Why Eco Green Davao is an Ideal Hotel for Regional Travelers

A new hotel is now catering to wide range of clientele in Davao City. Located just walking distance from Davao City Integrated Transport Terminal, or more known as Ecoland Terminal, Eco Green Hotel intends to provide comfort especially for travellers and backpackers who are out to seek transient accommodation before exploring destinations in the provinces outside the city.

Eco Green has variety of rooms to choose to such as single bedroom, double/matrimonial bedroom, family bedroom and triple bedroom. All rooms have warm and cozy beds, private bathrooms with hot and cold shower, wifi internet access, cable television and telephone system. And the rates are fair enough to compensate to its convenience which is practically the culture that Eco Green Hotel authorities would like to create in its early existence.

For small meetings and seminars of up to 40 persons Eco Green is just a good option. They have very affordable conference and meeting packages with selections of good and delectable food items. They also have very friendly and accommodating frontline desk officers and staff.  

On the other note, I am personally attracted to the simple yet relaxing ambiance of the interior design of this hotel. The green color is the more dominant in each of the rooms and the reception area is modelled with beautiful paintings and wall decors.

Accessibility wise, Eco Green is just a ride away to SM Ecoland and Felcris Centrale. Around its perimeter are tourism service centers like ATMs, convenience stores, pharmacy, food chain outlets and carenderias.

For inquiries and bookings, the contact details are as follows:

ECO GREEN BOUTIQUE HOTEL

Terminal Exit Road

Candelaria St., Ecoland, Barangay 76-A, Bucana, Davao City

Landline: (082) 2287256

Mobile: 09171287126 / 09257631499

Email: ecogreenboutiquehotel0430@gmail.com

The Obu Manuvu Eco-cultural Adventure in Karilongan: More than just Birding

One thing I like about birding is that it never isolated me from the usual things I do like staying in the outdoors. In fact it makes my outdoor trip even fruitful with the added activities other than trekking, trail running and even camping in the mountains. Birding is perhaps one of the more special activities I do in the outdoors and aside from keeping close bonds with the Big Year team I am also having greater opportunities to know the indigenous peoples dwelling in the highlands of Mindanao.

In an invitation sent by naturalist and environmental advocate Joshua I was able to visit the beautiful place of Karilongan in Baguio District, Davao City together with Tonton and John Paul. The main goal was to see the Southern Silvery Kingfisher which had been frequently visible until I got there. Nonetheless, several lifers and good highland birds were spotted during the visit. The life list of Tonton had us embracing 40 species including some personal favorites like Philippine Cuocal, Everett’s White Eye, Orange-lined Sunbird, Mindanao Pygmy Babbler, Turquoise Flycatcher, Sulphur-billed Nuthatch, Orange-bellied Flowerpecker, Coleto and Mindanao Hornbill. Joshua also said the place is a perching site of the Philippine Eagle which I am aching to see this year.

 

Orange-lined Sunbird

Everett's White Eye

Mindanao Pygmy Babbler

Philippine Coucal

Sulphur-billed Nuthatch

Coppersmith Barbet

Coleto

Turquoise Flycatcher 

Pied Bushchat

Aside from being just a mere highland addict like me, Joshua is also handling a commendable project in Karilongan called The Ovu Manubu Eco Cultural Adventure, a project where both natural and cultural attributes in the place are being merged together to form a unique destination that resembles my very own Bagobo Cultural Village in Tibolo.

It is good that the IP community was able to partner with the Euro Generics International Philippines Foundation, Inc. in employing sustainable community-based enterprises through ecotourism that would somehow empower the community in managing its ancestral domain and safeguarding their rich natural resources. The core strategy is to train them on biodiversity-friendly enterprise thereby shying them away from the traditional farm practices which have been detrimental to the environment over the years. For now, they are bent on reforesting a huge portion of Baguio District.

So what is in store if you go to the village? A short trek off single track along the border of Karilongan’s mountain range and river is a warm up experience before reaching a sturdy hanging bridge which I believe is one of the most beautiful hanging bridges in Mindanao. And then another hike through a community-managed nursery in a farmland up to a stream where the Silvery Kingfisher resides is a breather of sort. In a site opposite the stream is a sanctuary of highland birds where the 1,083 foot trail also culminates.

It is definitely not a walk in the park trekking the steep 1,083-step trail. But with the good vegetation and bird species along the way somehow could ease the strain of uphill trekking. The trail ends in a modest huts of Ovu Manobu and a replica of a man’s palm that serves as photo op site with the beautiful panorama of the entire Davao City as background.  And just like our Bagobo Village in Tibolo, the food in Karilongan is over and above all experiences in this paradise highlighted by delicacies cooked in bamboo stems.

Further, Joshua told us that a stay in the village overnight would give us first-hand site of a magnificent sunrise and at the same time increases our chances of seeing the Rufous Hornbill and maybe Philippine Eagle. And just as I really dreamed of, my stay overnight in this area soon should finally give me glimpse of the Southern Silvery Kingfisher.

