The Davao Experience: Various Sights at the Davao Crocodile Park

This is the fourteenth part of our 4-days-3-nights Davao Experience.

For our next tourist destination, we went to Davao Crocodile Park. It is one of the major tourist destination in Davao and is located at the Riverfront, Corporate City Diversion Highway, Ma-a, Davao City and is about 15 to 30 minutes away from the city proper.

Davao Crocodile Park

To get there via public transportation, you can take a Buhangin Route jeepney from the city center and inform the driver to drop you in the "habal-habal" area found at the corner of Diversion Road. You can hire one to go straight to the Park.

Entrance to the Park

Entrance Fee

The entrance fee to the park is 150php/person. To make your visit there worth it and more enjoyable, make sure that you would go there when there is an activity going on such as the Pangil feeding, petting, etc. Again, unfortunately, we were unable to see any of the activities haha. So refer to the schedule below before going.

Monday

• 4:00 pm - Crocodile Frenzy/Crocodile Feeding (Yearling Stage Crocodiles)
• 4:15 pm - Animal Petting

Wednesday

• 4:00 pm - Crocodile Frenzy/Crocodile Feeding (Yearling and Juvenile Stage Crocodiles)
• 4:10 pm - Pangil's Feeding
• 4:15 pm - Animal Petting

Friday, Saturday, Sunday

• 4:00 pm - Raptor Bird Show/Educational Show
• 4:20 pm - Pangil Encounter
• 4:25 pm - Crocodile Frenzy (Yearling Stage Crocodiles)
• 4:35 pm - Crocodile Dancing
• 4:40 pm - Tightrope Walking
• 4:50 pm - Animal Petting

Anyway, the Davao Crocodile Park not only houses several crocodiles, but it also features other exotic animal species such as birds, bearcats, snakes, reptiles. They also have different plants and flowers along the park. But the main attraction would have to be the crocodile Pangil, which is the country's second largest crocodile at 18 feet long. There is a show usually in the afternoon wherein the caretakers enter the caged pond and probe Pangil with a stick. Again, another unfortunately incident for us, Pangil didn't show up, he was just sitting below his little pond.

The Main Attraction, Pangil the Giant Crocodile

Pangil was hiding in his little pond

The park also features an incubation room where crocodile eggs are hatched, a nursery room where newly born crocodiles are cared for, and several breeding pens housing young crocodiles and adult crocodiles categorized accordingly.

Crocodiles!

More Crocodiles!

Other animals found in the park includes Monitor Lizards, Ostriches, Turkeys, Pigs, Oriental Civet, Goats, Owls, Eagles, Orangutans, Turtles, Tigers, and different species of birds. A noteworthy attraction that really got my attention was a set of family bats. It consists of 2 bats which is larger than the usual bats I've seen and they have a baby bat within the cage and they were hugging the baby bat so it was a really cute attraction hehe.

Tigers in the Park

Orangutans

There are eagles as well

A Beautiful Blue Bird

Different Species of Birds

Relaxing Gardens are also found

At the exit of the park, there's a mini cafe which also sells a variety of crocodile leather products such as wallets, bags, belts, even crocodile meat. A little on the outside you can also find several restaurants and cafe but they were already closed when we got there. Anyway, the ticket also includes a free entrance to the Buttefly House and Tribu K' Mindanawan, which are both just a bit of a walk away from the Park but we were not able to go there anyway since it was already nearing night time.

The Cafe and Souvenir Shop

Genuine Crocodile Leather Products

Several Restaurants Outside

After that, we decided to go back to Ponce Suites first before having our dinner. The total payment for our car rental was 2500php including the gas and we gave a 300php tip to our amazing Kuya driver. So, I guess it was worth it.

Up next, dinner at Lachi's!

Davao Crocodile Park
Riverfront, Corporate City, Diversion Highway, Ma-a, Davao City
Contact Nos: (082)286-8883, (082)286-1054
Email Address: parkinfo@davaocrocodilepark.com


