I booked myself and a party on a piso fare flight headed for Mati, Davao on October 23 – 29, 2014. It was something I was strongly looking forward to especially after the pressure and stress of all the speaking engagements, Qeryz meetings, and SEO Hacker accounts management has come and gone this October.
It was a trip that sent me off packing memories for my last quarter of the year.
We went horseback riding and trail hiking on Anton’s 200 hectare coconut farm. It was an exhilarating experience and though the heat beat down on our backs, it’s a memory I would be often fond of.
Flying high on the Ultralight plane was nothing short of awesome. Literally AWE-SOME! You could see the whole of Mati, Davao in one 15 minute swoop. The experience was breath-taking. Needless to say I prayed hard for me and my family and friends as we took off one by one. It’s 1,600php per 15 minutes per person. Something you won’t spend each time you’re in Mati so we went ahead and took the opportunity to take-off.
Went night hunting with two spotters. We spotted a lot of wild animals but the highlight of the hunt was a snake and a huge rat. I had a 2 out of 5 shooting on sniper range on the snake and a 1 out of 1 shooting (head-shot) on sniper range for the rat. It was an amazing experience that I wouldn’t be able to do in Manila.
The beach house was a natural experience with huge waves crashing on the shore. Vince and I took advantage of getting wave-battered. Just because we don’t get to be wave-battered in Manila.
The Man-made pool at the estuary was refreshing. And I mean it in the utmost, body-cooling way. The water was cold. But not dirty cold. It was clean, revitalizing and refreshingly cold. I lie down where the river meets the ocean. As you can see in the picture, the waves are crashing by my feet while I looked on to the dark, star-studded sky.
The cool freshwater behind me, the wild saltwater below me, the soothing dark sky above me. It has just topped my list of most nostalgic nature experiences. Something I’d definitely go back and do again in a heartbeat.
Went out fishing with my wife – something I feel I’m not really good at. There were 6 of us trying to catch a single fish to take home to the farm and eat for dinner. However it seems that somebody warned the fishes and they all hid – which left us empty handed. So we jumped out of the boat and swam instead.
Waniban island is an isolated island in the middle of the sea. We took a good 20-minute boat ride to get there which was well worth it. Extremely clear water, a wonderfully colorful garden of beautiful corals and fishes that inhabit them, the green, relaxing mountain range beyond and the cold, refreshing bottle of sprite.
The only thing that kept my Waniban expedition short was the extremely scorching heat from the sun. We went there at the peak of the heat and we reaped red sunburned skin afterwards. Thank God for my UPF 30+ Speedo rash guard!
The beach was beautiful. Vince said that the sand wasn’t as fine and white as that in Boracay. But I haven’t been to Boracay and Waniban island is the closest thing I’ve ever experienced to white and fine sand. 
If you’re interested in getting this Speedo rash guard (they’re not paying me anything for this!) – it costs around 3,000+php. It’s a 4-way stretch, has an anatomic cutline, a boardshort connector (which was extremely useful for me). The suit also features water wicking capability, Thermolysis cooling effect to keep you from getting hot when out of the water. To top it off, the suit is also anti-bacterial, light weight, and part of the suit was made from nano bamboo charcoal.
It was nothing short of an investment for an outdoorsman such as myself.
And finally to close the 7-day trip, a photo-op with my little boy at the shores of Kanakbai resort. 🙂
Now that I’m back to work, I can honestly say that my drive to do more has dramatically increased after that 7 day of rest and recreation. It’s something that I need to do a little more often. I’d definitely visit Mati again someday.
‘Til next time!
