Featured Places

Exploring Pearl Farm, Davao City

Pearl Farm Beach Resort lies in a secluded cove on Samal Island off the coast of Davao City. This 11-hectare spread was once a pearl farm, where thousands of white-lipped oysters, transported from the Sulu Sea, were cultivated for their pink, white and gold pearls. Today, the resort beckons with the promise of a relaxing, private retreat, under the care of our friendly, charming staff.

The resort’s Samal Houses are patterned after the stilt houses of seafaring Samal tribes of the Sulu archipelago. By day, schools of tiny fish frolic between the sturdy poles that support the houses. At night, the sound of the waves are a soothing aid to slumber.

photo credit: mark wendell

Exploring Digos City, Philippines

Digos City is a 2nd class city in the province of Davao del Sur, Philippines. It is the affluent suburban city in the province of Davao del Sur, Philippines. The city strategically lies on the eastern shores of Davao Gulf and southern foothills of Mt. Apo in the island of Mindanao. According to the 2007 census, it has a population of 145,514 people in 26,306 households. Digos City is now a part of (Metropolitan Davao) Metro Davao. In 2000, Digos was converted into a city.

In the early days, Digos was a watercourse, a meeting place of inhabitants belonging to the Austronesians settled along the southern foothills of Mt. Apo. The Digos River meets the Davao Gulf and it is ideal for fishing and bathing.

During the Spanish Era, a group of natives carrying bows and arrows were approached by some Spaniards traversing the very fertile tracks of land in Davao. One Lopez Jaena Pacheco, a conquistador during the administration of Governor Claveria serving as the head of the group, inquired about the name of the place from the barefooted natives. Believing that the Spaniards were asking where they were bound to, the natives answered “Padigus”, which means “to take a bathe”. Since then the place was identified as Digos.

photo credit: christmasterpiece

Exploring Iligan City, Philippines

Iligan is nestled in the midst of luxuriant natural beauty of Northern Mindanao. It is a city truly blessed and nurtured by Mother Nature. It is protected from typhoons by natural barriers; its terrain is hugged by a long stretch of shoreline along the Iligan Bay.

Its mountains and lush forests hide numerous waterfalls in its embrace, earning for itself the title “City of Waterfalls.” The most famous, enchanting and the most awesome of these is the Maria Cristina Falls along the Agus River. Agus and Maria Cristina are sources of hydro electric power for most of Mindanao’s requirements. Spring like Timoga and Taytay are sources of cool and pristine water for swimming resorts that provide relief from summer heat. The coastline as well offers beaches and picnic grounds.

With all the natural wonders and blessing bestowed upon the city, the most prized asset of iligan is still the warm and vibrant hospitality of its people. Both natives and people of different ethnicity all come together to make iligan their home.

Exploring Tinago Falls, Iligan City, Philippines

Tinago Falls is a waterfall in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. It is one of the main tourist attractions in Iligan, mainly located at Brgy. Buru-un. This is one of the 20 waterfalls that made the city known as the “City of Majestic Waterfalls”.

Tinago is a Filipino term meaning “hidden”, the falls being hidden in a deep ravine. Trekking to the falls requires approximately 500 descending steps called the winding staircase. It is about 140-feet high falls, very cold waters cascading beautifully into a deep and calm basin-like pool which appears like a blue-colored lagoon. Under the falls is a small cave where people can enter and listen to the rumbling waters.

Exploring Maria Cristina Falls, Iligan City, Philippines

The “City of Majestic Waterfalls,” as Iligan is being described, does not plummet to the depths of the earth but empowers the industries it houses to keep the nation moving. It is not only known for its rich natural resources, the likes of Maria Cristina Falls that has become a major source of power, but it is also the home of nationally acclaimed artists, poets, cultural workers, and writers, and geographically, is a cross road of the cultural mix of the Maranaos of Lanao del Sur, Higaonons of Bukidnon, and the dominantly Christian settlers and migrants from the Visayas and other places of Mindanao.

Maria Cristina Falls is a waterfall of the Agus River. It is sometimes called the “twin falls” as the flow is separated by a rock at the brink of the waterfall. It is located 9.3 kilometers away southwest of the city proper at the boundaries of Barangays Maria Cristina, Ditucalan, and Buru-un. Well-known for its natural beauty and grandeur, the 320-feet98 meters/320 feet high waterfall is also the primary source of electric power for the city’s industries, being harnessed by the Agus VI Hydroelectric Plant.

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