I love beaches. I think I was a mermaid in my past life. My love for the beach (adding to the itchy feet syndrome) urges me to discover the beautiful islands that Mindanao has to offer. 

Ever wonder how many years it made these islets to be formed? It’s just amazing natural wonders. And people here just adapted to nature. You’ll be surprised there are people who lived even in very small islets. 

As we're about to leave Boston Island, I made a wish using shells and stones. (originally made by Jorge then I finished it. A simple wish for....yeeeeeiii! ahaha! 

Watta wonderful experience! No one can stop me (yes, not even the emotional stress I had) from enjoying this beautiful God-given gift! :)

Dubbed as the “Niagara Falls of the South”, Tinuy-an Falls is a three-layered falls situated at Sote, Brgy. Burboanan, Bislig City, Surigao del Sur.

We were warned regarding the bridge that collapsed at Brgy. Burboanan. 

Two days before we arrived, a truck with illegal logs passed the bridge and it’s way beyond the capacity. The driver took the risk one night to transport the logs. Tsk! Now they (who ever owned that truck) must pay! They should repair the bridge! Hmpf! 

Now the people from the Baranagy has to take the makeshift raft. On one hand, this shows how Mindanaoans creatively face the problem at hand. The resiliency of communities.  Good thing, the municipal LGU also provided free ride.

Some interesting trivia about Tinuy-an falls:

·   It has a 3 tiered falls with a total height of 55 meters and a bathing width area of 95 meters

·   It has 3 islets at the swimming ground, cool atmosphere with presence of dipterocarp trees, ferns, orchids, and vine along bank of river.

·   multi layered riverbed of stones skillfully crafted by nature.

·   And formation of rainbow rays from 9 am to 11 am  (Sadly, we're not able to see the rainbow. :/) 


Since it’s a weekday, we had the falls for ourselves. 

There were no stocks of fish at the resto because of the collapsed bridge so we decided to eat our baon and leave the area by 1:00PM. 

PS. Just an observation, the municipal mayor’s face is at the huge tarpaulin. The Guests of the falls with the mayor’s smiling face everywhere! Oh wow! What a promotion. Haha! ( I no longer took a pic of that. He’s already over-exposed.hehe ).

Details of payment at the falls:

Entrance Fee                                     -             Php 50.00/head

Cottage                                             -             P     300.00

LET US SUPPORT ECO-TOURISM!!

For reservations, packages and updated rates, you can check the Bislig CIty Tourism Office at 

City Hall Building, Poblacion, Bislig City
Surigao del Sur, 8311
Tel. Nos. (086) 853-6089; 628-2112
Fax No. 628-2132
email-address : bisligtourism@yahoo.com.ph

PS. I will post our complete itinerary also and you might want to follow our adventure. You can also email me if you have inquiries. Or if you want a stress-free trip, you can also contact my friend's  Vardo Friendly Tours for tour package.  

Trekking and not finding the cook. Bad combination.

Hungry already! Bfast at Gail's Cafe.

The restaurant is overlooking Brgy. Mangagoy and you can see the tuna vessels. The resto manager said vessels as far as General Santos and Sarangani came here to catch tuna as tuna catch were already dwindling near GenSan. He also shared that a coal mining and proposed coal-fired power plant was already approved for Koreans. He seemed proud. Then our admin officer said, "You know we are from NGOs and is the coal mining approved with consultations? What kind of development does this City wants?" He stopped. Probably he regretted sharing the information to us. We laughed. No discussion of politics and work early in the morning please! 

Overlooking Brgy. Mangagoy.

I love this window painting!

We’re excited to eat seafood early in the morning but sadly, their cook was not yet around. The manager offered to come along with us on another resto at the city center. But first, we have to see the grandeur of his sister’s expensive hobby!

A collection of dolls from different parts of the world ranging from Php1,500 to P80,000! He shared that his sister is married to a Swiss but childless. She works as supervisor in a chain of malls at Sweden and started to buy dolls especially during her travels. She sends the dolls in their ancestral home or brings it along with her when she goes home every year. 

