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Published: June 13th 2008
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When I was in college night life is the life apart from nerve wracking exams. But lately most of my friends are having a detour. For all those who had been bored with the neon lights are now opting for greener scenery. Cigarette smokes to fresh air. So before I could even hit The Land of Promise, Davao City, for the most awaited vacation from school, I already had my plans laid down but silently hoping that I can fit Cebu and Bohol via Cagayan de Oro City, Seagull resort and Camp Sabros trips in 3 weeks time. But as they say, expect the unexpected, work gets in my way. So it was only Camp Sabros that survived on my list.
Camp Sabros ( short for Sacdalan Brothers) is nestled in surrounding pine trees and cold air of Kapatagan in Digos City, Davao del Sur. It has the country's two longest zipline (380m and 400m). That will give you more than enough dose of adrenalin aside from the breathtaking view of Mt. Apo.
It has always been a headache to gather the right group whenever outing is on the plan. Lucky for me I found my accomplice. But Isay
& I had to give our dormant convincing power a little bit of stretch to get Meyai & Joy in the mood for adventure. To make it short, we did it. So the journey begins.
To get to Kapatagan, it took us almost 45 mins to 1 hour bus drive from Davao to Digos City and another 45 mins to 1 hour from the National Highway uphill on the Kapatagan road to the Mt. Apo National Park Checkpoint.
Since the camp is 3,900 feet (around 1,200 meters) above sea level, cool breeze soothes your skin while viewing the surrounding mountains. Going up from the Mt. Apo National Checkpoint won't be a problem since you won't find yourself burning under the sun if you want to trek all the way to the hill. You got other options though, for P30 you can ride single motor or if you want to have a Malboro country experience you can enjoy horse ride up for the same amount and you can always try to bargain. If you bring your own lift, you can park it at the Park outpost or at the camp. For us, of course we chose to give our
muscles a little bit of exercise.
Going up is such a therapy especiall for those who had been eyesored to city's skycrappers. Although the hike was fun including the constant clicking of the cameras left and right, it was really energy consuming but worth it.
After a few minutes rest, to give our lungs a little bit of time to recuperate, we paid our dues for the zipping experience (there's no entrance fee and no corkage). For 380m zipline, you got 2 choices, P150/head in pairs and P200 (US$50+) when you want it solo and P300 for the 400m, solo only and at double speed.
Isay and I tried it first, then Meyai and Joy came after us. There was a lot of laugh as we were put in a bag-like in a prone position (lying on our stomach). I could feel my stomach churning. A thousand thought keeps running on my mind..The devil "What ifs".. then.. we smoothly glide over pine trees. I have my left hand grasping my camera while the other one clasping Isay's hand. It really feels good. Fears were gone the moment it started. It was so surreal. I can't believe i
was flying over trees at about 180 feet high. It was quick but the thrill still lingers to my body.
It was great. Worth trying again , if only time permits.
After a few minutes, Meyai and Joy followed us to the other end. We have to take the cable back to the camp. And since there were few ahead of us and only one cable transporting back and forth, we provide our own entertainment
. Some optimistic guys joke around, discussing of putting another line from where we were standing to the next visible mountain and connect it all the way to Mt. Apo. (and maybe whoever try to zip that far may end up having his pants wet in fear) but why not.
The 4 of us perfectly fit the cable. We were so amazed by the beauty surrounding us that there were never shrieks, we were all successful in trying to camouflage our fears that we might lose our grip and find ourselves on newspaper headlines the next day, when suddenly we stopped at the middle. Even 7th grader can tell that the operator was doing it on purpose. No matter what the score was,
zipping 380m at 20 storey's high
so, this is how it feels to be a bird, :D as our cable abruptly stopped it cause us swinging, which is not a nice feeling. No one would like to be
swinging, 20 storey high in an open air!!! But, I guess, it made the trip more memorable. Something you can keep on telling.
Since it was almost 5 o'clock when we were back to the camp, we didn't have enough time to savour the camp, aside from a quick photo shoot we had. It's also pretty tricky to get down when it's dark and fog all around you.
As we leave the camp, Isay and I found ourselves uttering the famous line...
I shall return
Till next time.....
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