When we planned our Mindanao trip we were dead set on not just sticking to the busy parts of the city. We wanted somewhere laidbak somewhere we could just chill out and breathe fresh air. Someone mentioned Don Anselmo Cold Spring up in Libona, Misamis Oriental said it’s not too far from Cagayan de Oro so we were like “let’s do it!” And gosh 😱 we are so glad we did we had an absolute blast there!
The drive was pretty cool actually. Once we got out of CDO proper the roads go throgh all these hills covered in greenery you see coconut groves and corn fields all over the place. The air was way better than in town you could smell the earth and the leaves whenever we opened the windows.
Every time we passed a house the people there would wave at us Mindanao folks are seriously so warm and welcoming. After about an hour on the road we spotted the “Don Anselmo” sign and knew we had made it.
Walking into the place was so refreshing it’s all surrounded by big trees that block out most of the sun so it’s nice and cool. You can hear birds tweeting everywhere and the sound of water running it’s just so quiet and peaceful.
Then we saw the spring itself and were like “whoa!” the water is so clear you can see every single pebble and rock at the bottom. It’s this bright blue green color too looks so cool when the sun peeks through the leaves.
There’s a bunch of different pools linked by little streams some are super shallow so kids can play safe others are deep enough to jump into. We did not even wait to get properly changed just stripped down to our swimwear and hopped right in..
The water’s cold but in the best way possible especially since it was pretty hot outside. We spent ages just floating around on our backs looking up at the trees and messing around with the other people who would come to visit.
You can even see tiny little fish swimming around your legs they tickle so much you can’t help but laugh! What’s great is the place is really well looked after no litter anywhere the people who run it make sure everything stays clean.
We packed our own food and ate under one of the big huts they have thereended up sharing our chips with the family sitting next to us and we just talked for ages about all sorts of stuff. There’s little paths you can wander down too if you wanna check out the plants and flowers around the area.
We hung out till the sun started going down then finally had to head back. We squeezed in one last quick swim because we did not wanna leave! On the drive home we could not stop talking about how sick it was clean water quiet vibes everyone was so friendly. If you are ever in CDO and need a break from all the cars and noise you gotta hit up Don Anselmo. Trust me u will have so much fun we are already planning to go back soon!