Three scenic lakes, seven captivating falls, a bunch of endearing T’boli people, fascinating culture, pristine beaches and historical sites – what more reasosn can one ask for to visit South Central Mindanao? Of course I still get those “Aren’t these places dangerous?” or “We might get kidnapped for a ransom!” a lot of times until now. I’ve been saying this over many times, Mindanao has some insurgent spots but not the whole area. Lake Sebu, General Santos and Sarangani are one of those safe places to visit in Mindanao. I’m sure you’ll be aptly rewarded from your gutsy decision.
To cap off this chronicle, I’m presenting this video I put up with some scenes I shot during the trip. What’s so special here is the original Traditional T’boli music I used from the album “Utom: Summoning the Spirit – T’boli Music from the Heartland“. It features the music “Sendulug” from a group of artist Ye Juni, Ye Jewe, Awey Meyen and Blahing Mil. We got this very interesting album from Lake Sebu and it has beautiful raw recordings of T’Boli Music.
Itinerary
Day 1
- Manila to Lake Sebu
Day 2
- Serene Morning at Lake Seloton Lake Sebu
- Meeting Lang Dulay, the T’boli Dreamweavers and the T’nalak
- Spectacular Lake Sebu Seven Falls Zipline
- Lake Sebu’s Second Falls Hikong Bente
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
- Fly Back to Manila
Getting there:
To Lake Sebu
Fly to General Santos Tambler Airport from Manila
From General Santos, go to the Yellow Bus Line and take a Bus to Koronadal (Marbel). Bus leaves every hous until 7pm. Travel time is 2 hour at P50. If you’re in a group there are Vans there for hire to take you directly to Lake Sebu.
From Koronadal (Marbel) take a bus or jeep going to Surallah. Travel time is 30-45min at P30.
From Surallah, take a jeep to Lake Sebu. Travel time 1 hour at P30. There are habal-habal there for hire to take you to the different resorts in Lake Sebu
To Gumasa
From General Santos, head to KCC Mall for the Van terminal heading to Glan. Travel time is 1 hour at P80 per person. If you’re in a group, you can ask to hire the whole Van and go directly to Gumasa.
From Glan take a habal-habal to the different resorts in Gumasa.
Ferdz Decena is an award-winning travel photographer, writer and blogger. His works has found print in publications such as Singapore Airlines’s Silver Kris, Philippine Airlines’ Mabuhay, Cebu Pacific’s Smile and Seair InFlight. He has also lent his expertise to various organizations like the Oceana Philippines, Lopez Group Foundation, Save the Children and World Vision, contributing quality images for their marketing materials.
