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Wild, wildwest
Intrepid travelers will love the off-road
adventures of Maitum in western
Sarangani, two hours away from
General Santos. “This town has a lot
to offer like hiking, caving and river
tubing,” says Manila-based multimedia
journalist Izah Morales of
www.
tripadora.com.
Maitum’s forests also
support rare wildlife such as the golden-
crowned flying fox, the Philippine
tarsier and the Philippine eagle.
At Barangay New La Union, one
can experience the thrill of river tubing
down Pangi River, which is one of the
cleanest rivers in the country. Flanked
by lush mountains, adventurers hang
on to solo floaters fashioned from tire
tubes. Wrangled by trained river guides,
they tumble down 1.6km of foamy
whitewater through big boulders. “It’s
one hell of a ride!” says Morales.
Venturing further west, inquisitive
minds can satisfy their archaeological
curiosity by visiting Sagel Cave, found
amidst the simple Maguindanaon
villages of Barangay Pinol. While
Sarangani’s political independence
is only two decades old, remarkable
evidence traces its past to more
than two millennia. In 2008, quarry
workers accidentally discovered this
cave, unearthing human-shaped
secondary burial jars similar to the
ones found much earlier in nearby
Ayub Cave. While anthropomorphic
earthenware has been found elsewhere
in the Philippines, the distinct facial
expressions on the Maitum Jars
make these discoveries unparalleled
in South-East Asia. Dating back to
the Metal Age — from around 5
BC to 225 AD — these mysterious
finds are outstanding proof of an
advanced civilization that once thrived
in prehistoric Sarangani. While the
original artifacts are now housed at the
National Museum in Manila, expertly
crafted replicas and dioramas can be
admired at the Maitum Municipal Hall.
River tubing means tumbling down 1.6km of
foamy whitewater through big boulders. “It , s
one hell of a ride!” describes one journalist
Clockwise from top: River tubing down
Pangi River; ancient potsherds and
bones found in Sagel Cave; Maitum
anthropomorphic pottery pieces are
unique for their expressive faces.
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