Davao Day 4 - Mati

I pointed out to Julian's dad that the word Mati literally meant 'die' or 'death' in Malay; I was surprised to know that they knew this; Bisaya (the native language) shared many words with Malay! Anyway, Mati is the southernmost developed town in the southern most group of islands of the Philippines, hence its status as a 'dead-end' - "mati". :) We went to a virgin, undeveloped beach, and also got to see the famed "Sleeping Dinosaur of Mati". A little unfortunate accident involving Julian, a beam, and a freshwater pool cut the trip quite short though, but thank goodness he was alright. Mati was about two and a half hours drive from Davao City proper.

The Sleeping Dinosaur.


Taking a bathroom break: cliff-side.

The awesome beaches of Mati.
This was my first time to really get inside the waves (some were at least 10-15 feet high, I swear). I don't swim, but fortunately, Julian, his dad, and his cousin Rocky were all very strong swimmers, so I felt pretty safe. We only went up to about 4-5 feet deep waters, and let the waves carry us back near the shore. However, some really huge surfs caught us unaware and we tumbled all the way to the beach. FUN, above all else. :D





We went to Mayo's, a freshwater pool that had a side facing the sea. There was a beam divider which Julian tried to balance on.. and, well, pictures do say a thousand words...


Instead, we drank with his cousins, which wasn't all that bad of an alternate plan. :D





All in all, a pretty alright fun time in Mati (where we stayed overnight) with the exception of Julian's injury. Great to have made new friends as well.

Jay~