Balsa : A River Cruise in Negros

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Two and a half hours drive to the south towards the town of Ilog from Bacolod, we reached Malabong bridge at Barangay Andulauan,  just a short  turn to the right from the main road after the bridge. There are orange , blue and green flaglets  on bamboo poles with a colourful signage and a mascot with uniformed men and women at the reception line. Enough parking space, a reception area and information counter for proper registration . 
As we walk along the path , there are  information boards about the history of Ilog, the Balsa floating route, and some birds to identify along the way considering the site being a bird sanctuary . The first quarter of the year welcomes the migratory birds in Andulauan which makes the cruise along the river in a native  floating restaurant more special. This is the latest attraction in southern Negros, Balsa River Cruise.








The idea of a river cruise has been suggested to many in the past two decades but  this was finally realized by young entrepreneurs  Winvi and Jezrel Jordan and on Valentines day last week , the first Balsa River Cruise was held with visitors and friends in a 4.5 kilometer long cruise . This is a 58 seater ‘balsa’ with a speed of 3 knots which would be about one hour and a half , just enough time to enjoy the view by the river, some small boats passing by with loads of nipa, and if you get lucky, there are birds like a blue naped parrot, blue-crowned racket tailed parrot, tarictic hornbill, Philippine cuckoo, white –winged cuckooshrike, pink-bellied  imperial pigeon , and Philippine hawk-eagle, white-eared brown dove or Philippine scops-owl and even egrets and other water birds.




The sumptuous buffet of native food like oysters, crabs, fish, shrimps, squid,  noodles, vegetables with fruits in season will surely fill up your gastronomic desire 

matched with good music and singers to entertain you with requested songs     
    and you will feel secured with an I in house life saver recently trained on Basic Water Safety and Life Saving by the Philippine Life Saving and Provincial Tourism Team.



Toots Jimenez of ATTHOM described the tour as relaxing away from the busy life. 







JDC with DOT 6 Regional Director Helen J. Catalbas and Toots Jimenez
Department of Tourism Regional Director Helen Catalbas describes it as a gold mine for domestic tourism, a boost for the tourist arrivals in the province. In fact she booked a trip just for the tourism stake holders in Negros and Iloilo to bring more warm bodies for the promotion of the river cruise.

This is indeed a welcome development for local tourism in Ilog and the sixth district with summertime already near. You may want to experience a river cruise just about 2 hours away, before your next beach destination or better yet start planning your weekend , visit the First Capital of the Island of Negros and Siquijor, known to be home to the longest and deep-flowing river which was home to the taga-ylogs , an area for barter trade  in the 1600’s and a colourful past- Municipality of Ilog. 

For more information, Introductory rate is P450.00 per person, P350.00 for children below 3 feet, senior citizens and persons with disability  rate is only P400.00. For advance booking you may call 0910-1886420 or visit the Perico Restaurant at Kabankalan City.

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