature ones.  My daughters enjoyed feeding the ostriches and taking video of an orangutan showing his antics to his audience.  My son on the other hand ate barbecue made of ostrich and snake meat.

There are a lot of places to be seen in Davao.  The food is good, the weather is fine.  My daughters even said that they want to live in Davao.  Thank you Edward and Rownee for making our first visit to Davao truly memorable.