A visit at the Museum and meeting Maitum Mayor Elsie Lucille Perrett!

After having a hefty breakfast through the courtesy of the mayor of Maitum, Sarangani Province, Mayor Elsie Lucille Perrett, we went to the municipal hall and got to meet the mayor in  person. Thanks to  S3X Tour Tres ( Soccsksargen EXperience Tour) organizer Avel Manasala of  GenSantos.com   with the teamed up of Ganda Ever So Much for this one of a kind experience.

Meeting a local politician is really one of a kind experience since they are busy with their daily activity running the town. In Maitum we were gladly welcomed by Mayor Elsie Lucille Perrett and she was game enough to have a group picture taken with us and after that a photo op with each of the bloggers present.

Next in agenda is the Maitum Museum visit, which is housed just inside the municipal hall. There we can see the rich culture of Maitum, the rich archaeological find in the area. It is a must visit if ever you are in town and it is highly recommended. And our official tour guide is no other than the Tourism officer of Maitum,  Mr. Arlex Narte who gladly gave us the details of the culture and the archaeological find in his hometown.

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Breakfast at Cresilda’s courtesy of the Mayor of Maitum. . . amazing!

The first day of the  S3X Tour Tres ( Soccsksargen EXperience Tour) is always the most anticipated of all. We have to wake up early from GenSan City and have our first itinerary for the day and that is going to Maitum town of Sarangani Province!

I was very excited since we are going to have our breakfast at Cresilda’s (Cresing’s Food Products), this is not the first time that I’ve been to their place. The memory still lingers, the organic food that they served is very filling, and they also served the food products that they are selling. They are into organic farming and their products are sure 100% organic.

Thhey served organic vegetable salad that is grown in their backyards, different variety of organic rice, the red rice, black rice and brown rice, the marinated Bangsi (flying fish) of course will not be missed.  Lemon grass-Turmeric hot drink, and the cold drink counterpart with a punch of lemonsito as out thirst quencher.

They also have a new caffeine free coffee made from rice and corn, wild turmeric powder, moringa, fresh dalaldan, herbal salted egg, lemon grass powder, coco sugar and bagoong. I gought a half dozen bagoon with me back home.

If enver you are interested in buying their products you can order from them directly by calling or text with mobile number 0919-3045279 or email them at ferminc.rivas@hotmail.com

The breakfast is through the courtesy of the mayor of Maitum, Sarangani Province, Mayor Elsie Lucille Perrett(meeting with her needs another blog post). Thanks to  S3X Tour Tres (Soccsksargen EXperience Tour) organizer Avel Manasala of  GenSantos.com   with the teamed up of Ganda Ever So Much for this memorable tour .

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Kiamba's Children's Park and Tuka Marine Sanctuary visi

As part of the Soccsksargen Experience Tour we visited Kiamba, Saranggani Province and it was awesome experience I should say!

The children’s park in Kianmba is one of the best in the province. It is well maintained with a mini zoo inside a great experience for the locals and visitors alike. The park is just along the beach great place to unwind, bring your kids along and enjoy the scenery along the beach.

The beach house by the children’s park is where the local government of Kiamba, Saranggani Province hosted a sumptuous lunch for the blogger who participated in the Soccsksargen Experience Tour.

The next stop is the Tuka Marine Sanctuary and the the jump off point for the boat rides is just at the back of the children’s park.

Tuka Beach and enclave is a pristine marine sanctuary that play host to a rich and biodiverse fauna. It is just a few minutes boat ride and what welcomes the visitors are the white pristine beaches along the coast.  We had the pleasure to snorkel along the Tuka Marine Sanctuary and there are lots of fishes and corals just a few meters away from the coastline. But a sad reality struck us most, is the presence of  crown of thorn star fish.
The crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) is a large nocturnalsea star coral polyps. The crown-of-thorns is a corallivore, a carnivorous predator that preys on reef coral polyps. They climb onto reef structures, and then extrude their stomach onto the coral. This releases digestive enzymes that allow the starfish to absorb nutrients from the liquefied coral tissue. The crown-of-thorns also preys on brittle stars in a similar fashion.
They are voracious predators. An individual starfish can consume up to 6 square metres (65 sq ft) of living coral reef per year.

