Our fellow seniors (of Ateneo de Davao H/S Class 1960) spent two marvelous days in Maragusan, a verdant, prosperous municipality idyllically located in a valley surrounded by mountains rich in gold and planted with exportable bananas.
Our generous hosts Ochie and Anabelle Cabalquinto Teoxon were kind enough to play tourist guides for us and thanks to Anabelle’s siblings, Lito, Em Em, Jeeramil, we were treated to sumptuous lunch and dinners. But the highlight – or one of many – was our visit to Anabelle’s parents’ house (both younger than us!) who shared their vegetable garden’s sayote, kamote, luya, patola, karlang, and kalabasa and better than going to the market since the price was right!
There are many sights to see in Maragusan. One is the Aguakan Resort with its beautiful blue swimming pool, nice resto and landscaped garden setting. Then, we got to see how gold was produced – in a ball mill owned and operated by Anabelle’s Kuya Lito who said that a gold ingot takes 96 hours to produce from rock crushing, to the four slurry tanks, to the refinery. The gold is mined from their own mines deep in the nearby mountains.
Then Ochie, took us to a tour of his 39-hectare banana plantation of exportable Cavendish to China after which we each took a carton of green bananas, sorry na lang sa Chinese buyers ni Ochie. We had lunch at HAVEN’S PEAK, a hilltop resto that can be accessed by climbing about 208 steps uphill – or riding a cable car gondola for two – pero cheating ito for Mona, Mila, Lolit & Yoly, and Vic & Lucy.
For other Maragusan attractions, there is a volcanic sulfuric hot springs, a picturesque spot Sea of Clouds, a large lake, the Tagbibinta Falls, the old Masara mining community now operated by APEX, and the Town Hall where we met Mayor Maricel Colina, the daughter of the vice mayor, who used to play tennis at the Capitol Tennis Club near our City Hall.
If you had not been to Maragusan yet, do so. It takes about three hours – you go via Panabo, Tagum, Nabunturan and then climb up the mountainous highway – and voila – you’re in beautiful, bountiful Maragusan, home of the Teoxons and Cabalquintos.
Thank you from the group – Toti Morales, Philip Kimpo, Fe Solana, Mila Gumban, Mona Scott, Vic & Lucy Mabunay Lolit & Yoly Salazar, Ben and Beth de Guzman and Dinky and Queenie Munda.
“We’ll be back!”
