Rey Anthony H. Chiu
TAGBILARAN CITY April 24 (PIA)-- For some, when tragedy hits them,
they lie there and die there. Others simply won't be put down.
Remaining true to its claim as the extreme adventure tourism (EAT)
capital of Bohol, Danao town and its tourism program is now offering an
exhilarating experience called Sky Rappel.
Sky Rappel is a combination ride of the Sky Ride, a cable car
traversing the over 200 meter distance of the Magtangtang canyons while being
suspended a good 300 meters plus. Then as the cable car gets to the middle of
the ride, it stops, to allow a person to strap on a rappel and slide
down from the cable car to the depths below, explains Danao information Officer
John Patrick Supieza.
Without any wall to kick on and help control one's descent, the
Sky Rappel descent totally depends on the speed the descender wants to get
into.
Another thrilling part is when the descent starts, it gets the
cable car swinging to the pendulum of the rappelling tourists.
It is not just an ordinary rappel, but we assure everyone of our
track record of safety and redundant safety mechanisms to get to the tourist
the experience of a lifetime, he said, during the recent Association of United
Development Information Officers (AUDIO) Meeting at the Arabelle Suites April
21.
At one time, Danao Extreme Adventure Park netted nearly half a
million in a day from two of its activities: the canyon swing which they
call as the Plunge and its zipline they call as the Suislide.
Also available then at the extreme adventure tourism park were the
Rockwall climbing facility, Cliff rappelling, camping , trails, buggy rides,
rubber tubing, kayaking, para gliders and nature treks along the park's
numerous challenging trails.
Fast claiming a niche as extreme adventure capital of Bohol,
Danao which pegs its extreme activity area in the famed canyons of
historic barangay Magtangtang, has to bow to the scourge of nature. The
earthquake of 2013 changed all that.
The earth movement toppled the canyon swing launching pad and its
ziplines had to be retested for possible compromise, according to Vice Mayor
Thomas Louis Gonzaga.
The earthquake did not just ruin the town's biggest source of
income, it also heaped problems to its major access routes located over 70
kilometers from Tagbilaran.
Close to the earthquake's epicenter, Danao had access routes
already paved highways cracking, landslides blocking some portions of these
roads.
As if these are the worst the town could get, the ongoing
construction of the main road leading to the town had to be stalled by virtue
of a court injunction for disagreement between the public works agency and the
contractor to the detriment of public access, but Mayor Natividad
Gonzaga could not be put down.
Seeing the Extreme Adventure Park with the potential for
rehabilitation, the town took a hard look at rehabilitating areas which
could be fixed.
With its zipline now operational the town looks at the Sky
Rappel as another hit, bouncing the town back from its slump.
(mbcn/rahc/PIA7-Bohol)