BY JIMMY C. CALAPATI

CAGAYAN DE ORO— "Bolos kano’," as a Maranao would say to welcome guests to Cagayan de Oro City.

Northern Mindanao’s gateway is a rich blend of cosmopolitan and old world charm.

Ravaged by catastrophic fires in the past, Cagayan de Oro has no centuries old houses or building but the city is a rich depository of different cultures converging in the busy port city.

Of course there are the Spaniards and American missionaries and the natives, Subanon and Higaonons and traders from other Asian countries.

"You wouldn’t find really old houses here because Cagayan de Oro was always ravaged by fire," says Jenny Pabayo-Boo from the Giya Amihanang Mindanao Assoc.

CDO is the base of giant MNCs such as Del Monte Phil., Nestle, Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola, and others. The city’s economy is largely based on industry, trade, service and tourism.

Lumbia Airport, the city’s main airport, caters to domestic flights to and from Manila and Cebu. From Manila, it is an hour and fifteen minutes away by plane and from Cebu it is forty-five minutes away.

Aside from whitewater rafting, pastel (bread with yema filling) and the burger made from ostrich meat, Cagayan de Oro also has other attractions worth visiting.

For nature lovers, there’s the Gardens of Malasag Eco-Tourism Village. It is in a botanical garden setting showcasing the rich cultural heritage of Northern Mindanao. Opened in 1991, the 7.2-hectare Gardens of Malasag offers visitors a glimpse of the way of life of the indigenous people of Northern Mindanao.

The Gardens of Malasag also has huts at very affordable prices perfect for weekend retreats. Among the amenities inside the village is a restaurant, a swimming pool, function rooms, an aviary, a hanging bridge, not to mention the rugged terrain that also offers the best view of the Macajalar Bay.

There’s also the Macahambus Cave, the most popular and most frequently-visited cave in Cagayan de Oro.

Macahambus Cave is a "thru" cave, which means it can be entered at one end and exited at the other. The other end has a terrace that offers a perfect view of the Cagayan de Oro River.

For adventure seekers, visit the Macahambus Adventure Park, adjacent to the cave. The adventure park has a hanging bridge that ends in a zipline. It also offers rapelling and whitewater rafting along Cagayan de Oro River.

The St. Augustine Church in downtown Cagayan de Oro is perhaps the most famous historical landmark in the city. This church was first constructed of wood and nipa in 1679 and inaugurated in 1780, dedicated to St. Augustine as its patron. However this structure was gutted by fire in 1841.

The first bishop of Cagayan, Bishop James Hayes SJ, rebuilt the cathedral along semi-Gothic lines in 1946. For the interiors, Bishop Hayes used rare late 1800s stained glass windows donated to him by the Sacred Heart congregation of nuns from New York. The windows were said to be made by a known stained glass master from Birmingham, England, and is the only one of its kind in the entire Philippines.

Cagayan de Oro also boasts of museum whose collections are among the best in the country.

La Castilla Museum of Phil. household heirlooms and antiques is a lifestyle museum of artifacts from the 20th century. It used to be the summer residence of Atty. Rodolfo Pelaez and Mrs. Elsa Pelaez-Pelaez, founders of Liceo de Cagayan. The museum was specifically built to keep alive the memory of the family through their personal collection of household heirlooms and antiques from their local and foreign travels.

Inside the main campus of Xavier university-Ateneo de Cagayan is the Xavier Museum which houses important artifacts of Cagayan de Oro, including the skeletal remains of a human found at Huluga cave, calibrated by the Univ. of California as dated 377AD, one of the earliest known human existence in the entire Mindanao.

The museum also includes in its holdings one of the three known extant copies of the menu of the presidential banquet of Emilio Aguinaldo in 1898 in Malolos, Bulacan.

Recently opened is the Museum of Three Cultures of the Capitol University. Located inside the premises of he Capitol University along Corrales St, the museum contains artifacts collected by the travels of the university’s founder, Laureana Rosales.

A journey to Cagayan de Oro would not be complete without visiting Plaza Divisoria. No, visitors wouldn’t find rolls and rolls of cloths here. This elongated promenade was built as a fire breach in the year 1901 by Cagayan’s town mayor, Tirso Neri.

Contrary to popular belief, it was not named after Divisoria in Manila. The name simply reflected the Hispanic culture of Cagayan: in spanish, a divided highway is carretera con barrera divisoria.

But even if it was not paterned after the shoppers’ haven in Manila, visiting Manileños couldn’t help but notice the satellite street lamps similar to those at the Baywalk. They probably came from the same supplier.