The kids will surely love it here but my golly! If I will have a kid, esp. a daughter, I won’t bring her here, afraid she’ll say this, “Nanay! Nanay! I want one of these dolls!” I might faint. Just hearing the price of each doll and the cost of maintaining this doll house, No thank you darling. This is a collection for those who have money to spare. Hehe..

Don’t get me wrong. Anyone has the liberty where to put his/her money but….(I better keep mum here. hehe) 

Anyway, to see the rare collection, here’s the proof. 

Barbies representing different nationalities! Oh, Barbie and Ken are cousins and not lovers as I thought way back. hhmmm..interesting!

Teddy Bears (named after former US Pres. Theodore Roosevelt. And the different clowns and jokers section

Asian dolls section. I so love the wayang kulit (puppets) and the doll from Bombay.

Japanese dolls cost aorund P40,000! me faints!

The biggest stuff toy! haha!

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The night before, from Hinatuan river we drove to Bislig City and spent the night at the Paper Country Inn.

Lodging at Paper Country Inn, Room Rates below:

suite                P1,750

deluxe             P1,100
Standard          P  900
Economy         P  600

Contact details:

(086) 628-2313 & (086) 853-3079/ Facsimile (086)- 853-4144

Or  through their FB page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Paper-Country-Inn

For the free-spirited girls (that's me and Lizzy Whizzy!) with moles on their feet and the events planner Jorgie Porgie, an Amazing Race-like trip is a thing we’ve been looking for. Originally scheduled on May, this rest and recreation (a yearly office benefit for the staff), is long overdue.

Since we will be leaving by 4AM, we decided to camp out at the office and wait for dawn. Instead of sleeping, we talked and had our pedicure session. Colorful nails are a must for trips! J

By 11AM, we arrived at Brgy. Talisay, Municipality of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur  wherein the aptly named Enchanted River lies on its grandeur. Simply amazing nature wonder! Pictures didn’t lie about the dark blue brackish water and the depth of this river. 

I was so afraid to go to the center thinking there’s a black hole or very strong current that will just magically drew you in (vivid imagination can make you paranoid, you know! Hehe). It’s estimated 26 meters and it used to be the storage area for logs of PICOP (Paper Industries Corporation of the Philippines, a huge logging and paper mill company during 80s) before sending the logs to the ocean. In one of the underwater exploration of Dr. RJ Villanueva (a diver and photographer) even found out logs underneath 80 feet.

Locals believed this place is enchanted and guarded by spirits and the big marine fishes are taken care by them. Swimming after dark is prohibited on this mystical river. Folklore said there are two women (diwatas?) and a man in green from the lagoon area that comes out here every night. This blue (ranging from indigo to aquamarine and with moss and light green colors in between)  basin surrounded by trees, is a mix of fresh and salt water. Terrifying at first but when you take a dip, you will not want to come out.

If your group came late, you can request for special feeding time at 3:00pm to witness these amazing fishes. Locals say that despite the various marine fishes one sees, no one can be ever caught by hand or even fishing equipment like net or spear. Or even by dynamite fishing (I don’t know if it’s true or an embellishment of the story but it’s nice to know that this folklore helps to keep this fishes from greed.J). This added to the mystery of the place.

Aside from swimming here, one can also take island hopping by renting a boat at the end of the lagoon and visit the surrounding islets. You can choose for different tour packages such as the following: 

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LET US SUPPORT ECO-TOURISM!!

For reservations, packages and updated rates, you can check the Enchanted River Management Office at Mobile number: +63920 - 259 - 5554 

For the Municipal tourism officer : +63919 - 460 – 0855

PS. I will post our complete itinerary also and you might want to follow our adventure. You can also email me if you have inquiries. Or if you want a stress-free trip, you can also contact my friend's  Vardo Friendly Tours for tour package.  J