MISAMIS ORIENTAL | DAHILAYAN, BUKIDNON

Hello my fellow Nomad Travelers!!!

This entry has been long overdue. I went there last April and now, geez, It's already June! SORRYYYYYY…..

The Nomad Travels welcomes you to DAHILAYAN, BUKIDNON..

Considered as the "Food Basket" of Mindanao, Bukidnon borders the Northern Mindanao starting from Misamis Oriental, Agusan del Sur, Davao del Norte, Cotabato, Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur.

CREDITS: Google Map

The name "Bukidnon" means "Mountain Dweller" or "Highlander". Home to some Philippines high peaks such as Mt Dulang-Dulang (2,938masl), Mt. Kitanglad (2,899masl), Mt Maagnaw (2,742masl), and Mt. Tumingunan (2,400masl). With so many mountain to climb, the name Bukidnon does fit the description. 

And being up in the mountains, there are no seaports nor airports. To travel to Bukidnon means you have go by land travel coming from Cagayan de Oro City or Davao City as entry points. 

It's provincial capitol is Malaybalay City and the people are called Bukidnons (Highlander or Monutain Dweller). Our destination today however is miles away from the capitol Malaybalay. 

Dahilayan is a barangay under the municipality of Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon. In the recent years, much upgrading has done to promote tourism starting with the opening of Dahilayan Forest Park. Since then, Dahilayan has become the summer capital of Mindanao with it's cool climate and resorts offering fun and adventure for the entire family.

Altitude: 4,700ft asl          Temperature: 17ºC-24ºC

It has been a difficult choice for me between sunny Camiguin or refreshing Dahilayan to spend summer with my family. After all, summer is supposed to be "fun under the sun". But the weather in Philippines this summer seems to be rather too hot for summer with temperatures ranging from 31º to 34º in Cagayan de Oro alone. So I decided to spend summer with the family at Dahilayan.

Just over an hour from Cagayan de Oro, we took our family car for a drive to Manolo Fortich passing through the famous Del Monte Plantation and finally reached Dahilayan Forest Park on a rainy afternoon. It was really cold and wet and we have 2 kids in tow plus 1 baby. 

WHERE TO STAY

DAHILAYAN FOREST PARK. Not my first choice of stay but due to the season (Holy Week) my first choice which was Pine Groove was already Fully book.

The place was huge though with playground for kids. Fish ponds full of Koi's. Jacuzzi. Huge rooms and comfortable beds. Hot and cold showers. Tons of activities for the entire family.

Accommodations range from: 

• Family Suite good for 6pax (we went for this room) P5,000
• Standard Room good for 2 or 3pax P2,800
• Deluxe Room good for 4pax P3,200
• Forest View Suite good for 4pax P4,500
• Barkada Room (Min. of 12, Max. of 25) P500/pax

Check-in time will be at 2pm. Check-out is at 12nn. 

For check-in privileges: waived entrance fee, 10% discount in Forest Park Activities and 50% discount on Jacuzzi use.

Please take note that bringing of food and cooking inside the room is strictly prohibited. No smoking inside the rooms as well.

They do have the Forest Cafe which serves food until 9pm, however, based on experience, I do not recommend eating there. Worst food I've ever tasted. 

ACTIVITIES

• Bungee Bounce                             P150/pax
• Net Trampoline                             P50/pax
• Tree Top Adventure                      P250/pax
• ATV                                              P650/pax
• Buggy Ride                                   P800/vehicle
• Mini Golf                                       P150/pax
• Zorb                                               P250/pax
• Luge Ride                                      P600/pax

For zipline rates please click the LINK.

Day 1 for us was a rainy day. We arrived in the afternoon. So once checked in we stayed in our room the entire afternoon.  Kinda boring because they do not have any TV. The only place with the TV was the Café. 

At night, we headed down to the Forest Café for dinner. We did not enjoyed the dinner at all. The food was horrible. It tasted horrible. What a shame…

Day2. Woke up to a nice morning.. Fresh air.. Clear blue skies but with cold temperature. I know there's no cooking and no bringing of foods allowed but we have kids so we brought some noodles and rice, we brought our own rice cooker and portable thermos. Had our breakfast and then off to explore the resort. We rode the Luge as well and played mini golf. It was really fun! Plus my niece really enjoyed feeding Koi's (P10/pack of pellets). Then come afternoon, it was raining again… 

At night. my aunt and my dad brought food and it was heaven!! We didn't stock so much on food you see and since the resort's café serves horrible food, we were quite hungry that night. 

All in all I would rate the place 5/10. The café was really really disappointing and no TV inside the room. 

But what's important is the time spent together with the family. It has been a long time since we went on a vacation as a whole family with me being away for 7yrs.

I would still like to go back to Dahilayan but on the next visit I would like to stay in Pine Groove Lodge. I went in there and it was way way way more comfy than Dahilayan Forest Park. 

And since the road going to Dahilayan you have to pass by Del Monte Plantation, why not grab some photos?! I used to go with dad every time he goes to Del Monte for some business transaction and it's really amazing to see so many Pineapples everywhere!!

Have a great day ahead guys!!! 

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN TO LATELY?!?!

Much Love!!