SURVIVE THE GAUNTLET OF WHITEWATER RAPIDS AT THE MIGHTY CAGAYAN DE ORO RIVER

What does "BUGSAY" means?  Bugsay is the Visayan word for paddle or "sagwan" in Tagalog.  It is the name of the river rafting company operating in the Cagayan de Oro River.   The company is run by expert and skillful rafters who are engaged in the the whitewater rafting business for more than 10 years and has competed in several whitwater competitions here and abroad.  With our lives safely in good hands, this is my next bucket list adventure,  and this time I am with my son 'Speed', my sister Dannah and her children, Ndreah, Nizhelle and Nezh. 

As per special arrangement, we were picked up in front of our aunt's village to save the trip going to the usual meeting place.  The tour operator provided a jeepney transport to bring us to the jump-off area and back to our house at the end of the day.  They are using state-of-the-art Sotar rubber rafts so I'm pretty sure we are not going to encounter a flat tire during the journey.  Our group was split and distributed in two rafts which I think is their standard procedure for safety.

The funny thing about this trip is that we did not encounter any trouble with the rubber boats but we did encounter engine trouble with the jeepney during the ascent on the mountain.  So while waiting for the substitute jeepney, we took the time  for some photo opportunity in the scenice surroundings of the Misamis Oriental countryside.

As soon as we arrived at the jump-off point, we were immediately suited up with our respective personnel safety vests and given our own paddle.  We looked like a ragtag army of  rugrats headed by it able leader, the DocFun (hi hi hi hi hi).  One of the tour guides gave us a preliminary briefing about safety and responses during emergency situations.  He said that the expedition's success all depends on teamwork and everyone is expected to listen to the boat's captain during maneuvering thru the rapids to avoid capsizing and most especially accidental overboard of passengers.

Everyone was a bit nervous for what was about to be a nerve-wracking, thrilling and exciting ride of our lives that would run for the entire day.  My cousin Wowie made arrangements with the rafting company and availed the Advanced Course which he told me will be worth my money instead of the novice course.  The CDO Rapids tour has four categories: namely,  Beginners Course for the novice; Advanced I and II Course for the moderate thrillseekers and the Extreme Course for the ultimate thrill ride of your life.  We were all beginners but we still took on the Advanced Course II and ended up the most happy rafters of all.

There was a short briefing by the tour guides before we casted off to make sure that everyone is aware of the necessary precautions and emergency measures should a mishap or untoward incident occur.  When we started off, the guides first let us ride through a test rapid to determine at what point will panic strike us.  But since no hysteria bursted out from the group, we finally set off to challenge more rapids.  One of the most thrilled passengers in this trip was my son who gave a big YAHOO! gesture to start the onslaught!

I remember the guide telling us that the advanced course is approximately 22kilometers with around 18 rapids to hurdle.  I thought to myself., woh! this is gonna be a long day for us! Hope we have enough energy to outlast all rapids and pray we don't capsize.  But somebody told me from those who have ridden the rapids before that the tour guides on occasions, intentionally capsize the rafts to the bewilderment of the tourists!  What! It was probably all done in the name of fun! And that is what we're here for, FUN AND ADVENTURE!

The most exciting part of the trip for me is everytime we hurdle a rapid like this one.  You will always feel like you're inside a giant laundry machine switched to "rinse".  I don't know whether or not our paddling really helps the tour guides during the maneuvering.  Most of the time I felt like we're floating on air paddling on nothing but air.  Nevertheless those were several hells of ultimate rides.

Everytime we successfully passed a rapid unscathed, there were always sighs of relief from the bewildered passengers. There was always a brief lull in between rapids to help us recover our composure and time enough for the guides to prepare us for what will be another different rapid next.  As we go downstream, the current becomes stronger and the rapids become more violent!  Ha ha ha! BRING IT ON!

Everytime we successfully hurdle a rapid, the boat captain would always yell to us to do the traditional HIGH FIVE! signifying a successful run! This will be repeated over and over again for every rapid passed.