Read more:
The Davao Experience: Planning The Trip The Davao Experience: The Uniqueness at Ponce Suites
The Davao Experience: Dinner at Jack's Ridge
The Davao Experience: Getting to Samal Island
The Davao Experience: Monfort Bat Cave and Hagimit Falls
The Davao Experience: Kaputian Beach in Samal
The Davao Experience: Fernandez Beach and Garden Resort
The Davao Experience: Lyndon's World's Worst Ribs and Awful Chicken
The Davao Experience: Taps, The Breakfast Capital of Davao
The Davao Experience: A Visit at Eden Nature Park
The Davao Experience: Harboring "Pag-Asa" at the Philippine Eagle Center
The Davao Experience: Apo Ni Lola Delicacies and Lunch at Davao Dencia's Restaurant
The Davao Experience: Pasalubong Shopping at Aldevinco
The Davao Experience: Trying the Nightlife with Lachi's Sans Rival, Blugre Coffee, and Abreeza Mall
The Davao Experience: The-Supposed-To-Be-Rafting-Experience-But-Not and San Pedro Cathedral
The Davao Experience: A Unique Experience at Osmena Park
The Davao Experience: Knowledge Gathering at Museo Dabawenyo and Exploring Rizal Park
The Davao Experience: Serenity at the Lon Wa Buddhist Temple
The Davao Experience: A Gastronomic Treat at Hog's Breath Cafe
The Davao Experience: Strolling Around People's Park
The Davao Experience: Return Flight to Manila
The Davao Experience: Summary of Our Trip

Read More»

The Davao Experience: Pasalubong Shopping at Aldevinco

This is the thirteenth part of our 4-days-3-nights Davao Experience.

After our scrumptious lunch, we decided to forego some of the tourist spots and head straight to the popular pasalubong center, Aldevinco. It is located at C.M. Recto Avenue corner Roxas Avenue which is also infront of Ateneo University. It is easily accessible by jeepneys as well as taxis. It is basically a huge building with over 100 shops which sells genuine Mindanao products and a variety of souvenir items ranging from mats, brooms, table cloths, house ornaments, Batik products, clothes, shawls, even jewelries such as earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and anklets, etc.

Assorted Earrings For Sale

Wallets, Purses, etc

Keychains

Anyway, we were on a quest to find the perfect Davao shirt which ranges from 100-150php per shirt. A bit of advice, try the stores in the back outside of the building. Particularly "Sam & Naim's Souvenir Shop". The Ate and Kuya there are more friendly than the ones found inside the building and the prices of the souvenir items are cheaper. We were able to buy a shirt inside which costs 130php but at the stores outside it only costs 100php. So, buy outside, not inside haha.

Buy Here!

Tshirts and Shawls For Sale

Colorful Shawls and Bags

After the pasalubong shopping we tried to find the best Pomelo in Davao which is according to our Kuya driver, the best is the Golden Fruit Pomelo. Unfortunately, their products were out of stock.

Anyway, after 2 of our friends decided to just go to Abreeza Mall and hang out, but we, being the adventurers that we are, decided to go to Davao Crododile Park to continue our city tour. So, up next, Davao Crocodile Park!

Read more:
The Davao Experience: Planning The Trip
The Davao Experience: The Uniqueness at Ponce Suites
The Davao Experience: Dinner at Jack's Ridge
The Davao Experience: Getting to Samal Island
The Davao Experience: Monfort Bat Cave and Hagimit Falls
The Davao Experience: Kaputian Beach in Samal
The Davao Experience: Fernandez Beach and Garden Resort
The Davao Experience: Lyndon's World's Worst Ribs and Awful Chicken
The Davao Experience: Taps, The Breakfast Capital of Davao
The Davao Experience: A Visit at Eden Nature Park
The Davao Experience: Harboring "Pag-Asa" at the Philippine Eagle Center
The Davao Experience: Apo Ni Lola Delicacies and Lunch at Davao Dencia's Restaurant
The Davao Experience: Various Sights at the Davao Crocodile Park
The Davao Experience: Trying the Nightlife with Lachi's Sans Rival, Blugre Coffee, and Abreeza Mall
The Davao Experience: The-Supposed-To-Be-Rafting-Experience-But-Not and San Pedro Cathedral
The Davao Experience: A Unique Experience at Osmena Park
The Davao Experience: Knowledge Gathering at Museo Dabawenyo and Exploring Rizal Park
The Davao Experience: Serenity at the Lon Wa Buddhist Temple
The Davao Experience: A Gastronomic Treat at Hog's Breath Cafe
The Davao Experience: Strolling Around People's Park
The Davao Experience: Return Flight to Manila
The Davao Experience: Summary of Our Trip

Read More»

The Davao Experience: Apo Ni Lola Delicacies and Lunch at Davao Dencia's Restaurant

This is the twelfth part of our 4-days-3-nights Davao Experience.



