On my recent trip to the Philippines my son Max and I decided to spend the day White Water Rafting on the Cagayan De Oro River. We were picked up from Kingston Lodge who did the booking for us at 8am and off we went on a 30 minute ride in a vehicle called a Jeepney which is very similar to the Song Tao except a little bigger and a lot more colourful. The drive took us up into the hills of Cagayan de Oro passing little villages with tiny wooden houses where the locals live.Everyone was all smiles as we passed them and we gave them a wave, with the young kids chasing the vehicle having a bit of fun.
We arrived at our destination where we get into the rafts but before that we were given a quick rundown on paddling and safety. One thing I did notice was a family washing their clothes in the river using lava rocks as their wash board. While the parents were doing the work the kids were having the time of their life swimming against the rapids of the river. They have no need to be inside when you have all this nature around them and they will be super strong by the time they are teenagers.