Cruisin’ Mindanao

I found myself all wrapped up in the preparation for our family trip down south at the beginning of May. It’s my husband and kids’ first time to see Mindanao (or parts of it). We would be away for a week and it’s not a nearby destination, so you ‘d realize how that unsettles me. In terms of making sure we have a place to stay, enough clothes to wear, ready budget for food and other incidentals…well, suffice it to say that I was the go-to person, as other moms in our company were. My female cousins and I have been spent a considerable amount of time pouring over our itinerary---but the husbands and kids seem imperturbable and blissfully unaware of the nitty-gritty that had to be dealt with.  Surely, the dirty job rests on motherly hands.  

On to the trip, I was glad to have a much smaller camera with me. My big cam has served me well, and it’s always going to be put to good use, regardless. Oliver got us an EOS-M on our wedding anniversary last April, and I decided to bring that, together with the dainty prime lenses which I never really got to use.  Being a photography enthusiast, I’ve naturally planned and imagined taking many amazing pictures and portraits of people, but reality strikes me that I’m a mom, and time-honoured, it is my utmost job to look after my kids’ needs first. So forget about amazing. I just took photos, period. Below are images of people and places captured whilst cruising the route of Davao-Samal-GenSan-Saranggani-Surallah-Sultan Kudarat. The ones where I appear were mostly taken by Oliver, or one of the people in our group.

That was a trip. Literally. At some point, in between plane and jeepney rides,we were cramming ourselves inside a pretty rundown van that my brother and a cousin took turns to drive, for hours and hours, on the wide, at times deserted roads of the south. We were 7 adults and 7 kids, almost new to these territories, and all wide-eyed. But the beaches we’ve been to, the roads we passed, the clear aquamarine waters and cold spring we’ve dipped our bodies into, the horses, yes horses! we've said hello to, the rough stony roads we braved, the mountains and waterfalls we flew over, the novel food we’ve partaken of and enjoyed, the unexpected token of warmth and kindness of strangers, the joy of familiarity in cousins, uncles and aunts, nephews and nieces, or the most random of people, and the stories shared —all that inundated the senses, and certainly filled a huge part of each one’s personal memory bank. And it’s the memory of mesmerizing Mindanao that we name it after.     

Sta. Ana Wharf , Davao City

Badjao kids diving for coins. This boat is bound for a 9am trip to the Samal Island

Samal Island

 

 

with our host family, my cousin Gloria Dawn

Road trip!

Saranggani Bay in the background

Coco Beach, Glan, Saranggani

 

 

peace, serenity....

el caballero

 

fisherman fixing his boat

local girl cleaning her pots with beach sand

I had the opportunity to chat with this girl, and listen to her rough life. She just graduated with first honors from 6th grade, but her grandma couldn't afford to send her to high school as five other siblings left in the grandma's care have to be fed. The family fish as their main source of income, but enough money hardly comes by.

Swimming in the cold spring waters of Olaer. General Santos City.

A visit to my father's place in Sultan Kudarat

Quick stop at the bridge that connects borders of  Region XI and X1I, Socsargen.

A fishing trip to my sister-in-law's farm.

Tilapia pond

My sister-in-law Michelle teaching me and Maxine how to sink a line

Miko, with the day's catch.

View from the zipline deck. Lake Sebu, Surallah

Bawal mag-picture picture sa kalo. Do not take pictures with the hats, or donning the hats. Point well taken.

Trinkets made by the T'bolis.

Highlight of the day, zipline.

flowers by the roadside

View from our restaurant. Lake Sebu.

A carte blance view of nature, as we while away and enjoy our crunchy tilapia fare.

I guess that if I had to define freedom, the first few things that will come to mind are laughter, smile, air and sunshine. Those for me are ultimate symbolisms of being able to express happiness without the constraints of society's woes or the dictates of unknown, and often negative, forces in life. However, it cannot be ignored that most times it is only in our minds that we shackle and deprive ourselves of what can be had. I had been in that mental prison at some point in my life. It cannot be helped. But I now love my freedom, and if it has to mean nothing else but laughter, smile, air and sunshine, and a content mind- then let me be the first to have it. Simple. Last Saturday, the family decided to spend the few remaining hours of the afternoon at the Sunken Garden. We took turns photographing each other and this time I only brought the 85 lens that I haven't used for a while. Gab did quite a job, and I must say that I have almost forgotten how I really love this lens. Something about the camera though tells me that pretty soon, an upgrade has to be considered.Rolling on the grass, laughing at the kids' crazy antics, sharing in the simple food, basking in the afternoon breeze, watching a lovely sunset--- ah, freedom.