On our 2nd day in the sugarcane town of Medellin, we were invited by the LGU (Local Government Unit) to their beautiful Gibitngil Island. This island is still under Medellin Municipality and is located just across Barangay Kawit, Medellin, Cebu. It has a number of 2,500 population, around 500 households.
In less than 30-minute, we were taken by the Medellin motor boat, having a capacity of 20 persons, to the picturesque Island of Gibitngil.
Funtastic Island, as what they call this colorful cottages in Gibitngil, are offered to tourist and locals for FREE. We had our awesome lunch here and enjoy the clear waters. I can still recall Mam Jeanette's text "Get ready to be tempted by the waters!". It sure did lure us.
The local government of Medellin had created this Island Watch and cottages for the Bantay Dagat Watchers and Tourist that wants to visit this beautiful place. Like what I said, the cottages are all free and no corkage charge for food and drinks.
If your an adventurous kind of person and your not afraid of heights, I suggest you better try their cliff jumping. Its about 30-feet high. I guarantee you, you'll be having so much fun.
We bought some rope and hardware from our caving trip in case we found a nice spot for rappelling. We did found that perfect space. It was my first time to rappel down in a location like this. I had been rappelling down in caves, buildings and even under the bridges, but never in a beach. I excitedly wear my harness and get myself ready to rappel down the cliff.
During our stay in Funtastic Island, some of my friends got in a conversation with some locals in the area. A couple of ancient burial jars were dug up by the locals during the renovation of their tennis court. This local gave us this opportunity to take a good look at these jars. If I hadn't attended the Archaeology Symposium the other week in Museo Sugbo, I would have mistaken these jars for ordinary pots.
We leave Funtastic Island for Gibitngil's shifting sandbar around 1PM. This beautiful white fine sandbar is loacted in Sitio Pasil of Gibitngil Island. The moment the boat's anchor hit the sea ground, we jump out of our boat and enjoy ourselves with the crystal clear waters. We didn't stay that long though, we still have some places we need to visit in other parts of Medellin.
Upon arriving in the shoreline of Kawit, we headed back to the Municipal Hall to meet up with Mayor Ricardo Ramon Ramirez III. Our team leader reported the results of our cave exploration and ocular survey in Gibitngil Island. The ocular survey made in Gibitngil Island is related to the Mayor's plan of adding some zipline and rappelling area in the islet, which will probably push through soon.
The good Mayor advice us to try their Zipline in Barangay Caputatan Norte. He also mentioned that there is a cave near the area, which made us all curious to see. We went to ZipAway, as what they call it, and tried their 200-meter zipline. Believe it or not, this was my first time to experience a zipline adventure.
We also tried their Tarzan Jump, which was way more awesome than zipline. Its like your being thrown out from the mountain. Makes you scream your heart out. :) My whole body freeze though, when I shouted the "GO signal", and started to swing. But no worries. I'm all tied up safe in my harness. :)
After having so much fun, we headed back to Mercedes Village to pack up our things. We take a bath and head back to Cebu City afterwards.
Coming up on my next post... Medellin: Getting there and What to do. I will also be sharing to you an estimated budget for tirps to Medellin.