This was one adventure were everyone was dead tired at the end of the day.  Despite the adrenaline rush that the tour stimulated in our excited bodies, everyone was pumped up throughout the day but were all sleeping like a log when we hit the sack at the end of the day.

One of the highlights of the tour is this spectacular shot of our boat being sucked  in to one of the whirlpool rapids that engulfed our boat and filled it with water.  We were able to survive this one but everyone was wide-eyed about what had just happened! Afterwards we just laughed out our fears away!

There were moments that some of us were almost thrown overboard.  In this picture we passed a bumpy rapid and the two people in front Dey and Shey were thrown high up in th air!  Luckily they landed smack on their butt inside the boat.  There was a brief silent then suddenly everyone bursted into sheer laughter at the site of the two!  Very funny moment indeed!

Lunchtime came halfway through the course and the captain decided to dock and prepare lunch which was part of the tour package.  The boatmen grilled porkchops, big fishes and brought out rice packed in coconut leaves, fried chicken and steam cooked giant prawns. 

We did not expect that the tour operator will be preparing a feast for us.  The food were laid on banana leaves and hungry as wolves, we devoured all the food and left us filled and extremely satisfied afterwards.  Everyone was thinking that with out stomachs filled, we won't be able to paddle the remaining rapids.  But we were wrong!  The energy we got from the sumptous feast made us ever ready to tackle the next batch of rapids after lunch.  We were given a brief period to relax before we casted off for the afternoon's tour. 

 One of the recreational activities during the lunch break was a chance to try out the single inflatable kayak.  It was a small dinghy that was very maneuverable in the rapids.  It was the boat used by our skillful photographer that can snap pictures using a conventional Nikon DSLR while keeping the boat upright in the turbulent waters.  Many of these spectacular photos are courtesy of our tour photographer.  He didn't even got the camera wet in the entire trip.

 Another past time that rafters demonstrated to us is rock standing.  Here he showed us how to make rocks stand among the many rocks that make up the river banks.  We also tried doing the same thing but were more successful using square rocks rather than the round ones

After the brief lunch break and rest we finally shoved off for the afternoon's rapids.  The tour captain decided to give me the the helm of the boat and take over the steering.  Right after I took over the helms, there was a huge boulder in the middle of the river and instead of around past it, I steered the raft right smack into the boulder to everyone's bewilderment! What a bummer!  Good thing we slid past the boulder and went our way.  Thanks to my presence of mind and skillful steering!  ha ha ha ha ha! just kidding!

The truth was our boat capsized and we all ended up in the water!  Good thing there was calm water right after the rapids and we just floated and relaxed during the turnover.  We were still  in high spirits and the smiles in each of us clearly show that we were having the greatest adventure of our lives! 

 We found a huge boulder all climbed up for a brief rest and picture taking.

The boulder was situated in a deep portion of the river and the water was so inviting that we were all hoping to experience jumping from the top of the boulder and into the deep.  When the tour captain said that it was deep enough and safe for diving, we never hesitated and the next thing was, "KAWABANGGA!

The whitewater rapids adventure of the mighty Cagayan de Oro River is the best adventure of my life.  We had the opportunity to experience this in the aftermath of Typhoon Sendong's wrath in the city and all those living along its banks.  If only we can enjoy the might of the river in this manner and at the same time enjoy the beauty of nature all around while traveling downstream without any cause of worry or tragedy, then I believe it is high time that these precious resources together with the trees of the surrounding countryside be maintained sustainably so that future generations will still be able to enjoy the beauty and excitement that Cagayan River has to offer.

And as we reach the end of our journey, we all raised our oars in salute to the teamwork and bravery that each member of this expedition had shown.  We commend the team captain and all his rafters for the skillful and safe maneuvering of the rafts to the delight and excitement of everyone.  We also thank our photographer for giving us these spectacular shots of this trip which we will keep close to our hearts forever! And to the Cagayan River, this is not the end but the beginning of a beautiful friendship because we will be visiting your mighty beauty over and over again!  This is indeed a true bucket list adventure full of fight-or-drown situation!  A genuine adrenaline rush to the max!