Davao Zone – Map of Greater Davao and Information

bat cave

Bats. More bats. Screeching bats. More than a million of them.

Imagine a cave in an island, filled with bats. Hanging upside down, close to one another, getting restless as the sun is setting. Hovering  all over the place.

Thats what I’ve experienced recently when I visited the  Monfort Conservation Park, in Samal Island.  Although known for its white beaches, the island offers this one of a kind place that even locals are not very familiar with.  The Monfort Conservation Park is a 24 hectare property in Babak District, Samal Island with five caves that makes up the bat sanctuary. It is the world’s biggest colony of fruit bats – Geoffroy’s rousette fruit bats (Rousettus amplexicaudatus). It just opened four years ago and has been giving tourists a unique experience ever since.

Inside, you will see bats all cramped together at the cave walls. There were some bats flying around, others just hanging out (literally), while others scratching themselves. One thing you might notice immediately even before you go near is the foul odor emanating from the caves.  I don’t know if it came from the bat’s manure, or simply from the bats themselves. Another thing is the screeching sound (hey, if you live in a place that’s dark and the population is almost two million, who wouldn’t be smelly and screeching all the time?). The park has five caves and each were filled with bats. I have never seen so many bats before and it was like a horror movie come to life – bats, caves and nauseating smell in an island.

another bat cave

more bat cave

It is only a 20 minute travel from Davao City, and around 15 minutes from Babak wharf. You can ride a motorcycle (habal-habal). The entrance fee is only P20. It is best to visit before sunset.

You’ll see why.

It’s more than a year ago when I posted about Robinsons Cybergate, which was then under construction.  The mall has finally opened sometime in May 2009.  Last summer, we took the chance to visit the actual place and to my surprise, it was smaller than I thought. Some of the room-spaces on the second floor were still empty.  However, the supermarket and a hardware have been opened and serving the needs of the people of Davao.  There were cafés, restaurants, spa and offices in the building so it didn’t look that empty though.  But I did like the quiet and not so crowded ambiance of the place.  Here’s Robinsons Cybergate Davao.

Robinsons Cybergate Davao

Parking space at the Robinsons Cybergate Davao

Location:  along J.P. Laurel (Bajada)
Transportation: Jeepneys and Taxis

Malagos Garden Resort is a nature retreat for the whole family. Located in the cool highlands of Malagos, Calinan, Davao City, the vast 12 hectare garden resort is home to many exotic flowers, fruit trees, a large collection of bird kinds and a host of other wildlife species.

The resort offers Overnight rooms, Function and Seminar Rooms and Halls, Restaurants, Coffee shop and a pool for children. If you are a nature lover, they have landscaped gardens with different trees and flowers distributed around, Butterfly Sanctuary, verandas, Farm Animals area and my favorite, the Bird Park where you can see different kinds of exotic birds.

An albino water buffalo

In the Bird park, there are many kinds of birds that I haven’t seen before. I was especially amused to see fat eye-catching chickens roaming freely around. There are colorful pheasants, wild ducks and those huge ostriches, among others. The resort features a Bird Show during the weekends and it hosts some sculpture of National Artist Napoleo Abueva. Truly an exciting and wonderful place to visit.

Fat rooster

Getting there:
Malagos Garden Resort is around 27 kilometers from the city center and 32 kilometers from the airport. It can be easily reached by Private or Public transportation.

By Car. Travel Time from City Center 30 minutes – 45 minutes.

By Public Transport.

a. Taxi. The taxi will bring you to Malagos Garden Resort. Travel Time from City Center 30 minutes – 45 minutes.

b. Bus and L300 Vans. City Center to Calinan and Vice Versa. Leaves the Bankerohan terminal every 15 minutes. Travel Time approximately 45 minutes – 1 hour.

The terminal for Annil Bus and L300 Vans are located at the corner of Quirino Avenue and San Pedro Extension, Bankerohan, Davao City (at the back of International Bank). It will also pass through SM City Davao, Roxas Avenue (Aldevinco Shopping Center/Marco Polo), Acacia (Madrazo Fruit Stand) and Quirino (Central Bank).

c. Motorcycle. Calinan to Malagos Garden Resort and Vice Versa. Travel Time 5 – 10 minutes.Upon arrival at Calinan, transfer to a Tricycle or Single Motorcycle.

The Department of Tourism has recently presented the top 3 RP destinations based on tourist arrivals from January to March. Among the three, Davao City named as the third top destination following Cebu and Boracay. With 156,468 tourist arrivals recorded, Davao continues to soar high as one of the top “must-visit” cities in the country before the year ends.

Balikbayan visitors and tourists of this city are not only overwhelmed by the emerging shopping malls, hotels and restaurants but the naturally rich flora and fauna as well. Island resorts are also one of the reasons why Davao City is popular among tourists. Furthermore, the celebrations like Araw ng Dabaw and Kadayawan invite visitors who want to witness and celebrate with each year.

Places to see in Davao:

Crocodile Farm
Puentespina Orchid Garden
Philippine Eagle
Paradise Island
Malagos Farm House
Malagos Garden Resort
- and many more

Davao Zone will feature those places in a later postings…

It’s been a while since my last post. I’ve been busy with finishing yearbook layouts and teaching at university. Finally, school is out and summer is here. What better way to welcome the summer season than diving into the deep blue? And that’s exactly what I did. Literally.

My friends and I decided to go scuba diving around Davao Gulf. Since all of us were inexperienced, we took the “Diving 101″ course from the Carabao Dive Center, located at the Sta. Ana wharf. This only cost us P750 inclusive of the diving equipment, fee for the instructor and boat fare. Plus photo and video coverage of your diving experience. Neat deal. The diving instructors oriented us about the basic techniques of scuba diving, safety precautions, how to operate the oxygen tanks and of course, hand signals since you can’t talk underwater. Each person was assigned one instructor, and they will let you dive a depth of 30-50 feet(depending on the underwater terrain) for about half an hour. So we dove, saw strange and beautiful corals, colorful fishes and had a great time.

If you are looking for some fun under the sea, Davao can offer some great dive spots to enjoy. There are several dive sites in the Davao Gulf, which are only 45 minutes to 120 minutes away from the city proper. You can choose from the following dive spots: Ligid Islad, Aundanao, Tagbobo, Pangubatan, Mushroom Rock, Paet Point, Coral Garden, Isla Reta, Talisay Wall, Angel’s Cave, Mansud Wall, Malipano Island, Pearl Farm, Punta del Sol, and Paradise Island.

me and my buddies

dancing jellyfish

Nemo and family!