The Niagara Falls of Mindanao: Santa Cruz Falls

After the Cathedral Falls trip with my boyfriend, my father was talking about the mysterious Santa Cruz Falls incessantly.

And so last weekend, we embarked on a family (mis)adventure to Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte. Yes, my boyfriend and I was back to Kapatagan much sooner than we originally expected.

Totally unprepared for what we were about to get ourselves into, we braved practically into the middle of nowhere (Santa Cruz cannot be found on Google maps mind you) with nothing but ourselves.

And when I say nothing, I mean no water, nosh nor sunscreen. And that’s because our house helpers and “habal-habal” drivers (who served as our guides) said that the falls was just “near”.

On that day I learned that the meaning of the word “near” is only relative to the speaker. And so if you come from the city, please don’t trust anybody coming from a rural area telling you that this certain place is “near” because…

To get to the mysterious waterfalls, we had to climb up and down a series of boondocks…

We had to take off our footwear and walk barefoot to cross river bends…

Okay, we had a quick break here from hopping from one fiery hot stone to the other…

Carrying on, we had to trek “for days” through very dense native flora until…

Finally! The mysterious Santa Cruz Falls is a mystery no more! It was an adventure definitely worth my severe t-shirt patterned tan line.

And to cap off this post is a closer view of this beauty dubbed as the Niagara Falls of Mindanao. Be at awe with another marvelous God-made creation!

Beholding the Wonder of the Cathedral Falls in Kapatagan, Lanao Del Norte

Time indeed flies by really quickly. I still am astounded by the fact that today is the day that my boyfriend and I turn a year old. This is a milestone for both of us. So can we have a round of applause, please?

In celebration of our first year anniversary, my boyfriend had this marvelous idea of taking me to Kapatagan and Pagadian for a day yesterday.

I really love going to places I have never been to before! Plus, two different provinces in one day… How about that?

Needless to say, I was very ecstatic about it. I swear I could have done some somersaults and cartwheels the moment he said we will have this quick getaway about three days ago.

So our first stop was Kapatagan, a municipality of Lanao del Norte.

This was our fantastic bus stop. Can you believe that this bus stop is air-conditioned and has WiFi for free? We don’t have anything like this in our hometown or even in other cities that I have been to as well (not even the Ocean Park Hong Kong bus stop mind you).

I love how the bus stop is so clean and modern. Even the restrooms are very clean! This is something really uncommon in the Philippines.

Here is a glimpse of the waiting area of the bus terminal. Air-conditioning, comfortable chairs and free WiFi makes waiting less of an annoyance.

At Betty Beans, a coffee shop in Kapatagan Town Center, for some quick bites and cool beverages to beat the heat.

Here is my Roasted Mocha Almond Frappe and his Strawberry Smoothie. We like them both. Not pictured were our burgers and hotdog sandwich.

Now off to see the Cathedral Falls! Okay, I lied. This photo was actually taken on our way back to the city already. But we can at least pretend right?

Behold the wonderful Cathedral Falls!

This waterfall is bounded by unique rock formations which resemble like cathedral posts. It is just nothing like I have ever seen before!

Kisses from Kapatagan!

Up next will be part two of our pre-anniversary celebration. Do keep your eyes peeled for that!