Hard-work needs a pay off from time to time, this is exactly what we are thinking. It should be a circle of life, after a long hard work it's time to treat yourself. Me and my group office mates decided to have a group outing to escape the strenuous life being at the office. By the way our group named "Mukamo", sounds weird right? It's actually an expression that we tend to use oftentimes to blap someone in a group and later on became our group name, who would've think that silly name, however I still wanted to change it. haha
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| Mukamo Team (Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
And now we decided to go somewhere and unwind. We were stressed out from work and for once, we just want a time for ourselves to relax and find peace.
November 30th was declared holiday and it's fall on Friday . And so, right after-shift we headed to PRC Makati to meet our pick up. Around 6 in the morning, our exciting ride started.
The road of Tanay Rizal was a bit rigid and had many turns. Nonetheless, the traffic was no way on our road. Thank God.
After a 2 hours drive, we finally arrived to our destination - Daranak Falls. We were all got excited and stepped out to take some pictures of the magnificent place, just about to realize that all our stuff are still inside the vehicle, so we went back to get those.
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| (Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
From the entrance, the falls is no way visible thus we all wondered where the falls was. After a long walk and crossed bridge, here it comes the Daranak Falls.
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| "Where's the falls?" (Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
The whole place was astonishing. It is truly a beautiful place to unwind, no wonder its considered as the Pride of Tanay. We headed to the cottages, and we chose one that had a great view to the falls. Indeed, local government units have done excellent job maintaining the beauty of the place.
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| Crossing the bridge (Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
We wandered around the place and one thing caught our attentions most was the rock stacking and they called it there "Rock Balancing". At first glance, you will amaze how someone can manage to balance those rocks with that formations. After too much of amazement, we gave it a try for ourselves and this is not an easy job.
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| Rock Balancing (Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
We went down to the falls, quite numbers of people were already swimming. The water was estimated 30 ft. deep. As we stepped into the water, you will be shock by its natural coldness, it was cold as ice and you will be left shivering the whole time staying there. After a while, our bodies get used the coldness of the water. It is indeed a perfect getaway on summer.
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| (Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
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| An act of shivering (Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
There was a not-so-high cliff just above, from there you can actually jump off and smashed the water with yourself. I think diving is not allowed for some safety reason and also going to the water falls is strictly prohibited too. A personnel there told us a story that some years ago, someone got drowned going to waterfalls himself, what I am thinking of it, as he telling the story, the guy drowned because of the impact of waterfalls pushing him deeper that he can't even hold it up. But don't worry, there are security personnel roaming around the area that makes your safety a prime priority.
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| Oh we love jumping off! (Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
After a very soothing swim, we decided to walk around.
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| Grilling time, smells good. (Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
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| Our cottage. (Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
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| what a great view over there. (Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
Moving on, we went all the way to Calinawan cave. The tour guide we hired told us that we were lucky to have gone there, The place was truly meant for adventure. He even told us that there were celebrities who used to shoot there.
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| Trekking just after swimming, we are crazy. (Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
The path to Calinawan cave was a bit of a journey but I didn't think my companions enjoyed it as much as I did. The road was coarse and long. At one point, we had to stop since one of our companion had cramps in her legs.
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| And a lot more walking. (Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
After a long walked and few assaults we finally reached the mouth of the cave. I was dazed to see the cave's interior, it was so clean and the rock formation was incredible. It is indeed a worth of walk and sweat. All our efforts never went down the drain; it was truly beautiful creation.
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| inside the cave. (Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
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| indeed lot of cameras simultaneously taking?haha (Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
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| Exiting...(Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
After a long while, it was time for us to go back. We headed for the alternate direction; it was smoother and much easier compared to the other one. But still, the scorching heat of the sun made our long-walk exhausting. And we happened to pass by Grotto Of Our Lady of Rawang, a 200 meter above see level and 346 steps.
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| walking under the sunny bright. (Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
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| Blessed Virgin Mary nestled on top. (Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
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| 346 steps...(Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
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| after the hundreds of steps we're now crossing the river..(Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
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| carefully crossing...(Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
Past an hour dehydrating walk, we finally managed to get back to our pick up. As we headed back home that very day, everyone wanted to take rest and check-in somewhere.
We've searched allover the adjacent areas but most lodges didn't have a single room for all of us. After a while, somebody from us grant his prayers, in the end we have found Kenos Lodge. We asked the owner if we can get a room for all of us and thank God they admitted us. A 1,000 pesos for a single family-sized room, along with parking area for our pick up, and a free use of roof top area. We are very thankful for the generous hospitality Kenos Lodge offered us and we heavily recommend to visit Keno Lodge for your great and budget-friend lodging experience.
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| Kenos Lodge (Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
We would like to extend our gratitude to Kenos Lodge for accommodating us. They have wonderful customer service. Now, if you're looking for a lodge that can accommodate a large group of people with a tight budget, Kenos Lodge is one place you can definitely go.
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| my drinking buddies...(Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
We stand together, divided we fall.
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| Mukamo Team!(Photo credit to Melvin Velasco) |
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Fast Facts:
Daranak Falls
- A perfect getaway not far from Manila. If you have a ride the travelling time will be 1-2 hours only depending upon the traffic condition. A usual commute will take between 2-3 hours depending upon the traffic.
- Entrance fee per person is 50 pesos (updated as of 2014).
- The place restricts liquors and overnight stay.
- Daranak Falls is open to public from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm only.
- Cottages cost 100 pesos/day of rent. Just a reminder, keep the receipt from your cottage rental, some personnel check it from time to time.
- There were nearby lodge you can go for if you wanna stay overnight. I suggest to try the Kenos Lodge.
Calinawan Cave
- The price of a tour guide varies depending on your negotiations. Just keep in mind, the tour guide that you will hired at Daranak Falls will service you to Calinawan Cave then back to Daranak Falls and not to the inside of a cave. There were separate tour guides dedicated to Calinawan cave only.
- Entrance fee per person is 20 pesos.
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