A spontaneous trip is really fun and memorable when the person your travel buddies on that trip is your crazy high school friends. Indeed, high school craziness never ends. Planned trip is not the OHMians cup of tea. (Ohm is our batch name.) Why? Well, if we plan a trip there's an 80% possibility that it will be canceled or moved until it is good as, "Maybe next time guys!". And then, that next time means next few months or next year.

Our one-day trip in Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte was spontaneous and we didn't plan our itinerary. We only had a day to unwind and have fun, so we agreed to go to a municipality not too far from our hometown and has at least two (2) waterfalls. But, out of the six who said yes to our group chat in messenger, only three of us who made it to the Kapatagan and that's me, Diday @deeday31 and Ayen the Chinese! I also invited my sister @goiinmary to come along with us.

From Left To Right: Caryl (me), my sister (@goiinmary), Diday (@deeday31) & Ayen.

When it comes to waterfalls, we can't deny that Iligan City has a lot to offer. Well, it lives and exists with its sobriquet, City of Majestic Waterfalls. Still, it's not a bad choice to go beyond the borders of Iligan City and give other municipalities' waterfalls a chance to be discovered.

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GETTING THERE

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Kapatagan Bus and Van Terminal

From Iligan City, you can ride either a bus or a van with a signboard Kapatagan, Pagadian or Zamboanga in the North Bound Tambo Terminal. Just tell the conductor or the driver to stop you at the Kapatagan Town Center. But if you're like me who easily fall asleep either in sitting or standing position at the bus, I suggest that you will ride a bus with a signboard Kapatagan.

On the other side of the highway, you will see that there are lots of motorcycle drivers which are commonly known as the habal-habal driver. Tricycles are also available which can accommodate 4 to 5 person.

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DESTINATION

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We researched the falls that are in the area of Kapatagan, LDN. Diday and I didn't know that Davao del Sur has a place named as Kapatagan, too. We just skimmed and then jotted the Virgin Falls of Kapatagan, Digos City, Davao del Sur.

Apparently, I only knew that Virgin Falls is not situated in Kapatagan, LDN by the time I planned on starting to write this blog. Shame! Hah! Well, it was lucky that the drivers and vendors we asked in the area about the Virgin Falls didn't know that it's in Davao del Sur or else, they will laugh at us. Anyway, we really thought that we will be able to visit the three waterfalls and one lake on that day.

1. Cathedral Falls

2. La Libertad Man-made Lake

3. Sta. Cruz Falls

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CATHEDRAL FALLS

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Panoramic view of Cathedral Falls

Usually, when we talk about waterfalls, it is always accompanied by extensive trek, climbing stairs, crossing a river or hiking to the heart of the forest just to witness the falls. However, this is not applicable to this falls and I must say that by far, this is one of the most accessible waterfalls I've ever been to.

Cathedral falls is situated in Barangay Waterfalls, Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte. It is a 15-minute ride only from the town center. Its name is derived from its distinctive rectangular rock formations that cluster unevenly in a vertical manner. These rock formations resemble the huge bamboo pipe organs found inside in a Cathedral. The water drops approximately 35 feet high in a wide basin where you can swim. For the sandbank, it is spacious enough that can accommodate an estimated of 30 people.

It was unfortunate that we weren't able to go to the top of the waterfalls and see a different perspective. Note that Cathedral Fall offers you a free entrance fee. When we got there we didn't know that we can trek on a rocky slope to have a glimpse of what's on the top of the Cathedral Falls.

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LA LIBERTAD MAN-MADE LAKE

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Riding the big water bicycle

From the town center, La-Libertad Man-Made Lake is situated at the top of La Libertad, Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte with an estimated total land area of 15 hectares. It is a 20-minute ride from the town center where you can either ride a motorcycle or a tricycle. For the 20-minute ride, you will witness the vastness of the green area of Kapatagan. It's really refreshing gift to the eyes.

Before reaching the lake, you need to write your name for the tourism purposes. Then, a minute or two, the lake will scream serenity at you. The stairs leading to the mini wooden port of the lake is surrounded by beautiful flowers. The lake is big enough to do some water activities like riding a big water bicycle, a kayak or riding a swan pedal boat.

Upon exploring the lake, you will see a big Majestic Kapatagan sign. Since the lake is surrounded by trees, specifically coconut trees, the wind is really refreshing when it hits your face and it is like a reward to the tired legs which is busy in pedaling.

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OVERLOOKING VIEW

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Kapatagan Lanao del Norte is known for its vast green scenery and if harvest time, it becomes a golden view which can be seen along the road. As I've mentioned, when you go to La-Libertad Lake, you will see realized how beautiful Kapatagan is. Moreover, in a highly elevated area, those overlooking scenery of Kapatagan is like a painting on a canvas.

Since the La Libertad Lake is at the top of Kapatagan, we decided to make a stopover to treat our eyes and be mesmerized by the overlooking view of Kapatagan Lanao del Norte.

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STA. CRUZ FALLS, Failed To Visit

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As you can notice, we included Sta. Cruz Falls in our itinerary yet we weren't able to visit it. After the Cathedral Falls, we took a break and had our lunch in one of the eatery (small restaurant) along the highway. Then, we found out that we need to trek for two (2) hours for an average trekker to reach the falls. It was already past 1 o'clock in the afternoon at that time and we agreed that we will just visit Sta. Cruz Falls next time for safety purposes.

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RECOMMENDATIONS

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1 Sta. Cruz Waterfalls requires trekking, so it is best to make it first in your itinerary. The Cathedral Falls and La Libertad Man-Make Lake can be visited in the afternoon.

2 Cathedral Falls is accessible since it doesn't require you to do some extensive activities like trekking or climbing stairs. However, Barangay Waterfalls has a minimal access to the motorcycles. We can say that when it comes to transportation, Cathedral Falls is not accessible.

Thus, you can negotiate with the driver to wait a little longer if you want to have some good splash and plunge. Of course, there will be an additional fee since the time is ticking and there are other passengers that await them.

In our case, we walked towards the national highway until we found a habal-habal. It was a bit risky and unsafe driving since the four of us rode the habal-habal plus the driver.

3 Don't get me wrong on this part, okay? When asking for information, it's better to ask someone from the Kapatagan Terminal. Some drivers attempted to deceive us by asking for an expensive fare. Luckily, we asked a security guard beforehand.

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FARE & FEES

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Fare from Iligan to Kapatagan	Php 80
Town Center to Cathedral Falls	Php 20
Cathedral Falls Entrance Fee	Free
Town Center to La Libertad Lake	Php 50
La Libertad Entrance Fee	Php 5
Big Bicycle Ride	Php 75 per head
Swan Pedal Boat	Php 200 per boat
Kayak Boat	Php 75 per head

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CONCLUSION

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This mini trip was indeed a budget-friendly. Giving chance to the other waterfalls outside the border of Iligan City was a good choice. Even though we only visited one waterfall, still the Cathedral Falls alone mesmerized us by its beauty. Hopefully, we will be able to visit Kapatagan again and this time, I'll see to it that Sta. Cruz Waterfalls will be visited.

The Trio :)

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All photos are mine.

!steemitworldmap 7.8989 lat 123.7742 long Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte d3scr

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