I had the luxury of spending a few days in Davao with my friends and this is my fourth time back here and the place still has so much to offer. Although we came at a time that durian wasn’t in season (August and September) we did get to see some beautiful sights.
On the first day we left the hotel at 4am to take a 2 hour ride up to the place called Buda (the Bukidnon-Davao road) and watched the sea of clouds at the Sonnen Berg mountain view as the sun rose up. Although I was a bit tired, having arrived from India the day before, the view was worth it! It’s good to note that going up to that viewpoint is steep but we were able to make it in a Toyota Grandia.
Next we had a quick breakfast at Seagull Mountain resort and they had really good suman (snack made with sticky rice) with sikwate (what locals call the tablea cacao drink).
Our last stop for the day was Bemwa farms where they had rows upon rows of huge sunflowers, kale, and other herbs too bad that it isn’t strawberry season or we’d have seen them too!
Before retiring for the day we had lunch at Clean Cafe where they served an all plant based menu. Right beside the cafe was Croft, a bulk food store where you could buy grains like the local Adlai as well as oats and flour. I got corn silk dental floss which I haven’t been able to get anywhere in the country, I have been using silk floss but it’s not vegan so when I saw that they had some made from corn I made sure to get enough. Make sure to bring your own container for your products, but on the rare occasion that you forget (which I hope isn’t that often) they do sell containers.
Day 2 started out early as well, we left the city at 7 am to go see a beautiful waterfall. This for me, was the highlight of the trip as this place really beautiful and also devoid of too many people, it was nearly empty by the time we got there so the place felt really peaceful. You can see it entirely from the bridge where get off your vehicle. To get to the waterfall itself we need to cross a short hanging bridge that holds only 6 people at a time. Since we got here during the tail end of the cooler season the water fall had rich water flow as you can see in the picture below, but if you come here in summer the water falls would be replaced with still pools of blue and green where you can swim in. At the time we went there was only one pool where we could swim in and it felt like a jacuzzi where the water rushes in. I also particularly like this place because there is barely any cellular sight so inform people that you would be going off grid for the day and have a wireless experience at Aliwagwag Falls.
On the way back to Davao City we passed by Tagum City where we ate at one of the oldest restaurants there, Armans, they had an assortment of Filipino delicacies like the munggo which was my favorite, they also had crispy pata and the bakareta (kaldereta made with beef/cow/baka instead of goat meat). We had delicious macaroons and Portuguese egg tarts at Dulce Desserts before heading back to the Davao city.
It was truly a sweet escape from the busyness of Manila city life. So if you dare to venture in to see the hidden treasures of Mindanao then visiting these places would surely keep you wanting to come back again.
References and Other deets:
1. Check out the Clean Cafe here -> https://www.tripadvisor.com.ph/Restaurant_Review-g298459-d19331151-Reviews-Clean_Cafe_by_SOUL_Kitchen_Co-Davao_City_Davao_del_Sur_Province_Mindanao.html
2. Dulce Desserts -> https://www.tripadvisor.com.ph/Restaurant_Review-g2005136-d17594148-Reviews-Dulce_Desserts_Cafe-Tagum_City_Davao_del_Norte_Province_Mindanao.html
3. Van Rental from Ecotrans -> https://www.yellow-pages.ph/business/ecotrans-car-rentals
The Naturale Yogi 