There's not much places to go when you're inside the city other than the usual restaurants and malls. There's a park here and there but most of the attractions are man-made. So when we have a visitor, one of the places where we take them is Lake Sebu.
Lake Sebu is around an hour and a half from General Santos City, but there are a lot of places to stop in between so it's a great route to take.
I've mentioned Lake Sebu in this blog before so some pictures are recycled.
Lake Sebu view taken from Punta Isla ResortAll around Lake Sebu are different resorts. I've lost all the pictures I have with them, except the one above. First timers can enjoy a tour at the lake via boat.
The girl in T'boli costume is the tour guide. It's cute how she memorized all her lines and speaks them in a sing-song tone. While she narrates some interesting trivias about the lake, she also explains the culture of the T'boli tribe, the native people around this area.
The resorts around the lake offers a lot of other activities. You can rent a boat so you can paddle around the lake but swimming is highly discouraged because the water in the lake is mainly for fish-breeding. It's also the reason why you must definitely try the different Tilapia dishes that are served in the resort. The Tilapia is freshly caught and the recipes are quite innovative too.
But honestly we don't visit these resorts anymore because we've always gone there when we were younger and the boat tour isn't something that you want to do over and over again. Also we got stuck in the middle of the lake when we went boating the last time.
We usually visit 7 falls though.
Falls #1
The water from the falls came from the lake so it's also not recommended to take a plunge.
The Zipline is launched right beside the Falls#2.
Lake Sebu Zipline Rates:Weekends, Holiday and Fiesta/Anniversaries - P300Weekdays - P250
This package includes:a) 740-meter ride (from Falls no. 1 to Falls no. 5)b) 400-meter ride (from Falls no.5 to Falls no. 2 parking area)
It's quite cheap and the view is great! They say it's the highest in Asia, and you get to see a total of 4 out of the 7 falls.
Falls #2. Picture captured by my sister.
last December, 2010. My first time to try a zipline and I still had the guts to camwhore.haha! But honestly, it's not that scary. It's freakishly high but I've always had this idea that zipline should be used as a mode of transportation someday.
The 740-meter line.
The 400-meter line just before touch down.You end up at the parking lot near Falls #2. There's a view deck at the parking lot where you can take pictures.
Lake Sebu Falls #2
You only have to trek a bit to reach the bottom of Falls #2. There is also a canteen quite near so you can buy some snacks.
picture from 2012from here you can either go back to the parking lot or climb the 774 steps leading to where the zipline started
Ok this one's caged, but you get the idea. There's also a park near Falls #1.
For a fee they can mount you on a fake zipline and take a picture of you with Falls #1 as background. There's also trampoline bungee jumping that I wanted to try but it started raining.We usually bring lots of snacks when we visit Lake Sebu because we always make sure we can stop by Fortune Field Resort, a down-to-earth restaurant that serves the most delicious hito and chicharon tilapia, for lunch.
More about that here.
Fortune Field is probably about 30 minutes from Lake Sebu but we usually call ahead of time to give our orders.
You can contact them at these numbers:(083)2391090 : 0921-720-0690 : 0926-701-2588
We usually have our dessert at our next stop, Apareja for their famous buko halo halo.
Would you just look at that.
Lately, we've discovered this new place which might be a good alternative for Apareja as Apareja is already quite popular and the place is sometimes crowded.
Introducing Mang Johnny Halo Halo sa Buko!
You can dine in cottages around the restaurant so there's plenty of space.
The next stop would be Durian Garden.
Durian Garden is obviously a garden with lots of Durian trees, a mini zoo, and lots of lovely flowers. There's a restaurant, a pool and they also have rooms for overnight. My mother mentioned that some of the teachers in a nearby catholic university usually go on a retreat here.
When we went there, it isn't peak season so there's no entrance fee. We didn't even buy anything from the restaurant. So I'm hoping to pay back by blogging about them instead. (wahaha. as if.)
Also, it really is one of those places in South Cotabato that deserves a visit but people usually miss. Too bad my camera went lobat when we got here so I was only able to take a few number of pictures.
A Philippine dear grazing under the shadows of the durian trees.
This is really one sweet animal. It went near my cousin and he patted its head like he would a dog. The deer seemed to love it.
A lovely peacock.
Lovely flowers at the garden.I think these are the common ones. I wasn't able to take picture of prettier and bigger flowers.
And this is why I went lobat. I've been taking pictures of flowers since Lake Sebu. :(
After this stop, we went straight home but I suggest stopping by the Dole Pineapple Plantation.
picture from 2012
A random self-portrait appears.I can't take self-portraits on my own with my new camera. T_T
A long-exposure attempt on Falls #1.
So we're back by sunset.
It's a route that you can take too if you happen to be in General Santos City and is looking for some adventure.
As early as the end of March we already had our Summer Family Vacation and I'm going to blog about that soon.
If you still don't have plans for this summer, you might want to check out some of the trips I had last year for ideas.
Summer of 2012 trips:Part 1: PampangaPart 2-1: Heritage Village, ViganPart 2-2: Baluarte Zoo, ViganPart 3: Baguio CityPart 4: Rice TerracesPart 5-1: Ocean Park Seal Show, Fish Spa and JelliesPart 5-2: Ocean Park OceanariumPart 6: Enchanted Kingdom
Boracay 2012 Part 1
Boracay 2012 Part 2
Thanks for reading!
How's your summer so far?
