Crocodile Farm

After spending an hour at the NCCC Mall yesterday, we went to the Davao Crocodile Park. The Park is the product of the crocodile fascination of a man named Philip Dizon. As a child, he was greatly fascinated to freshwater and saltwater crocodiles. Davao Crocodile Park showcases a world-class crocodile farming system, which is the first one in the Philippines. It is a place I greatly recommend to those of you who will be visiting Davao in the near future.

The moment we entered the park, we were greeted by colorful and even talkative birds. Some were placed in cages, the parrots and mynah birds were merely tied to their bird houses, and the ostriches were free to run around with only a fence dividing them from the guests. My daughter had so much fun with one mynah bird who was so talkative. Seeing my daughter enjoying herself with the bird brought tears to my eyes as I remembered something in the past.

Aside from the birds, we also saw a couple of big snakes (an albino and a python), a couple of small snakes, a hyperactive orangutan, a few monkeys, a hornbill that looked like Zazu (from the Lion King), really quick squirrels, really slow turtles, a warthog that looked like Pumba (still from the Lion King), a couple of eerie-looking bearcats, a really big and angry billy goat, a big tiger looking majestic, a really cute tiger cub that looked like a stuff toy, many more animals, and of course, since it is a Crocodile Farm, the place was surrounded by crocodiles - LOTS of crocodiles.

Most of the animals there, I've seen for the first time but it was the crocs that really fascinated me. They look so fierce and strong, and BIG! Their skin look like an armor that's so tough and thick, making them nearly invincible. They look so slow and lazy when they are at rest, at times even looking like a statue, but when something (or someone) catches their attention, they gracefully move so fast, it's scary!

Pictures posted at http://journey2forever.multiply.com/

Eagles and Catfish

Today was a tiring but fun day for us. We started the day by visiting the Philippine Eagle Center (PEC) in Davao City. The Center is home to 36 Philippine Eagles, 18 of which are captive-bred. It also houses 10 other species of birds, 4 species of mammals and 2 species of reptiles. Simulating a tropical rain forest environment, the Center offers the visitor a glimpse into the country’s forest ecosystem. Although the exhibits are used primarily to help educate the Filipino people on conservation, the facility is also considered a major tourist attraction in Davao City.

The PEC reminded me of the MCWD Family Park back in Cebu where there are also a few rare animals housed-in, but it really shows that the PEC is more well-funded so it is far more organized than the family park. It would really be nice to see the Family Park become a tourist attraction in the near future, rather than just a simple park with a playground, a mini zoo and a pool.

I was able to take a lot of close-up shots of most animals, except Pag-asa and some of the bigger eagles because their cages were so big, and kinda elevated that even with my camera's optical and digital zoom, the eagles were still so far away. I will be posting those pics as soon as I get back to Cebu since I left my cable at home.

We spent around two hours at the PEC, then we had our lunch at a native restaurant along the highway. My mother-in-law ordered for us, and it was my first time to see and taste a catfish or what is known locally as hito. I am very choosy especially when eating fish, but I was able to consume two large grilled hitos.

When I was about to board the van after lunch, a man with a lot of multicolored cowboy hats approached me and offered me a hat for PHP 300 (6.75 USD). I was thinking of buying one for my dad back home, but PHP 300 is quite expensive for a hat, nevermind if it looks like a really expensive cowboy hat. When I was already inside the van, the man tried to haggle and dropped the price to PHP 250 (5.62 USD), and when I said I'm not interested, he lowered the price to PHP 50 (1.12 USD). I was already decided not to buy so I politely declined and we went on our way.

After lunch, we went to the NCCC Mall to kill time, and I saw the very same cowboy hats sold by the man earlier, sold inside the mall at PHP 95 (2.14 USD). I wanted to buy a white one for my dad, but then I realized that my dad likes to wear a hat, but not a cowboy hat so instead, I just went to the basement and bought a pearl shake for myself instead. *burp*

At Last!

At last I'm officially on vacation!

It's not a long vacation, so I'll make sure I'll enjoy every moment of it. I arrived here in Davao earlier.. er.. it's technically early Tuesday morning so I arrived here yesterday around lunch time. From the airport, I went straight to SM Davao to for my lunch, then went to the bus terminal and rode the bus for Panabo City, where my family and in-laws were waiting.

Last night, there was a party here in honor of my mother-in-law's birthday, among many other celebrations. It was so good to catch up with my wife's friends and relatives, as well as my daughter to meet her cousins.

I'm kinda sleepy now, but I want to make the most of this short vacation, and as much as I'd like to check and update my Facebook, the computer I'm using now, my brother-in-law's, it's way slow that I can't even open my FB main page. Oh well, I'll just check my FB later using my phone.

Good night... uhm, good morning world!