28 Aug 2009. Davao – The first logistic base camp

Last night at the Budget Terminal in Singapore, we had our first crisis. Bin Kan couldn’t check in because he only had a one-way ticket. Philippine immigration requires every traveler to have a return ticket. I had told Bin Kan earlier to purchase a one-way ticket assuming that traveling with a one-way ticket is common among ASEAN countries. I was wrong. Luckily, we were able to quickly purchase a return ticket online.

Gary and Philip from Shuqun Primary School came to send us off together with Jaffar and Yati. Sheng Feng was too busy playing with his good friend Afiq.

We slept at Manila airport for 3 hours in transit. Toby and Buko joined us for the flight to Davao. If felt good to be back to Davao again. The airport is quiet and small in size. As I stepped into the arrival hall, I could immediately feel the change of pace from Manila to Davao. I had to slow down and go with the flow.

We checked into Bagobo House Hotel. It’s clean and well maintained. For P1,000 (S$31) a night, it’s very good value.

Unloading kayaks from the container.

The cargo ship carrying our kayaks had arrived yesterday. We headed to the shipping agent’s office to make payment. The handling charges came up to P24,360 (S$761). That’s expensive compared to Singapore’s handling fee of S$360. I guess Davao does not have the economy of scale.

Next, the process of retrieving the kayaks. The agent quoted us P4,000 (S$125) for the truck. Luckily, Habagat managed to get a jeepney for just P1,000 (S$31). The other problem was the customs office does not open on Saturday and Monday is a public holiday. If we don’t get the kayaks out by today, we have to delay the start date by another 4 days. It’s now 4pm and the customs closes at 5pm. We have one hour!

Luckily, the container port is nearby. I held my breath when they opened the container door in which the kayaks were shipped in.

The kayaks were not sitting on the floor. They were stacked one on top of the other. I had given this specific instruction to the shipping agent in Singapore “Do not stack things on the kayak. Fragile items. Handle with care”.

Buzzy’s kayak was ok but my kayak was at the bottom squeezed between the container wall and another giant wooden crate. The pressure point was on the hull. I couldn’t tell if there was any damage as the bubble wrap was still intact.

The kayaks rode on top of the jeepney for the 1-hour ride to Habagat’s shop. Every now and then, we had to do a visual check to make sure the kayaks are still sitting tightly on top.

We met Jana and Mark, the 2 support team members who will be with us on the banca.

The start date is now scheduled to be 31 August.

Stay tuned as the adventure unfolds…

Cheers.

Swee Chiow