Return to Nature at Eden Nature Park

One of the perks of working in the corporate world is sometimes you get to go to places for business. Although if it's just a short trip, there's usually only a few hours of personal time. On this trip in particular, most of the personal time we got was just for sleep (and it's not even enough sleep for me!). It's still nice though to be able to get out of the office on what should have been a regular work day.

 Our first two days was spent up in the mountain at Eden Nature Park. Their tagline, "return to nature", is perfect because you'd feel like you're in the middle of a forest inside the resort. Amazingly, they say most of it is actually man-made. It's the owner's private garden and vacation house before it was opened to the public.

The park is about an hour and a half drive from Davao International Airport. Since we're a large group, we have arranged two vans to bring us there. I've read taxis wouldn't usually agree to bring you there with just the meter running. You'd have to arrange a special rate, which would cover what it would cost for them to go back to town. The road going up the mountain was rough. It was head-achingly bumpy for 15 minutes right before the entrance to the resort.

We stayed at one of the Vista Cottages, which looks like a small log cabin in the middle of the woods. It has it's own toilet and bath, television, refrigerator and veranda looking out the forest. It's not air-conditioned, but there's a ceiling fan if it's not cold enough for you. We found out later that night that we didn't need the ceiling fan, much less an air-conditioner.

Much of our time there was spent in one of their conference halls. For breakfast, lunch and dinner, we had to go to the Vista Restaurant, which is a short walk from the cottage and conference hall. We usually take the shuttle service though, because it was raining on and off throughout our stay.

The meals (except for snacks) were always served buffet style. It was not extravagant, but there was always a good selection for the main course, and there's always soup, salads and a variety of fruits and sweets. The quality of the food was better than I expected. Some of the dishes were better than others, but I don't remember anything that was bad.

Other than our cottage, conference hall and the dining hall, I really wasn't able to explore the other areas. We were able to pass by the deer park, fishing village, horseback riding area, and we saw peacocks wandering about in the park. They have a swimming pool, zip line facility and a rope-gliding attraction, just beside the dining hall, called Indiana Jones.

Our stay in Eden Nature Park was short, but they provided a beautiful and relaxing backdrop to our activities. The feel of the fresh cold breeze, the sight of the lush forest and the sound of animals and insects are simple things that nowadays are usually neglected. Going back to nature was a welcome escape from the cold walls of the office.

Eden Nature Park

Mount Talomo, Toril, Davao

http://edennaturepark.com.ph/main/