Our tummies sent an sms to our brain telling us that we need to eat. Now. The problem was, we were already on a tricycle, en route to General Santos City’s airport. We came all the way from Sarangani, visiting two of its beaches, Sellona Beach and Gumasa Beach. And travel time from there up to Gensan took more than two hours. Our tummies’ need was very much justified.

We asked our driver if he knew of a place where we can have a late lunch. What we wanted was a steaming hot bowl of balbacua, a beef broth similar to nilaga. We heard it’s one of Gensan’s specialty dish which we, unfortunately, haven’t had a chance to try yet. And here we were, ready to take off from the city.

Gumasa Beach, found on the western edge off the town of Glan in Sarangani Province, it evokes images of powdery white sand, turquoise waters and scantily-clad beach bunnies frolicking on a pristine shore. Imagine our disappointment as we rode a habal-habal motorbike one morning from the nearby Sellona Beach and were greeted by somber grey skies. And it gets worse. By the time we arrived at Gumasa Beach, we were denied entry by two resorts holding the key to this famous Mindanao beach by sky high entrance fees. Coming all the way from Manila, imagine our disappointment indeed.

CLOUDS OF SAND BELOW THE WATERS OF GUMASA BEACH

LOCAL OUTRIGGER BOAT PASSING NEAR THE SHORE

Alright, there might be no beach bunnies in skimpy bikinis on this beach, but I have really no preconceived notion about Gumasa Beach. My partner-in-crime was the one who really dragged me to this side of Mindanao, saying, we were already in the area, why not check it out?

We ran to the beach, our eyes bleary and our brains still reconnecting with our limbs. There were embers in the sky, burning and flaring above the mountain gradients on the horizon. But with each of our fumbling steps, that glow was fading fast . We stopped right by the soft creamy shore of Sellona Beach, the warm waters of the sea gently lapping our feet and gawked. We overslept and were caught totally unprepared.

BROD LOUIE’S RESORT GROUNDS AT GLAN, SARANGANI

OUR PERSONAL BALCONY FACING SELLONA BEACH

BROD LOUIE’S SIMPLE BUT CLEAN ACCOMMODATIONS

Four hours of non-stop travel would do that. From the majestic lakes of Lake Sebu, we boarded a van back to General Santos City to catch another dilapidated van with a non-working air-con to the town of Glan in Sarangani. On the way, we scoured the interweb for a place to stay. Picking from all the expensive resorts along the famous Gumasa Beach, we set out for Brod Louie White Sand Resort, the cheapest amongst those we found online [ROOM RATE: PHP600.00 | CONTACT NUMBER: (0942) 393-3516 | (0921) 988-0846| GPS MAP: 5.796904, 125.175886].

► SEE: KAMARI RESORT IN GLAN

Our habal-habal motorcycle slowly climbed the steep uphill drive towards our lodging. Riding at the back with my travel buddy—and with our big-ass backpacks on—we tightly prayed that we don’t fall off and crash. After what seemed like an eternity, which really must have been less than a minute, we stopped in front of the inn and gladly jumped off the bike. We took in the scenery below, our sigh of relief coming at the same moment as our breath being taken away—a panorama of Lake Sebu opened below.

After flying almost 200 meters above ground through Lake Sebu’s Seven Falls Zipline, we huffed and puffed our way to the park’s second waterfall. The path was easy enough but adrenaline was still pumping through our blood. After a few minutes, a sheer rock wall lined with layers of time led to the seventy-foot Hikong Bente waterfalls. It was almost the end of our Lake Sebu day tour and all our weariness of riding the habal-habal motorbike all day seemed worth it.

HIKONG ALO, THE FIRST WATERFALL WITH A HEIGHT OF 35 FEET

I have read a lot about the Seven Falls Zipline and the famed seven waterfalls of Lake Sebu but I actually have no idea how we would proceed about it. Do we have to hike from one falls to another like at Negros Occidental’s Seven Falls of Mabukal, do we see all the seven waterfalls by riding one zipline, or do we actually zip from one waterfall to the next?

It turned out to be a combination of the three.

► BOOK A LODGING IN LAKE SEBU

Tendrils of mist lazily rose from the water, waiting for the rays of the early morning sun to reach it. Sunrise at South Cotabato’s Lake Seloton takes a bit of waiting, being situated 700 meters above sea level, and add to that, an eastern mountain range blocking its arrival. The sun finally broke through and its light touched the waters, the once gray scene turned magical—the lilies bloomed with colors as fisherfolks aboard their wooden owong dugout canoes started to make their graceful way across the gleaming waters. Life was starting at Lake Seloton.

LAKE SELOTON BEFORE SUNRISE

Our own day started not at the town of Lake Sebu where Lake Seloton is located, but at General Santos City. It took two hours through a combination of an ordinary bus, a cramped van, and a habal-habal motorbike up and down unpaved roads, to reach this famed lake in Mindanao.

► SEE: LAKE SEBU DAY TOUR