Kidapawan Tourist Center

Kidapawan Tourist Center

Cotabato Province Mindanao

People interested in climbing Mount Apo in Mindanao should check in at the tourist office next to the city hall in Kidapawan to get a permit and organize a guide. Most of the climbing by tourists is done through this office but there are probably other ways to do it. This is the easiest.

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Park fees:

local tourist 500 pesos

foreign tourist 750 pesos

student 400 pesos - 20 percent discount

senior citizen 400 pesos - 20 percent discount

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Che-Che and  Ann-Ann were a big help.

It’s a rather bureaucratic set up where you get a laminated climbing badge and a certificate of climbing after the trip.

It is borderline cheesy, but just go with the program and everyone is happy.

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I tried to schedule in a trip for tomorrow but they had a bit of trouble finding a guide and it started raining so we postponed the trip until Thursday.

I went down to the mall and bought a rain poncho. They have had climbers run into trouble by being unprepared for the elements. It is rather a simple climb but hypothermia can get you if you are getting a steady cold rain and you have no way to stay warm.

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They do run you through a required equipment list because they don’t want to have any problems come up.

There is an orientation meeting as well. No garbage, swimming, bathing, getting off the trail, picking flowers etc.

If you want you can get an official “Pamaas”  or blessing for your trip. Keep in mind that they have groups as many as 50 climb together.

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This beautiful stag horn fern is on a tree just outside the office.

It’s a good omen!

Will update after the trip…

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Climbing Mount Apo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6OV0H6zhsg

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Kidapawan

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On top of Mount Apo. We got up at 5am so we could get into position to see the sun rise.

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The gang!