Wednesday, July 18, 2012

DB Tour 2012: The Adventures of the Toril Trailblazers

Four teams. Twenty-eight destinations. One epic journey.

The Davao Bloggers in partnership with City Tourism Operations Office and SMART Communications had their very first familiarization tour in Davao City. The tour was divided into four groups: Calinan Thrillseekers, Toril Trailblazers, Downtown Explorers and Uptown Adventurers.

Davao Bloggers
Fog + cold weather at Loleng's


And fortunately, I was assigned as one of the team leaders of the Toril Trailblazers group.

Villa Carmelita Inland Resort was our first stop. It was actually my first time to visit that place. It's a hotel ideal for family vacation and retreat. Rooms were fairly big. And like any other hotels, the room comes with a flat-screen cable TV, hot and cold shower with tub and a fast wi-fi connection.

Davao Bloggers

Davao Bloggers

Next stop: Eden Nature Park. Travel time from Villa Carmelita Inland Resort to Eden usually takes 40 minutes. I don't know what happened but it only took us less than 20 minutes before reaching Eden. I ain't exaggerating here. I surmised our driver broke the sound barrier!

Anyway, we were just on time for the day tour. The last time I visited Eden was three years ago and I do miss this place. During the tour, we were greeted by those beautiful flowers, cultured herbs and vegetables, deers and sheep, and of course, drizzle. The weather in Eden is generally colder since it sits at the foot of Mount Talomo, approximately 3,000 feet above sea level. Eden Nature Park by the way is a man-made resort. Pine trees were first planted in 1974. The owner decided to open it to public twenty-four years later. Today, Eden Nature Park is one of the famous eco-adventure spots of Davao City.

By the way, the place offers a magnificent view of Davao Gulf, Samal Island and the downtown area of Davao City.

Davao Bloggers

Davao Bloggers

After eating our sumptuous lunch, we rode the Indiana Jones ride and felt like a kid again. Awww.

Davao Bloggers

Davao Bloggers

And for our second to the last stop: Loleng's Mountain Resort. The place is like Eden sans the he adventure rides and mountains trails. Loleng's is more laidback compared to Eden and it's a perfect place for seminars and retreats.

Davao Bloggers

Davao Bloggers

This particular mountain resort also has a man-made lake. Saw a few drakes on the lake.

Davao Bloggers

Davao Bloggers

And for our final stop, we explored a little bit of Toril proper and Sto. Rosario Church. It was actually my first time to explore the innards of Toril.

And oh, Sto. Rosario Church is really big!!!

Davao Bloggers

Overall, we truly had an amazing experience. 

We really enjoyed this trip organized by the City Tourism Operations Office. More so, WiFi connectivity has been made possible by SMART Communications. We were able to share on what we have experienced on Facebook, FourSquare and Twitter. Thank you so much SMART Communications and CTOO! :D

Follow our adventures here at Storify! 

Thanks Kuya Lyle for creating this storyline from Storify!




34 comments:

  1. Those nature parks in Davao are a must-see, +1 reason for stopping by one of these days. :D

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  2. looks like you really had a blast exploring Toril! i hope you can also feature the other groups' adventures in detail :)

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  3. We love visiting Davao when I was young for my parents annual company outing. but since i left home for quite some time now.. mejo na miss ko na magpunta jan. I will be back soon and will surely review your blog for reference :)

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  4. I'll visit those parks when I stepped on Davao:)

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  5. What an adventure in Davao!!! I've only been to Pearl Farm in 2009. There's more fun in Davao City...

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  6. I've been to Eden Nature Park in my last visit to try the zip line there. Will try the other places here next time I set foot in Davao.

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  7. Renz, I love that flower(?) photo in Eden Nature Park!

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    1. Yeah! Daming magagandang bulaklak at herbs sa Eden!!! :D

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  8. I've been to Davao several times but I think I missed visiting these places. Hope to get back there and visit the Eden Nature Park, I would like to see those flowers personally.

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  9. I've been to Davao, around a decade ago. I surely enjoy Davao, but never been to these places. Maybe when I come back, I will put this on my itinerary. Davao offers a lot of adventures of a pinoy like me.

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  10. Mas bet ko ang Loleng at Eden. Yung Villa Carmelita medyo may tacky factor. :))

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  11. Davao! I wanna visit you soon. Great to see some blogger friends of mine at the above pics.

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  12. I wish I knew about this. I would have joined :( Hopefully next time you could invite me.

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  13. Hi Renz. The adventure is quite familiar only to find out that my cousin posted some photos on facebook of the same adventure, hehe. Anyways, I'm curious with that undefined blue flower on top.

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    1. Si JayCee :) Hope you'll enjoy the SEX Tour in our region on September. More Powers to you Renz.

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  14. Hi Renz! I love your site! It's breath of fresh air. I hope someday, I'll get a chance to visit Davao and the conquer the rest of Mindanao! hehehehe :)

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  15. Nice post Renz, see you and other Davao Bloggers at the SEX Tour this Sept.. :)

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  16. What a great way to kill time effectively and happily ^_^ Nice trip!

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  17. Such a tranquil-looking trip! Davao's one of the places which I want to visit since I can speak/understand the language. =)

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  18. I've been to Eden park a long time ago. It still looks the same to me.

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  19. cool! really nice way for Smart to showcase the power of their internet connectivity through this trip :)

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  20. Sana one day, I can join you guys together with my friend bloggers too based in Davao.

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  21. I've been to Eden Nature Park and I must say it is a paradise! I love the place and I wish to go back soon.

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  22. Davao has been one of my wishlists for a long time. I hope I could pay them a visit soon. ^_^

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  23. wow!! all the photos looks good! i bet all of you had fun! xx

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  24. Never been to Davao and at one time I almost was but time is just the problem. I really wanted to drop by there because I already heard so many good things of Davao.

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  25. I'm regretting for not visiting Eden's Park last year! It's beautiful! Thanks for sharing! :)

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  26. parang ang sarap ng pagkain..

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  27. It's a journey into the unknown, ... but we will be doing our utmost to get as much information on them as possible. We are going to be underdogs and the fact they won their group last season suggests they are a very good team. We have to be more than wary of them and we will prepare very thoroughly.

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