White Water Rafting Adventure

Summer is here, and it’s time to accelerate our passion for adventure! Buoyed up by the thrill of the previous month’s Balubal River Trek, we came up with an on-the-spot plan for White Water Rafting Adventure. We immediately called up CDO Water Rafting for an instant booking! Just two days after we initiated the idea and the 13 adventure aficionados (Chona, Jessa, Sahlee, Fe, Peggy, Judith, Edz, Lilin, Arlan, Ruben, Gilbert, Eve and yours truly) were all set to gear up for the rafting challenge.

Right after we arrived at the starting point, we eagerly strapped on our life vests and head gears, took a few minute briefing from the guides, and jumped into the canvas rafts all fired up with adrenaline to hit those rapids. We were divided into three rafts, so that made the distribution of 5 persons in each raft plus the guide. Being only few in the raft gave us an advantage ‘coz all of us can enjoy paddling, unlike when the raft is too crowded, those persons sitting in the middle would have to switch position with the ones sitting on the side so as for them to get the opportunity to paddle, else they would remain sitting pretty in the middle and cannot go with the “High Five” cheer, hehe!

We traversed the Mambuaya-Kabula course, spanning 12.32 kilometers, with 14 rapids from classes 3-4, which took us approximately five hours to complete. While we were fully expecting to be blown away by a string of rapids in quick successions, the entire journey proved to have more long stretches of calm water than rapids, but not to any great loss ‘coz after being attacked by the strong rapids, it was refreshing to paddle slowly and take in the lush valleys surrounding the river, which is the barrier between Cagayan de Oro and Bukidnon.

Paddling wasn’t a problem, but in order for us to move forward efficiently, we all had to do it simultaneously, so we counted out loud in unison. If we wanted our raft to turn sideways (or backward perhaps), our guide can easily maneuver it with his 3 major commands: “Forward! Back Paddle! Stop!” Cascading along the rapids was the best. The sheer moment of elevation followed by the plunge a second later made me wish there were endless rapids for the entire 12-kilometer stretch, whew! Aries, one of our guides, then introduced us some of those popular rapids we are to encounter – the “Makabundol”, the so-called “Kiss the Wall”, the Surprise, and the Kris Aquino Fall. One caught our attention when we stopped over and waited for the next raft to be blown away by the rapids… ooops! As they wave their hands in the middle of the rapids, one of them indeed fell off from the raft! It scared us though, but within just a few seconds, we can already see a head coming up from the water, and everybody pulled him back to the raft. Well, part of the adventure that is, and that momentum truly deserved another “High Five” cheer!

After a few hours of rafting, we docked for lunch in a small island. Half an hour later, we continued to paddle and during the long stretch of stillness, the guide told us we can take a dip on the water ‘coz the next rapid was still one kilometer ahead. So we jumped off the raft and just floated on our life vests. When it was time to get back to the raft, it was then that I took the opportunity of doing into practice what the guide instructed on the case of a fall-off incident, when the person has to be pulled out from the water and be taken back to the raft. So I asked our other guide Joel, “Pwede ko magpa-practice Wel? Nahulog kunohay ko sa raft, then kuhaa ko sa tubig, same nga procedure adtong gi-instruct ganina sa briefing”. With my body facing backward and my hands gripping the neck portion of my vest, Joel clutched the shoulder of my vest, counted 1-2-3, and pulled me over from the water. With just a wink of an eye, I was already sitting back on the raft in perfect position, hehehe! Nice practice, Vonnex!

An hour after paddling through the current, we came upon a cliff that the guides called “Snake Preview”. Aries explained that during summer, snake came out of their holes in the rocks and preferred to wrap themselves around the cool, leafy branches in the cliff. This was why there were lots of dry snake skins hanging from the branches. Intrigued by the snake skins, we sailed our rafts closer to take a clearer view of the snake itself. Oppps! There it was, coiling passively in the branch. Murag nahinanok pagkatulog, zzzzzzz! Still intrigued by the sleeping position of the snake, the other group tried to stretch on their paddle towards the branch to slowly shake it, and everybody was screaming for fear that the snake might wake up and fell into the raft. Good thing the snake was not disturbed from its deep slumber, else, I could just imagine each one of us jumping off from the raft in terror, hehe!

The last leg of the journey was marked by a striking view of the river wild. It was the time when our guide told us stand on the raft as we get ready for ourselves to be blown by the 14th rapid. A loud “woooohhh” was heard from the group as we took our final “High Five” cheer, and our final paddle as we sailed our rafts towards the concluding part, the highest point of the entire expedition – the “graduation jump”, which could give any adventure seekers their money's worth.

So there we go, climbed up the towering rock, and lined up for our jumps. It would be a good idea not to psyche yourself about the jump until you are actually about to do it. I was told that the best position is to fall with your toes pointed towards the water. Indeed it was, ‘coz as I did my final jump, there were no obtrusions at all. I expected a paddle-force pressure of the water against my body upon landing the water, but on the contrary, I just felt like I was dipping myself in a big tub, hehe! Sarap ng feeling! Guess I have to try this out next time around. Care for a rafting challenge part two? Anyone?

See complete photo coverage at http://pepperonni.multiply.com/photos/album/43