Before heading back to the City Proper to have lunch, we had a stopover at a pasalubong center named Apo Ni Lola located at San Miguel Village, Matina, Davao City. It basically sells a variety of Durian candies ranging from yema to mallows to tarts, and some even have a certain twist to it, for example there is a Durian Mocha Yema or Durian Cookies and Creme Yema. They also have other fruits made into candies such as Mangosteen and Langka. What we enjoyed about this is they give out free tastes of their candies. Literally, free tastes of almost everything! I had a handful of freebies when we were there. In addition to that, they are selling these at very cheap prices. I loved the Creamy Durian Bar which was a surprise since I never liked the Durian taste, but this doesn't taste so durian-y and even has a milky, yema-like flavor to it so it was very enjoyable for me. These candy bars costs 100php/3 pieces and has other assorted flavors such as mango, mangosteen, etc. They also have various packs of different-flavored yemas costing 150php/pack which is a good idea for a pasalubong.

Rows and Rows of Various Delicacies

Various-Flavored Yema Packs

Various-Flavored Candy Bars

Other Products

After having our share of pasalubong buying (as well as freebies hoarding) we headed off to have our lunch at Davao Dencia's Restaurant Inc located at General Luna Street. They are famous for their lugaw as well as their tokwa't baboy. It is one of the oldest restaurants in Davao hence it's a very famous institution. But since we were all very hungry, we passed off the lugaw and opted to order heavy lunch foods. We ordered the lechon kawali, sinigang na isda, fried bangus, and adobong baboy at manok. It was heavenly. We paid around 600php for the four of us which was a good deal.

Davao Dencia's Restaurant

Lechon Kawali

Sinigang na Isda

Fried Bangus

Chicken Pork Adobo

Up next, another pasalubong buying at Aldevinco!

Apo Ni Lola Durian Delicacies
#28 San Miguel Village, Matina, Davao City
Contact Nos: (082)298-5099, (082)286-5099
Mobile Nos: 0921-5944864, 0917-482078


Davao Dencia's Restaurant
General Luna Street, Davao City
Contact Nos: (082)227-6777, (082)226-4336
Website:

Read more:
The Davao Experience: Planning The Trip The Davao Experience: The Uniqueness at Ponce Suites
The Davao Experience: Dinner at Jack's Ridge
The Davao Experience: Getting to Samal Island
The Davao Experience: Monfort Bat Cave and Hagimit Falls
The Davao Experience: Kaputian Beach in Samal
The Davao Experience: Fernandez Beach and Garden Resort
The Davao Experience: Lyndon's World's Worst Ribs and Awful Chicken
The Davao Experience: Taps, The Breakfast Capital of Davao
The Davao Experience: A Visit at Eden Nature Park
The Davao Experience: Harboring "Pag-Asa" at the Philippine Eagle Center
The Davao Experience: Pasalubong Shopping at Aldevinco
The Davao Experience: Various Sights at the Davao Crocodile Park
The Davao Experience: Trying the Nightlife with Lachi's Sans Rival, Blugre Coffee, and Abreeza Mall
The Davao Experience: The-Supposed-To-Be-Rafting-Experience-But-Not and San Pedro Cathedral
The Davao Experience: A Unique Experience at Osmena Park
The Davao Experience: Knowledge Gathering at Museo Dabawenyo and Exploring Rizal Park
The Davao Experience: Serenity at the Lon Wa Buddhist Temple
The Davao Experience: A Gastronomic Treat at Hog's Breath Cafe
The Davao Experience: Strolling Around People's Park
The Davao Experience: Return Flight to Manila
The Davao Experience: Summary of Our Trip

Read More»

The Davao Experience: Harboring "Pag-Asa" at the Philippine Eagle Center

This is the eleventh part of our 4-days-3-nights Davao Experience.

Philippine Eagle Center

The Philippine Eagle Center is also a long way from the city. From Eden Nature Park, I think it took about 1 hour and 30 minutes to get there. We were able to ask around some taxis if how much is it to go to Philippine Eagle and they told us it's 1,500php so it's a bit steep. But there are other ways to go there:

How to get to Philippine Eagle Center:

1. By Bus - ride a jeepney going to Matina and proceed to Annil Terminal located at corner Quirino and San Pedro Extension. Then ride a bus going to Calinan which departs every 15 minutes. From Calinan, you can hire a pedicab going to the Philippine Eagle Center which is about a 10-minute ride.
2. By Jeepney - go to either Agdao Market, Bankerohan Market or San Pedro St. There are several jeepneys passing thru there going to Calinan. Once in Calinan, hire a tricycle from Calinan to Malagos.
3. Or you can opt to do what we did, hire a private car :)

Entrance fee to PEC costs 50php/person plus a 5php/person for the environmental fee. Upon entering, there are several stalls/stores on the sides which sells some souvenirs like tshirts, keychains, etc. What is unique about them is that several of them also has a caged snake in front of their store for picture taking haha so that's something you don't see everyday.

