Lake Sebu, South Cotabato has a beautiful cool climate.
Although it was still cold, I
was already up early as I wanted to catch the blossoming of the lotus flowers
on the lake. Read in the Ambot ah! blog about
his canoe ride on the lake to picture the lotus blooms and was inspired just to
do the same. William, the owner who was already awake said
that he would accompany me. So off we went descending from the resort to the
lake. Along the way we met one of the workers of the resort, Kulas whom William
asked to come along with us to paddle the boat. At the bank of the lake William
asked some residents that we be allowed
to use one of the canoes lying there. With
Kulas paddling and maneauvering around the fish pens that surrounded the lake
me and William had the time taking pictures of the blooming lotus. With no outrigger, it was scary at first to
ride the canoe as we had to keep our balance perfectly to avoid the canoe being
overturned. We returned to the resort just in time for breakfast.
Lake Sebu being a mountainous area is also noted for its several
waterfalls. The newest attraction of the town is their zip line at the Seven Waterfalls. However, after
breakfast, William brought us to a
private falls which was within the newly bought property of their son. This was
in Tasiman, a barangay of Lake Sebu seven kilometres away from town. The
couple said that they want the falls just to remain private to keep the
surrounding pristine. It is only to
their guests that they would like the falls to be open. We had a good time bathing and swimming in
the falls.
After the visit to the private falls of the Monte Cielo, we right away proceeded to the famous zipline of Lake Sebu. It was my first time to ride on a zip line and sure it was a
very memorable experience. The first few seconds was scary as one drops from a
dizzying height but after that it was an exhilarating experience as one surveys very captivating sights of waterfalls one after the other, rivers and tree canopies. There are two
lines that you take, the first consists of 740 meters and the second is 400
meters long. For weekdays the price for
the ride is 250 pesos and 300 for weekends.
With the zipline rush over, we were on our way back
to Gensan passing by the town of Surallah, South Cotabato.
We were impressed by the town’s welcome rotunda which displayed various sculptures
of men and women in their native costumes.
 |
| The lotus only blooms early in the morning |
 |
| Monte Cielo Resort as seen from the lake |
 |
| The lotus flowers serves as the foreground of the Monte Cielo Resort |
 |
| A fisherman on the edge of his canoe trying to catch some tilapia outside of the fishpens |
 |
| William and Kulas on the canoe among lotus flowers |
 |
| In Tasiman, walking down to the private falls of William. |
 |
| This is the private falls of Monte Cielo Resort found in their newly bought property. |
 |
| My cousin Bobby our tourist guide and driver and William, the resort owner |
 |
| Part of the property that the son of William bought |
 |
| The parish church of Lake Sebu |
 |
| Inside the church of Lake Sebu |
 |
| The altar table is a huge piece of rock |
 |
| Along the road in Lake Sebu one can find plenty of stalls selling live tilapias |
 |
| Tilapias for sale. |
 |
| Another store selling live tilapias |
 |
| The Welcome rotunda in Surallah |
 |
| The parish church of Surallah |
 |
| Inside the church of Surallah |