The local government of Kiamba are worried about the presence of the Crown Thorns in the Tuka Marine Sanctuary. If only we could help them to save the corals. All we could do as a blogger is to let the world know that the marine sanctuary in the brink of ecological disaster.

Lot of thanks to Avel Manansala who spearheaded the Soccsksargen Experience Tour Part II and the local government of Kiamba, Sarrangani Province for their hospitality. It was really an experience of a lifetime.

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Maitum, Saranggani's culture and white water tubing experience!

A journey to Maitum, Saranggani Province is like journey in the past. It is considered Mindanao’s Old World. This is where hundreds of anthropomorphic jars were found in the caves of Maitum which were used as cover for burial jars associated to the Metal Age in the Philippines circa 5 B.C. to A.D. 225. And to experience their water tubing in Pangi river is a must do adventure in Maitum.

I was one of the lucky bloggers invited during the Soccsksargen Experience Tour last weekend  which was spearheaded by Avel Manansala.The Municipal hall is a grand building with mini archaeological and ethnographic exhibit, on the second floor which also houses the replica of the jars that was found in the area. The local government cannot place the real old jars since the National Museum requires that the original jars and other museum pieces should be housed separately in its own museum and not in the city hall. But none the less, the exhibit that they have gave most visitors the history that Maitum has to offer.

Maitum is 127 kms from Gen. Santos City, to get there air-conditioned vans are the most convenient way to go and you have to shell out P140 for the fare going there.

After experincing the culture of Maitum, we are off to an adventure with white water tubing at Pangi river which is around 15-20 minute ride from Poblacion, Maitum.

This time we are off to getting ourselves wet in the wild river of Pangi. We have to change our clothes to get wet and enjoy the water tubing experience of a life time. This is the first time that I will ride the water tube going a river downstream. The excitement and fun is an experience of a lifetime.

If you want to try water tubing, you can ride a motrocycle (habl-habal) at P25/person from the national highway in barangay Pangi or by tricycle at P100 one way trip from Poblacion.

For a school trip or group tour in Maitum with water tubing adventure you can get in touch with the right person at the Maitum Tourism Office.

• Ms. Elizabeth Ramos-Palma Gil (Information Officer) 0921-5944228;
• Arnelito Ramirez (Tourism Operations Assistant) 0918-6133022;
• Arlex Narte (Tourism Operations Assistant) 0919-3738007

What are you waiting for? Plan your next culture and adventure in Maitum, Saranngani Province now!

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A visit and product sampling at Cresing's Food Products Maitum, Saranggani Province!

I was one of the lucky participants who got invited to the SOCCSKSARGEN Experience Tour (SEX Tour) Part Deux! I would say that it was one of the best experience I had and I would like to thank the organizers, especiallyAvel Manasala and the rest of the SOCCSKSARGEN Bloggers!

Last February 25, 2001 I woke up very early to travel to Maitum, Sarangani Province, I stayed in Driggs Pension House and was fetched up by Avel himself together with the bloggers from Manila in the name of Cai Abass,Marky Ramone Go, Fitz Gerard Villafuerte and Don Triviño. We waited for the other bloggers from Davao and Soccsksargen area before we proceed to Maitum.

We visited Cresings Food Products, who let us have a taste of their organic products like the Lemon grass-Turmeric hot drink, and the cold drink counterpart with a punch of lemonsito. It was really refreshing. Their products ranges from organically grown black rice, red rice and white rice. They also have a new caffeine free coffee made from rice and corn, wild turmeric powder, moringa, fresh dalaldan, herbal salted egg, lemon grass powder, coco sugar and bagoong.

You can order from them directly by calling or text with mobile number 0919-3045279 or email them at ferminc.rivas@hotmail.com

Free tasting of their products comes with a heavy breakfast, where we got to taste the organic black rice, brown rice and white rice that they are also selling. The owner of Cresing was very happy to meet bloggers from the region and also from Manila. The food was really filling, the food on the table are some of their products like the herbal salted egg which they did not dip into any food coloring to preserve the taste, some are grown in their garden like the fresh vegetable salad like carrots, singkamas, cucumber, their blanced vegetable like okra and camote tops, dried salted fish and the ginataang suso which was a hit with my palate.

We ended up buying some of their products which Ria Jose from Davao recommended us to take home with us since it will be much cheaper on site. If you are interested in ordering they ship it anywhere in the Philippines you just have to shoulder the freight fee in addition to your orders.

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