Several Stalls at the Entrance

The Philippine Eagle Center

Map of the Philippine Eagle Center

You can opt to have a tour guide with you which is free of charge but since we were in a bit of a hurry, we decided not to get one. The Philippine Eagle Center not only houses eagles, but they also have various plants, trees, flowers, and other species of birds as well as monkeys, ostriches, etc. The walk along the park itself is a feast for the eyes because of all the plants all around you.

Various Eagles

Various Eagles

Various Eagles

These Eagles are perched in a tree and are not in the cages

Scout Binay, an eagle sponsored by, obviously, the Binays

But, of course, the main attraction would have to be Pag-asa. She is the first captured-bred eagle in the Philippines. Unfortunately, for us, when we got there, we weren't able to see Pag-asa in all her glory. Her cage was sitting atop a high ground and her nest was at the back of the cage and she was in the nest so we could only get glimpse of a feather or two. We stayed for around 15 minutes trying to wait for her to come out, but alas, she did not. So that was a huge let-down. Although there are a lot of other eagles and birds to see so I guess it wasn't such a waste of a time to go here. We were able to go around the park in an hour.

The Huge Cage of Pag-asa

Some Monkeys on the Loose

An Interesting Trivia about the Philippine Eagle

Don't forget to go inside their viewing room which houses Diola's stuffed body, the mother of Pag-asa. She is magnificent (although she's technically dead haha). Before leaving, we bought some keychains and magnets as well as some refreshments since it was really very hot. After that, we headed back to the City Proper to have our lunch.

Diola

Diola, the eagle

But first, a stopover at a famous pasalubong center. Up next!

Philippine Eagle Center
Malagos, Baguio District, Davao City
Contact No: (08)224-3021
Email: phileagl@pldtdsl.net


Read more:
The Davao Experience: Planning The Trip
The Davao Experience: The Uniqueness at Ponce Suites
The Davao Experience: Dinner at Jack's Ridge
The Davao Experience: Getting to Samal Island
The Davao Experience: Monfort Bat Cave and Hagimit Falls
The Davao Experience: Kaputian Beach in Samal
The Davao Experience: Fernandez Beach and Garden Resort
The Davao Experience: Lyndon's World's Worst Ribs and Awful Chicken
The Davao Experience: Taps, The Breakfast Capital of Davao
The Davao Experience: A Visit at Eden Nature Park
The Davao Experience: Apo Ni Lola Delicacies and Lunch at Davao Dencia's Restaurant
The Davao Experience: Pasalubong Shopping at Aldevinco
The Davao Experience: Various Sights at the Davao Crocodile Park
The Davao Experience: Trying the Nightlife with Lachi's Sans Rival, Blugre Coffee, and Abreeza Mall
The Davao Experience: The-Supposed-To-Be-Rafting-Experience-But-Not and San Pedro Cathedral
The Davao Experience: A Unique Experience at Osmena Park
The Davao Experience: Knowledge Gathering at Museo Dabawenyo and Exploring Rizal Park
The Davao Experience: Serenity at the Lon Wa Buddhist Temple
The Davao Experience: A Gastronomic Treat at Hog's Breath Cafe
The Davao Experience: Strolling Around People's Park
The Davao Experience: Return Flight to Manila
The Davao Experience: Summary of Our Trip

Read More»

The Davao Experience: A Visit at Eden Nature Park

This is the tenth part of our 4-days-3-nights Davao Experience.

Our first stop for our city tour is the Eden Nature Park. It is located in the District of Toril which is a long way from the City Proper, approximately 40 kilometers and a 1 1/2 hour ride.

How to get to Eden Nature Park and Resort:

1. If through public transportation - ride a jeepney with the signboard Toril and tell the driver to drop you off at the Mercury Drug Store, the way to the Eden Nature Park. From there, there are habal-habal that you can hire to bring you right to the entrance of Eden Nature Park.
2. By private vehicle - drive towards Toril Proper passing through the McArthur Highway. Once you see the Mercury Drug Store to your right side, turn right there. Approximately 20 km from there, there is a fork road where you can turn left to Brgy. Eden which will lead you straight to the entrance of the resort.

