Salumay Busay Adventure

Last thursday(April 5, 2007) we headed to Salumay to spend a night there. Salumay is an hour and 30 minute drive away from Davao. Located at the border of Davao and Bukidnon. Salumay is a few minutes away from Epol Waterfalls and it is before Seagull Beach Resort. The Globe satellite is just near and so if you are a Globe subscriber you won't be fretting about the signal (I heard Globe has a signal in Mount Apo as well).

Salumay is planned to be developed and be claimed as Mindanao's Summer Capital. It is cold there... somewhat like Baguio.



We stayed at Salumay Busay resort. They have limited rooms and so you have to call, in advance and book yourselves a room which costs 750 a night. They have a huge ground for tennis/badminton and at night , you can also pitch a tent. I don't know how much the overnight stay while pitching the tent on the ground would cost.

I went with the rest of the family, when I say the-rest-of-the-family, it would mean 8-10 families).

Left picture: From L-R: Ate Kai, Empire, Me and Darlene.



They called it Salumay Busay Resort for nothing....

It has a cold spring!

Busay is Spring in english. Salumay if you translate it into english would be "Diving In"... and how fitting! The place has lots of cold spring waiting to be discovered and to be dived in.




Gosh.. when you step in the water.. it is freezing and would make your teeth chatter in seconds.



The pool is small but it's deep. Maybe 8 feet ? 9 ? I'm not sure. All I know is that it is deep.




Me and the rest of the girls: from L-R: Darlene, A.V., Jboy, Ate Kai, Abigail, and me in the salbabida.. (too chicken to be without it..)

The other side of the pool. :)

The greatest challenge I faced during our stay at the Busay was jumping.

I'm not afraid of heights, I am mortified with the depth of the water. Me, knowing how deep it would be created a turmoil.

I'm usually a daredevil when I was young.. but as I aged away(woot parang matanda na talaga) from challenges and all those fear-factor-adventure.... it's welling up on me... and now faced with this challenge.. argghh! But, I know I have to do it... just that... you know...


The first one who jumped from the four(Ate kai, Abigail, Darlene and Me) of us was Ate Kai (left pic).

Saying... in her jump...... that "It-is-ok" and "Everything's alright.

She swims.. so it wasn't hard for her. I don't swim. I have a couple of those I-almost-drowned experience and one drowning incident when I was 6 or 7.

The second one was Abigail. No problem for her because she swims as well. :P



I was the third person to jump.


I decided to jump if the salbabida would be just beyond my reach (although, it's just near for crying out loud but just in case..).

It took me a long time to jump... but I did.. with sheer horror and the feeling of having and wanting it to be over.

It was really a nothing-jump compared to my jump when I was 16 at Darong River which really literally made me experience the for-a-moment-everything-was-still and my heart-stopped...and it was a long jump.

This jump... is a short one. You'd reach the water before you can say Gone-with-the-wind. And, I wasn't lying when I said sheer horror because I was dreading it. And.. if you look closely, the pic I posted is also embarassing. It showed me in my oh-im-sooo-terrified state.





The last one to jump was my sister Darlene. Hehe. Funny pose noh ? :P The jump made her touch the bottom and sit. Like her, she was also terrified out of her mind.

But, we are planning to experience more of those fear-factor stuffs this summer. We should. Hehe. :)







A video that shows the dive of three kids:

Papo, Paolo (my bro), and Keisha....




Our day at Salumay was not all let's-jump-and-dive-in. We also baby sat for two kids... who would exhilarate you...

Ahhh.. the joys and frustrations of Aiah and Empire.... Joy when they smile.... frustrated when they cry hehe.. but thats part of being a kid.....

But we had fun chasing them around while they chase chickens and butterflies.

Another good thing when you are at Salumay are the butterflies, dragonflies and flowers. You would see black and bloody-red colored butterflies - a not so common color... the red and white with almost transparent black wing of another butterfly, a black and yellow butterfly... and other lovely variations. Also with the dragonflies... they are big and they have vibrant colors. Sooo pleasing to the eye.

Flowers are abundant in this part. You would squeal in delight when you chanced upon them only if you love flowers.

If you want to just stay for a day there are cottages which costs for Php 75 only. You can organize a retreat over here.... and rent a 2-story building for only 3,000.00 :)

All in all... it was fun and a great experience. The sissiness (if there is such a word, and yes my dictionary says no) of my jump, chasing kids and butterflies, cooking at dawn for everyone... and the twisting and turning because it's just too cold to sleep... was all worth it. :)

Thanks sa mga Easter gifts: Appreciate it lots: from Len, Lhyz and Yagi