The Crocodile park is located in Davao Riverfront Corporate City in Ma-a, 30mins from downtown Davao. We had some difficulty locating it as there were no signs along the highway to indicate if we're on the right track. I keep seeing signs though leading to the Butterfly House. And from my own travel notes, i knew that the Butterfly house is just close to the Crocodile park.
The entrance fee is P100 each (adult) and P50 per kid, although there's a promo this summer where kids 8 and below are free. Sayang, we should have brought Bea and Isha with us. Kaso they were already tired from this morning's trip. We went there around 3:30pm so we can catch the shows which will start around 4:30pm. We found the schedule for the shows as follows:Mondays - 4:00-4:20 PM
Wednesdays - 4:00-5:00 PM
Fri/Sat/Sun - 4:45-6:45 PM
The show sequences do not seem to be strictly followed though. More information on the fees, show descriptions and the place can be found at their website here: http://www.davaocrocodilepark.com
The major attraction here is Pangil, the largest crocodile in the park. Notice the relative size of the people outside his cage and Pangil. He can easily swallow an adult human. In the afternoon show called Pangil encounter, caretakers get inside his cage and with a stick, probe Pangil. This prompts him to move towards the stick and kick his tail, splashing water to the spectators around including me. This is quite scary and funny at the same time. Pangil must be pissed to be disturbed.At the center of the park is a huge pond where a lot of adult crocodiles are put together. Most of them are not moving even with their mouth open while others just swim in the water. You can have a top view of them and the park by going up to the bridge overlooking this caged area. This is where the Crocodile dancing show takes place. The caretakers basically just hang fresh meat over the bridge towards the crocodiles and wait for them to leap for it from the water. In the show we watched that afternoon though, the crocodiles did not participate so I used up a lot of memory space without much action. :( Mukhang natuto na ata sila. :p Kasi pag medyo bumebwelo na yung crocodile inaangat nung caretaker yung meat para mas mataas yung talon pero hindi tinutuloy nung crocodile. Mautak na sya. =)
There are other animals that can be seen in this park such as an Ostrich and Bengal Tiger seen in the pics below.
Make sure to take a look also at the crocodile skeleton shown here. I almost missed it. I chanced upon it near the entrance while waiting for the show to start. We already toured the park for around an hour and had to pass the time till the show starts. You can try to eat at a nearby eatery behind the park which I think is called the Riverwalk Grill. Just have your wrist stamped so that you can go back. We would have wanted to try their Crocodile meat but the only available dish they have is the Croc Adobo. Other preparations i think that they have in the menu are Croc Barbeque, Sisig/Sizzling(?) Croc and spicy Croc. They all cost P360 each good for 2 people. We already ate Chicken Adobo for breakfast and lunch so didn't try it. We ordered a shake and club sandwich each instead, which cost us P260 (for 2). The river I think is where the White water rafting is held. This section of the river is quite calm though.
By the time we got back, the show has already started. I think it was the Animal encounter and the Tightrope walking which occurred 1st. I did not really see the stunts as the cage where this was held was covered by the crowd. I think it was mostly the monkeys that were shown here. By the time they said that the next show is Pangil encounter, I was already positioned near Pangil's cage. I had a good view of this including getting enough splashing exposure. My camera also got wet. 3rd part is the Crocodile Dancing which we didn't see much since the crocs did not participate. 4th is the Crocodile Feeding as seen at the left pic.
The last part of the attraction is the Animal Petting. Medyo magulo ito kasi unahan yung crowd makahawak dun sa mga Animals. I was able to touch the snakes but not hold them. On another circumstance I would have wanted to hold them and get a pic. I was scared that one wrong move by any of the people trying to touch them and the animal might try to attack. It was almost like a commotion. Obviously, I couldn't even get a good stable shot.
I hope in the future the staff will be able to hold this in a more organized way. Like maybe having people lined up to wait for their turn. Anyway marami namang animals to hold so there's enough for everyone. In this way, you'll even get a good shot na solo or kayo lang w/o the crowd holding on to the animal as well. Nag-aagawan kasi. Plus you'll never know when matopak yung animal especially with a lot of people trying to touch it. Sometimes even when there's a caretaker you cannot predict the animal's mood.
Lola Abon's Durian Candies
We went to Lola Abon's store which is also at the owner's residence in Matina and bought some Durian candies for pasalubong. Price for a small plastic bag of sweets is around P30. I liked the pastillas and the yema. I was hesitant to buy the the tarts coz I had bought tarts before (from another province) na yung filling tinipid tipong nasa top portion lang at puro breading na. Rene bought one though and when I tried it, wow ang daming filling. Mas madami pa sya kesa sa breading so it was really tasty. This brand of candies is definitely high quality. My only regret is that konti lang binili namin. Should have bought more.
Shrine of the Holy Infant Jesus of Prague
The shrine is just a little past the street going to Jack's Ridge. The place looks huge but since it was dark already we were not able to explore the place much. The shrine is definitely romantic for a wedding as the place is on top of a hill. My cousin says the view would have been nice but we couldn't see it then. It's been cloudy since we've been there that's why we also couldn't see the top of Mt. Apo clearly.
Jack's Ridge
This place has quite a history. One of the fascinating stories is that it was once under water as evidenced by these shells found and displayed here. It could have been millions of years ago before this area slowly developed into a hill. Another recent history is during the end of the WWII when this place used to be part of the Japanese headquarters. I've heard also of the Japanese Tunnel here in Davao although we weren't able to go there.Lots of photo ops around here:
Lots of space to go around, up and down ... An Amphitheater overlooking the city
Belly's Grill
Initially our plan was to eat dinner at Penong's. But having passed 2 of its branches already and they were all crowded (and some still had to wait in line to be seated), we decided to eat here at Belly's Grill instead. It's a good choice too though. Below are food we ordered:
Baked oysters (w/ cheese and garlic) and Ambaw soup (clam soup)
Ostrich steak and Grilled Tuna belly
We're obviously happy and full to the brim!
All in all, the food we ordered cost us around P1000. The 3 of us finished everything. Although, it is more likely good enough for 4-5 people. That wrapped up our Day 3 in Davao. Whew!
Day 1 Trip to Davao (4/4/2008)
Day 2 Pearl Farm Day Tour (4/5/2008)
Day 3 Philippine Eagle Center (4/6/2008, part 1 of 3)
Day 3 Malagos Garden Resort (4/6/2008, part 2 of 3)
Day 3 Crocodile Park Davao and more (4/6/2008, part 3 of 3)
Day 4 Eden Nature Park (4/7/2008)
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