Monday, July 23, 2012

Nature Tripping at Mambukal Mountain Resort

Mambukal Mountain Resort  Strolling around Mambukal Mountain Resort

     Mambukal Mountain Resort is one of the places in Negros Occidental which people love to visit. This mountain resort is very famous in and out of the province. Similarly, the resort is very much affordable where lots of people mostly locals come here as often as they want either to take a family day out or stay overnight. My pictures posted here are mixtures of two events that occurred in this resort. Some were taken during the last year's MESS, Materials Engineering Students Society,  Teambuilding and some during the recent 16th Mudpack Festival.
              The resort as I have noticed is surrounded with rooms built starting from the main entrance which can accommodate both small and large groups of occupants. It has cottages for those who desire to either wander around or utilize the pools and other amenities with peers and family members.
The hotel rooms
Mambukal Mountain Resort


Mambukal Mountain Resort


The cottages and a pool
Mambukal Mountain Resort

               These cottages are lined up in front of a big pool a few steps down from the resort's main pathway. This was our chosen spot for our last year's MESS Teambuilding where we occupied four (4) cottages. It was indeed a nice spot for a whole day's activities where we could use the pool (as shown below) as long as we want.

Mambukal Mountain Resort
the swimming pool

Mambukal Mountain Resort
some cottages in front of the pool
The Parking Area

Mambukal Mountain Resort
parking space
         This is the widest parking space within the resort. The path shown here leads to the seven (7) falls which basically add up to the excitement and challenges of the visitors who willingly test their physical strength and endurance of climbing up to the 7th falls.
         At the back of that building is the resort's canteen where you could buy the native delicacies of the province.
            The resort is not only famous for it's pools and other amenities, the fruit bats are also a very dominant attraction here. The locals are conserving the fruit bats within the resort, and the flock was clearly visible flying over this area.
parking space
The Canteen

Mambukal Mountain Resort
                This is the canteen where you have plenty of native foods to choose from at reasonable prices, hard liquors are also offered here. At the side of the canteen is a short, narrow bridge over the fishpond which adds to the aesthetics for that particular area. The bridge is covered with vines that are naturally crawling up to the wooden structure. Although the vines look quite messy, yet very gentle and delicate.




Mambukal Mountain Resort
the bridge

                  At the upper portion of the resort, there are a series of cottages where students of the other department occupied the entire area for a particular important event.
                Few steps down opposite to these cottages is another big pool, larger that the previous pool which was shown above.







Mambukal Mountain Resort
large swimming pool

The Boating Lagoon

Mambukal Mountain Resort
            This is the biggest pond within the resort in which the water in here is mostly supplied by the water from the river at the upper part of the resort. There is kayak boating here for children, well obviously a child is strictly not allowed to use the boat unless accompanied by an adult, and must wear the available life vest for safety purposes. This pond is also one of the best spot where the zip line crosses above the pond. I assume the water is few feet deep and this flows through the other end of the pond directly to the river below the resort.

Mambukal Mountain Resort
kayak boat
Mambukal Mountain Resort
some hotels facing the pond
Mambukal Mountain Resort
the wooden bridge at the side of the pond

small cottage in front of the bridge

small park at one end of the pond

     At the right side of this main pathway is the boating lagoon. This path leads up to some of the large hotel rooms and two-storey buildings for people who prefer to be distant from the crowded area of the resort. I noticed the wooden fences are strongly framed both at the side of the pond and one side of pathway. The brown fences basically bring about the farm-like appearance of the mountain resort, very calm. I love this area though!


the bridge near the pond

     At the upper portion of the resort, there is a particular area where there are a series of display of different native plants and flowers. 
     Below is a photo of the Ishiwata bathhouse where the Holy Mass was held during this year's Mudpack Festival.
Ishiwata bathhouse

bridge over rushing waters
grotto

     On the left is the old bridge over rushing water of the river. Some people love to bathe themselves in the river and enjoy spending time sitting on the large rocks.
     On the right is the grotto of Mother Mary where there was a large on-going construction when we went there.




Mambukal Mountain Resort
zip line platform
Mambukal Mountain Resort
wall climbing



The resort also has zip line for those individuals who love to fly with complete harnesses for P50, very very affordable, right? On the other hand, the resort has a wall climbing facility for individuals who desperately love to climb the mountain but did not have the chance to do so. Well, as for me, I hate heights! 







Mambukal Mountain Resort
going up to the sulfur spring
     This is the Sulfur Spring. I did not get the chance to come closer maybe because I could not anymore stand the strong odor coming out of the spring even from a distance. Although there were a number of curious people who went up there and took a closer look at the hot spring.
     Another attractive site the resort has to offer especially for the children is the Butterfly Garden. In here, various butterflies of different sizes and alluring colors are bred and raised here. Moreover, the colorful wings of the dead butterflies are used and sold for ladies' accessories at very affordable prices.
                    
this way to the butterfly garden
     Wow! It took me at least two visits to capture the different exciting spots and captivating scenes of the mountain resort. In fact, there are still interesting spots which I have not visited yet.
     I was in awe the first time I entered and roamed around the resort. No wonder why this resort is distinguished in the Visayas region and even abroad. The last time I visited this place was a few months ago and there were on-going massive renovations and constructions in some parts of the resort.  Maybe because the locals here see the significant value of conserving nature. And not only that, people from here and other places will always seek for a nice sanctuary like this place to at least spend a day just to have a valuable time with peers and family members.
                   More pictures to share and stories to tell next time! God bless!
                   Truly, more fun in the Philippines!
   


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