Cateel, Davao Oriental Escapade: Aliwagwag Falls

Cascading Aliwagwag Falls

“Leisure is a form of silence, not noiselessness. It is the silence of contemplation such as occurs when we let our minds rest on a rosebuds, a child at play or a water-fall” -Fulton J. Sheen

Everyone was excited on the day before we embark on our Cateel, Davao Oriental escapade and was dubbed as “Duaw Cateel”. Our escapade location is 360 kilometers away from Davao City.

The group are about 42 individuals who met at 10 pm in the evening of Saturday beside Mc Donalds Bajada. Arthur Yap consolidated the efforts with other participants Elmer Abanid and Sarah Elizar who made the event successful.

It was quarter to 11 on the evening when the bus started to move on our way to Cateel. Arthur contracted the Bus operator owned by the Buenaflor Family of Cateel. I will share some information about Cateel before I move on with my escapade story, Cateel is bounded on the north by the Municipality of Boston, on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Municipality of Baganga, and on the west by the Municipality of Compostela. Cateel is one of the oldest towns in northeastern Davao Oriental. It was named after a kind of rattan that abound in the place.

Moving on, we stopped by at Nabunturan at around 12:02 am to have some leg stretching and early morning snack break and travel again after 15 minutes. It was 3 am in the morning when we arrived at Cateel Public Market The area is quiet and a bit cold.

We then proceeded to the session hall to the municipal to took some rest and waited until sunrise.

Captured sunrise with a canoe

It was 5am in the morning and all those who brought their camera positioned their lenses to the glowing early yellowish orange of the sky waiting for sunrise. After 1 hour, we then visited one of the poblacion’s eatery where our breakfast were served.

On our way to Aligwawag falls

Our next destination and our first visit for that was the famous Aliwagwag falls which is 25 kilometers away from the poblacion.

Some are of poblacion Cateel

We traveled at around 7:50 am from session hall and arrived at the falls at around 8:30am. It was a magnificent view and it’s just along the bridge. A little details of the falls: Aliwagwag falls is a 1,110 feet of gushing water and 20 meters in width. It has a series of 84 falls that looks likes a stairway with various heights ranging from 6 to 11 feet . It was a fun and relaxing way to celebrate National Heroes Day.

crab catcher

Next destination as part of our escapade is the Mabuyong Falls at Barangay Maglahus, Cateel, Davao Oriental , Here’s the link