I will share in this post the top 10 things which I recommend that you must do when in South Cotabato based from my good experiences during my short trips to this province. It takes only a 2-hour plane ride from Metro Manila to General Santos Airport and a 1-hour land travel from the airport to Koronadal city.
P.S. I have been fortunate enough to be able to visit Mindanao (first time) finally because the previous project I worked on included Koronadal city as its project site for data collection.
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| Map of South Cotabato |
1. Drink the popular T'boli coffee. This coffee was available at every restaurant and food place we went to and I ordered it every time since I liked its taste. I would describe that T'boli coffee has a light bitter taste but with a soothing effect, plus it also tasted good with creamer and sugar. I immediately bought the remaining 3 bags of T'boli coffee beans in the hotel that we stayed in, but unfortunately I only had a bag to myself since I gave some to my friends.
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| T'boli coffee |
2. Eat fruits especially pineapples. The Dole Philippines plantation is located in Polomolok, South Cotabato. The prices of the fruits ranged from P20.00 to P50.00 per kilo (almost 1 USD). You can also try the marang, which tastes like guyabano but sweeter and tastier, in my opinion). It was my first time to try the marang which is a fruit not commonly available/maybe not available in Metro Manila.
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| Me, with my mom, holding the marang fruit |
3. Drive around to see the scenic views. South Cotabato is a province in the Philippines located in the SOCCSKSARGEN region in Mindanao. Its total land area is 1,519.68 sq mi which is a massive area to drive around. I recommend driving, preferably renting a van and with a local, from General Santos to Koronadal city wherein you will drive through municipalities like Tupi and Polomolok, where you can buy the tropical fruits.
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| You can also take a short hike but with a local. (Brgy in Koronadal city) |
4. Eat (lots of ) Durian. I have separated this activity since I think this should be an activity on its own. Durian has an overpowering odor which can be unpleasant to some. The first time that I tried Durian, it tasted really yummy since what I tried was a sweet variant. The people who also ate with me told me that they did not like the fruit before because of the taste BUT they also liked the Durian that we ate, so I think eating Durian is a hit or miss.