The map to Eden Nature Park (image courtesy of Eden Nature Park official website)

It was a long trip, I actually didn't expect it to be that long. Anyway, Eden Nature Park and Resort is one of the most popular tourist destination in Davao both by foreign and local tourists alike. It is located at the foot of the dormant Mount Talomo, 3,000 feet above sea level. It was discovered sometime in 1971 and it used to be a logged-over area covered only by wild grasses. Today, it is an 80-hectare area with over 100,000 fully-grown pine trees and forest trees overlooking the whole of Davao City and Davao Gulf. It also has a lot of facilities ranging from hotel rooms, cottages, pools, gardens, fishing areas, greenhouses, playgrounds, etc. etc. And this is all 95% man-made, how cool is that!

Eden Nature Park and Resort

Anyway, the entrance fee to the park is 200php/person including a free snack. They have guided tours around the park but it has a specific time schedule. Unfortunately for us, when we got there at 9:30am, the next tour was at 10:45am which was too long a wait for us so we decided to just explore around the park ourselves. What we didn't anticipate was how huge (and I mean, huge!) the park really was. Haha. I think, we were only able to explore around 20% of the whole park which was sad. So an advise to those planning to go here, call first to know if your arrival would coincide with their tour so as to be able to see the whole park.

This is how huge the park is!

Day Tour Rates (Image courtesy of Eden Nature Park Official Website)

Room Rates(Image courtesy of Eden Nature Park Official Website)

We were only able to go to the Pasyalan Area which houses a lot of bird species and then to the cottage area which is a great spot for picture taking. You're just surrounded by a lot of trees and greenery while overlooking the City of Davao that it will leave you in awe. I wanted to just roll around the grass over and over and smell the fresh air. We also went to the Mountain Trail but only up to the Hanging Bridge Area because it was still a long way to the end of the trail.

Starting Point of the Tour

Pasyalan Area

Cottage Area

Overlooking Davao City

Mountain Trail Area

Small Falls and River found in the Mountain Trail

We also saw the Deer Park which is a huge expanse of land with lots of deers inside. I was expecting a caged area but that was not the case. The deers were freely able to move around the huge field. It was really cool.

A Deer

But what we really enjoyed in Eden Nature Park is the Indiana Jones Ride. It's like a mini zipline where you would just sit down and glide along to the other side. I was scared at first but once you get the hang of it, it was really fun. I think we spent around 30-45 minutes there just riding over and over again haha. We reverted back to our childhood because of that ride.

Wheeee!

Playground Area and Amphitheater

They also have a zipline area which costs only 150php/person. What is unique about this zipline is you get the see an amazing view of Davao City. But we were not able to try it due to restricted time schedule and fear haha. But according to our driver, this is a better zipline compared to the one located in Outland Adventure because of the view.

Zipline!

Anyway, we left Eden Nature Park at around 11:00 am and went to our next destination which is the Philippine Eagle Center. It was unfortunate that we were not able to try the guided tour since there were still a lot of things to see at the park. Also, they have a lunch buffet which according to some blogs, it was worth their money.

Eden Nature Park & Resort Sales and Reservations Office
Matina Town Square
McArthur Highway, Matina
Davao City, Philippines
Contact Nos: (082)299-1020,(082)296-0791
Mobile No.: 0918-9307590
E-Mail: info@edennaturepark.com.ph


Read more:
The Davao Experience: Planning The Trip
The Davao Experience: The Uniqueness at Ponce Suites
The Davao Experience: Dinner at Jack's Ridge
The Davao Experience: Getting to Samal Island
The Davao Experience: Monfort Bat Cave and Hagimit Falls
The Davao Experience: Kaputian Beach in Samal
The Davao Experience: Fernandez Beach and Garden Resort
The Davao Experience: Lyndon's World's Worst Ribs and Awful Chicken
The Davao Experience: Taps, The Breakfast Capital of Davao
The Davao Experience: Harboring "Pag-Asa" at the Philippine Eagle Center
The Davao Experience: Apo Ni Lola Delicacies and Lunch at Davao Dencia's Restaurant
The Davao Experience: Pasalubong Shopping at Aldevinco
The Davao Experience: Various Sights at the Davao Crocodile Park
The Davao Experience: Trying the Nightlife with Lachi's Sans Rival, Blugre Coffee, and Abreeza Mall
The Davao Experience: The-Supposed-To-Be-Rafting-Experience-But-Not and San Pedro Cathedral
The Davao Experience: A Unique Experience at Osmena Park
The Davao Experience: Knowledge Gathering at Museo Dabawenyo and Exploring Rizal Park
The Davao Experience: Serenity at the Lon Wa Buddhist Temple
The Davao Experience: A Gastronomic Treat at Hog's Breath Cafe
The Davao Experience: Strolling Around People's Park
The Davao Experience: Return Flight to Manila
The Davao Experience: Summary of Our Trip

Read More»