A Day of Laughter and Kayak Chaos at Tawsan Mangrove Forest

Good day hivers! Today I'm gonna share with you our trip to a new tourist spot here in Danao City!. But let me tell you how we're able to find this new place. We are six friends and one of us, whose Ate Carmela, saw a post on fb about a newly opened tourist spot here in Danao and invited us to visit that place. Let me give you background information about the place. The name of the place is " Tawsan Mangrove forest " according to the CDN news article " it was recently launched on August 28 and it's located at Brgy. Guinsay in northern Cebu. And it was also stated that the name "Tawsan" is derived from the phrase " Tawo sa hunasan " that paid homage to the people residing along the city’s coastal areas for decades.

So let's go back to the story, me and my friends decided to check out the place before the holidays which is "all saints day" and the "all souls day". So we decided on the date Oct 31, and i almost forgot the perks of it is that its FREE! Yes! It's free you just need to book a schedule and go there on time and enjoy. And on the day of our trip half of us were unable to attend because of personal problems but thankfully the boyfriend of carmela whose name is Kuya John has decided to come with us so we went on our trip.

Our plan was to meet up at the terminal station so that we can go together. And when we arrived there, me and Kate decided to ride a tricycle to get there while carms and her boyfriend was riding their own motorcycle to go there. And as we hit the road carms and kuya john was following behind us. And because kate and i were sitting at the back of the driver we were able to see them and we were so excited to go there.

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You can reach Tawsan Mangrove Forest by riding a tricycle or bus to CSAP School, where you'll see a banner announcing the forest entrance; from there, you can either take a motorcycle or walk to reach the destination. And you could also search on Google Map so that you will not get lost.

As we hit the road we were smiling and talking about the scenarios that might unfold when we get there. After a short while we arrived at the corner of the alley but we still needed to walk for a few miles to get there. And as we walked down to the alley Kuya John suggested that we should all hop on to the motorcycle so that we could arrive early to our destination. Mind you there's four of us and the motorcycle is small and also the road is bumpy so we were hesitant to do what he suggested. But as he keeps telling us that he can do it and assuring us that nothing will happen we take the shot and let me tell you we were laughing as we rode because of the what ifs scenarios that comes to our mind cause each side of the rode is mangrove and water if we fell down we are absolutely get wet. But thankfully we were able to get to our destination dry and safe.

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When we got there there were a lot of people already most of them were students like us. We go straight up to the reception area so that we can list our names and confirm our turn to ride the paddle boat or the kayak. While we were waiting for our turn we took a lot of pictures to document our adventure. After a few minutes it's finally our turn! But before we get in the kayak we need to put our protective gear first which the life jackets and a helmet which is provided by the place. And there will also a tourist guide to guide you throughout or time and they could also take your pictures.

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And we took selfies before we boarded the kayak and it was by partner each kayak so me and kate are partners and carmela and her boyfriend are partners. This is where it gets so funny because it was Kate and my first time riding a kayak. When we rode the kayak, it was pure chaos because we weren't paddling in unison. That's why we ended up on one side, and we were laughing because we couldn't get our rhythm together. There were a lot of people at that time, and they were laughing at us because we were still at the beginning, while our other friends were already far ahead. And because we were on the side of the mangrove, the tourist guide got us and pushed our kayak towards the right direction. But once again, we were back on the side the second time, and it was so embarrassing.

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The people who were watching us were laughing and trying to teach us how to paddle. After a few trial and error attempts, we were able to go back in the right direction without anyone's help. Finally, mastering the kayak, we felt a surge of pride and accomplishment, a testament to our resilience and the power of laughter in the face of adversity. A few minutes later we were able to catch up to our friends and while were paddling carmela was just sitting pretty cause it's just kuya john who is the one doing the paddling and that's why we jokely said that when we go back there we will bring our boyfriends to so that we could also be just a Disney princess. But we were paddling and enjoying nature. There was this other group of girls that we were able to be friends with and we took a couple of pictures.

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When it was time to head back we agreed to race and the one who will be the last is the one who will pay a tip to our tour guide/ photographer. Unfortunately me and kate came last so we did pay a tip with our tour guide but to our surprise they also paid a tip. When we got off the kayak we took off our life vest and helmets so that the next group could take their turns. We headed to the lobby to sit down and chill before we headed out.

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But as we were chilling kuya john knew someone who worked there and he asked them if we could hitched a ride going home. Then they said yes we could but we should wait for the other group to finish so that they can close up and head home. After a while the other group finished their turn and so they closed up and told us that we could go home. Me, kate and carmela hitched a ride while kuya John is riding their motorcycle. Kate and carmela are gonna drop off at the street while I'm gonna drop off at the plaza cause the car that we were riding in is a government car. Thankfully there were other groups of friends that were going to drop off at the same place as me.

As we headed home, the memories remained vivid with me. It made me realize that kayaking with friends can test your trust, communication, and teamwork. Because you need to trust that your friend will do their part so that you can move together. Communication is essential as you need to communicate well for both of you to understand each other. And teamwork is crucial because you need to paddle simultaneously. It was a day filled with new memories and fun times that would last for the lifetime. I will always cherish the memories of our trip to the Tawsan Mangrove Forest, and I can't wait to go back and explore more of this beautiful place.

So if you and your friends loves to kayak and nature adventure you should check out this place!. As a first timer at riding a kayak it was nerve wracking but when you get hang of it you would definitely enjoy it. I would definitely recommend this place and just visit their facebook page for more info. And that's it, thank youuu for reading my blog!