Gambodes Falls, Arakan, North Cotabato

LaagERRAH: Gambodes Falls, Arakan

It's always been our tradition to instead of hosting a party for our baby's birthday, we instead travel. She had been to different places in Mindanao - Saranggani beaches, Surigao waterfalls and enchanted rivers, overlooking mountain ranges of South Cotabato, etc. Which then gave me a hard time thinking where will we bring her on her 6th birthday.

Wing and I climb mountains. But none of us ever thought of bringing our baby on a hiking trip. Now since we don't have any new ideas where to celebrate her birthday, with much hesitation hahaha, we've decided to bring her to the mountains. Goodness, one of the most scary part of me being a mother is bringing her to one of our climbs! I mean, we've been through a lot of struggles on all our climbing adventure! The muddy, slippery trails, the never ending slopes, arrrgghh! So nega of me right? Hahaha! 

Lakwatserang Negra FB page posted about a waterfall at Arakan, North Cotabato. As per her, the trail to the falls is very easy that even a 3 year old kid can do it. Now, here's the best trail for our baby. Hahaha! Luckily, we were joined by Lakwatserang Negra during our travel.

There's an option for you guys to ride a habal-habal from Kanto Gambudes to jump-off. As for us, for Errah to have a better experience with hiking, we walked for almost 3kms to jump-off and another 1.5kms to the waterfalls. 

*Leah and Errah leading the walk. 

Leah said she's already tired walking but she cannot see any tiredness from Errah. Was even telling her that we are so slow on the trail! Hahaha! Really? 

*My younger sister Eden and baby Errah posing at the signage at the jump-off.

Since it rained hard the night before, it made the trail muddy. But we haven't heard Errah complaining! She hates mud and being dirty. So, how come she never asked to be carried? 

She even walked through some streams without hesitation or even removing her shoes!

It's Eden's first hike also. Though she likes the mountain view, she somewhat hates the heat. 

After almost an hour of walk, we were in awe looking at the falls at a far distance! Excitement lets us walk much faster and baby even did a trailrun!

*Gambodes Falls at a distance. Wow!

*Lakwatserang Negra

What I like about Gambodes Falls is that it's rocks aren't slippery. You can enjoy the cold waters, take a dip, go from tier to tier without getting anxious of slipping.

*Our signature Dab pose with Baby Errah

We were able to climb upto the 3rd tier of the falls. Onward is just a rocky river. Lakwatserang Negra said that river connects to another 2 Falls of the Epol River, in which we can't visit right now since both waterfalls are closed to public. Well, maybe soon. 

*Errah posing on top of the 3rd tier

Look at these lovely pose at the 2nd tier of Gambodes Falls. Our future model Errah! Soooo cutie!

Alright, were done with the top tiers. Let's go back down and enjoy the main pool of Gambodes falls.

Unfortunately, there had been some signs of rain later that day. We immediately packed up and climbed our way back to the jump-off. 

I wanted to hike upto Kanto Gambudes however, I cannot risk Errah's health coz of the rain. So Errah, me, and Eden rode a habal-habal going to a store near the Main Road while the 3 of them - Wing, Leah, and Lakwatserang Negra decided to walk through the rain and the fogs up to the main road. 

While waiting, Errah and I talked about her experience during the climb. She said she never got tired. But but but, she mentioned regarding the dirt and the mud and that she really hated it. Hahaha! 

*How do we explain fogs to a baby? Haha!

After almost an hour, the 3 of them arrived. So we prep up. And we waited for a bus in the middle of the foggy North Cotabato.

*Wing trying to hitch for a ride, haha! Guess what, no one let us hop-in. Hahaha! 

Gambodes Falls, Arakan, North Cotabato

#TravelBudDear #LaagErrah

Hello Guys! I edited the name of the falls on my post. Why? Hahaha! Ok this. The original name of the falls is Cascading Falls. The name of the place is Gambodes (hence, there's a name Gambodes Falls). However, the people of Gambodes named it as Epol Falls as it's connected to the Epol River. You might associate this with the Epol Falls of Baganihan (the original name of Baganihan Epol Falls is Green Valley Falls). Why are we soooo confused with the names??? Hahahaha!