my travel photos: Ziplining with Mt. Apo in Davao

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my travel photos: Ziplining with Mt. Apo in Davao

6 Aug

#helpDOT

Imagine waking up to this in the morning…

So beautiful.

Last July 2009, I got to spend a few days with my childhood friend and her family in the mountains of Davao del Sur–was the first time I truly understood why great men of prayer would go up the mountains to be silent.

We stayed in their family vacation home-turned-adventure zone, Camp Sabros, where I got to zipline and rappel down a 100-foot tree!

It was also my first time in Mindanao… and I couldn’t have asked for a better welcome to that land of sun and rare rains than this smiling mountain!

Ziplining with Mt. Apo in Davao
(Posted on July 9, 2009)

Camp Sabros, one of the most charming places I’ve visited in the Philippines–for the quiet it offers, and the sense of grandeur and adventure all at once

Barangay Kapatagan, Digos City, Davao del Sur
June 2009

* * *

Excerpts from My first time in Mindanao
(Posted on July 9, 2009)

I was always scared to go to Mindanao without a local to take me around, so when Maan came home for the first time since college grad (7 years ago! wahhh), I took the chance to visit her family’s home in Davao with her for the weekend…

For some reason I packed for the beach and ended up wearing layers of leggings and board shorts to combat the freeeeezing cold!! We were 3,900ft above sea level (Baguio is 4,400ft, but I swear I was FREEZING!!) in Camp Sabros, a super beautiful retreat place/resort put up by Maan’s family in the mountains of Davao del Sur, almost near Mt. Apo, tallest mountain in the Phils.

Trip highlights: “flying” over a pine tree forest, rappelling down a 100-foot tree! Was looking forward to all-you-can-eat mangosteen, but it wasn’t in season (boo! summer daw dapat), so made do with pigging out on durian off the street…oh yummmmm….
:):)

You can also view the album on multiply: Ziplining with Mt. Apo in Davao – July 2009

Read my post, “flying” in Camp Sabros, Davao.

Comments 1 Comment
Categories Davao, My travels
Author manilarat

“flying” at Camp Sabros, Davao!

8 Jul

A month ago, a friend introduced me to the concept of the wingsuit (via TED.com). The video shows Ueli Gegenschatz in “his utterly jawdropping flight in a wingsuit, a high-tech flying-squirrel-inspired getup that lets him soar as close as humanly possible to our shared dream of flight.”

Video clip of the wingsuit flight starts at 6:43

Such an amazing feeling to watch someone “fly”, but I never figured I’d be in a position to try it out myself, and so soon after watching that wingsuit joyride! To a lesser (and safer) degree of course, but still, I felt like I was superman just last week doing ziplines in Camp Sabros, Davao del Sur!

I was very lucky to have visited Camp Sabros with my good friend, Maan, who is so proud of her family’s retreathouse in the mountains–hands down one of the most beautiful places I’ve visited in the Philippines. Imagine waking up to Mt. Apo everyday, rappelling down a 100-ft treetop in the middle of a pinetree forest, and ziplining 820ft with only the wind separating you from the clouds and mountains and steep drop below! Definitely the closest I’ve come to flying..and to that wingsuit!

Camp Sabros is a quiet place that has heart, having begun as a private mountain resort for the Sacdalan family (“Sabros” is a play on “Sacdalan brothers”, for the five sons). While exploring the mountains of Davao del Sur in 1994, my friend’s uncle Edwin discovered a beautiful hilltop property with a captivating view of Mt. Apo and convinced the rest of the family to buy it. They built a simple log cabin for themselves, grinding their own coffee and enjoying bonfires while there was still no electricity. A yearly tradition was for each family member to plant pine trees, which eventually filled up the mountaintop (think daffodil principle!). It was only over a year ago that they opened ziplines to the public. Rooms in log cabins are also available for overnight guests.

Since then it has caught the attention of extreme sports enthusiasts, mountain climbers, barkadas, and even families (Maan rode the 380-meter zipline with her four-year-old son on her back!) out to have an adventure. Plans are underway for a mountain trail to the forest grounds, a much longer zipline (3km!) to rival the world’s longest, and even a Zorb ball that rolls down the hill: