Hi, ka-Hivers! Welcome to my 7th blog!
Have you ever wondered what a bamboo forest feels like? I mean I had been under a bamboo tree because we were harvesting some bamboo shoots. What makes it different is that the bamboo that I had been to is very difficult it has steep land and narrow space.
So now, allow me to share my first Bamboo adventure where I can stand, run, and enjoy its astounding beauty located in Luy-a, Medellin, Cebu.
Here's a quick facts about the bamboo forest:
- It resembles the bamboo forest in Kyoto, Japan
- It was internationally cultivated, in short it is a man made bamboo forest.
- Bamboo forest is near to banana and sugarcane plantation in Medellin.
- Bamboo forest releases more oxygen than regular trees (about 35%) it is also great for fighting global warming.
The bamboo forest is a man made forest owned by Jose Mari Miranda, it's a 2.3 hectare property. It's a hidden treasure adjacent to sugarcane and banana plantation in Medellin. The bamboo forest was in existence 6 years ago and it was only opened to tourist last August 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Miranda, they planted bamboo as a hanging out place but they noticed that some people are stopping in the area and taking pictures with bamboo as their background. It continues to be like that until they decided to plant more bamboo trees. The bamboo trees are now divided into 7 rows and the bamboos are 300 meters away from each other.
If you didn't know I do love to travel. I even desire to travel to every corner of the world, even the wildest or the scariest places! But here's the thing, now that I am still a student I am dependently relying upon my parents' allowance. So, that's why I don't want to spend too much and I will only travelaag when the main purpose is a school project.
For my travelaag #1 (this isn't my first travelaag but I wanna share it first). The bamboo forest in Luy-a, Medellin, Cebu was the chosen tourist destination for the assessment in our subject Tourism State Development. Our group decided to choose it among the other options we had for it was more convenient and it cost-less. On February 24, 2024, Saturday, we decided along with my group mates that we would be doing our project. We had an agreed time, it was supposedly 9 but we arrived at 10 in the morning.
My friend and I were waiting for our 2 friends and when they arrived we traced the path going to the entrance of the Bamboo forest. Our 2 friends are riding a motorcycle, one is driving, the other is riding at the back and they slowly hit the gas. We were 5 in a group but, one of our groupmates couldn't attend to the said rendezvous for a reason. As we trailed along, I was so excited and my eyes were roaming around the scenery outside the bamboo forest. The fresh blow of the wind as we are getting closer to the bamboo forest makes my heart pound so fast to the excitement I feel. I can’t stop myself from smiling because at last, I touched down to one of the destinations I want to visit.
When we reached in front of the Bamboo forest I couldn't see what was inside. My friend parked her motorcycle on the nearest parking lot and then we saw different restaurants and the reception area. We were reluctant to go inside instantly, so we decided to have an early lunch first, or for me, it was both a breakfast and a lunch. We first logged in our names to the receptionist and paid for the entrance which was ₱30.00 each.
Then, we were looking for a restaurant that is budget-friendly, and we jumped from one restaurant to another. I decided to try steamed rice with my friend. Our 2 friends ordered different dishes. After the food arrived, we took some photos and then we ate our food.
After we ate, we decided to enter the entrance of the bamboo forest. The moment the door opened I was so excited as again it was my first time. My eyes are feasting on the scenery, the tall bamboo that gave us shade, and the main character of this destination. Its cool breeze of air welcomes you to its magnificent beauty. In my mind, I was like, “Wow, I can only see this one online and when I’m riding a bus going to school and heading home, I can’t believe I'm here now."
At the nearest entrance after entering, we saw some fishes in the aquarium and they were so colorful and big (I wanna take them home, kidding). There’s this one big fish and it looks like it has a wound and is old.
The beautiful pathway gives you a Japanese-styled design where we were able to have some photos taken by a local kid volunteering to take a picture of us (we also gave him a small amount after).
We further trail along and while enjoying the view we are also doing our assessment. The fresh breeze of wind motivates us to keep on walking. It was so peaceful and it was good timing because it wasn't too crowded. We saw some group of friends taking pictures and some were renting a kimono inside the bamboo forest and they took some pictures and videos.
On the side of the pathway, we saw some benches that some were wrecked. So we looked for a perfect spot to talk about what needs to be developed. There are a lot of things that need to further improve in the place. The lights, the cottages, the bench, the swing, and how to properly maintain the health of the bamboo.
After we list down some of the things to improve, we continue to walk until the end of the pathway. We saw the prayer garden. There is a fishpond slash wishing well in front. I enjoyed those big fishes swimming and the moment they would go to our side thinking we might give them something (but we've got nothing to give).
I love how peaceful it is and how wonderful it would be if it will be continued to be taken care of especially the bamboo tree. Because I noticed that some of the bamboo trees are almost turning yellow and I did some research before coming here and it is probably because of a lack of water or too much exposure to sunlight.
We are done with our assessment as we have listed already what needs to be developed. We are taking our time by appreciating the beauty of nature. Enjoying the crackling sound of the dried leaves as we stepped on it. We proceeded to the other side and we decided to take some solo pictures.
So here's the proposed development for the bamboo forest. I designed it using Canva, and although it was not perfect I'm just trying to show what we want to propose. Because we are not an artist that we can draw what we want.
The bamboo forest is one of the best destinations to visit in Medellin! It is so refreshing, peaceful, and a place for taking pictures or making some videos. I, as a first timer was really satisfied although I almost fell on the swing because I didn't know how to get on it. I love the feeling of being surrounded by those tall trees. If only we were there for the reason of just leisure, I would surely bring a mat and take a peaceful nap and also a picnic will be so much fun too.
It's an ideal place for nature lovers, photography and make some time to relax and cool down especially now because of this hot weather! So for your next adventure, make space for the Bamboo forest!
You're at the end of my blog ka-Hivers unto my next travelaag. Thank you and Shalom!✨🤗