For overnight tour of 1,000 pesos per person gets one a chance to commune with nature and the Obu Manuvu tribe in Karilongan. The package rate includes transportation from Davao City, two native meals (dinner on the first day and breakfast on the second day), typical Obu Manuvu Hut accommodation, overflowing native coffee and other related activities.  Bookings are on a first-come-first-serve basis through its facebook page. 

Extreme Birding in Barangay Eden, Davao City

This session was supposed to be just like the usual, but Pete Simpson took us to a whole new level of birding, this time bringing us extra higher than expected. I never thought that would go down as a minor trekking in a dense forest of Eden Toril but the output was extraordinary, perhaps the best in my entire birding life. After about 4 months of not being able to do mountain trekking this one was a refresher of sort and it was quite strenuous because I had to stay awake the whole night before to attend to the wake of a photography mentor Tatay Rene Lumawag before I left downtown very early in the morning on July 6 to catch up with the Big Year team. 

Pete and I left Matina 7-Eleven store by 5:00 in the morning and drove to Eden with Alden, Tonton and Jong in the other car of Alden. After settling for a short briefing by Pete and meeting with our guide Minoy we started the cold trekking first to the Army detachment for a courtesy visit and to inform the personnel there of the session that lasted more or less 10 hours. Coordination with law enforcement agencies and local government units is crucial in any birding activity especially if the site is a forested mountain range similar to that of Eden and other mountainous sites in Mindanao. Along the way just minutes after the jump off we stopped momentarily to witness Cryptic Flycatcher, a rare commodity which is familiar in Eden and a lifer for Jong.

The first kilometers of trekking are farmlands of community in Eden but the trail right off the detachment was a sheer assault where we stood a little longer to observe activities of Whiskered Flowerpecker, Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker, Cinnamon Ibon, Torquise Flycatcher, Fire-breasted Flowerpecker and Buzzing Flowerpecker in a partly-forested 800 masl site. From the record we had in this spot I could even consider that was already a good session of two lifers for me and maybe Tonton.

  

Whiskered Flowerpecker

Hard Shot of a Cinnamon Ibon

Fire-breasted Flowerpecker

Turquoise Flycatcher

Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker

Another Shot of a Philippine Pygmy Woodpecker

Philippine Pygmy Woodpeckers

But there was even a lot in store for us in the next sites. We could have just taken the much-easier route but the flowerpeckers deserved some knee strains. Further up I asked Minoy to target a water source because I did not bring one, this time realizing (again) not to underestimate the mountain. In search for water brought us to a little hut with some Mountain White Eyes and another solitary Buzzing Flowerpecker before we could reach the trail of pine trees where Tonton and Pete requested for trekking pole to increase hiking performance. The next stop was at an abandoned purok near a water source where several good species were seen like the Coppersmith Barbet, Philippine Bulbul, Tawny Grassbird and Stripe-breasted Rhabdornis. The frustrating part here was the feather leftovers of a butchered bird which I think was a Common Emerald Dove.

Mountain White Eye

Buzzing Flowerpecker

Stripe-breasted Rhabdornis

 Minoy told me we still had to trek a little further to get inside the forest where we were greeted with flock of the Mindanao endemic Black and Cinnamon Fantail, a familiar bird species I saw every time I climb Mt. Apo. From this site (1,200 masl) also had us face to face with the Yellow-bellied Whistler, another Philippine endemic dwelling in the highlands of region XI. The trail we followed up was a track of water pipe connecting its source to the community of barangay Eden. As our trekking became more intense we observed different vegetation highlighted by giant palm trees and some striking and vibrant flora and fauna. At a denser environment a flock of Mountain White Eyes also settled in harmony with the Negros Leaf Warbler, Mindanao White Eye, Sulphur-billed Nuthatch, Long-tailed Bush Warbler, Bundok Flycatcher and the Mindanao endemic Grey-hooded Sunbird.

  

Black and Cinnamon Fantail

Yellow-bellied Whistler

Forest Snail

Green-crested Lizard

Green Phasmatodea

Brown Phasmatodea

Grey-hooded Sunbird

Mindanao White Eye

Negros Leaf Warbler

By 11:00 AM we are nearing the campsite were we estimated to take our lunch (although I only had single bread, thanks to my good friends for giving me extra stuff, making that lunch a bit of a buffet). Plenty of doves flying around the canopy were unidentified, at least few of them. I spotted Philippine Cuckoo Dove and heard some calls of Amethyst Brown Dove. Buff-spotted Flameback was seen as well, and a couple of Mindanao Raquet-tails crisscrossing with Philippine Falconets.  After a good lunch I took a nap in a log covered by Minoy with fern leaves, to the delight of Tonton and Alden, even before we heard a call of Crested Honey Buzzard which later on we saw behind thick fogs. We expected presence of Apo Myna in the campsite but the bird never appeared this time, leaving it one of the most elusive birds in my list other than the Philippine Eagle. 

It was almost 2:00 in the afternoon when we left the campsite and when we got back to the purok there was some threat of rain. A fog-covered trek down using a different trail to the jump off was good enough but this time we never escaped from a moderate downpour, thank you Pete for lending me your extra umbrella. Overall it was a cool session with 50 great species of resident and endemic birds which, according to Pete a consolation of sort because most of the birds in this time of the year are in breeding mode.