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Saturday, October 23, 2004
Pag-asa Farms: A haven amid banana farms
By Raquel C. Bagnol
FAST becoming a famous landmark in the municipality of Kapalong and in Davao del Norte is Pag-asa Farms, an experience of nature conveniently located amidst lush banana plantations just 10 minutes ride away from the town center.
The ranch features a five-hectare orchid garden of varied species, different trees and shrubs, a mini-zoo boasting of exotic birds and animals.
The Cabana function hall, an open building allowing the cool breeze to carry in the sweet fragrance of flowers, can accommodate at least 100 people and is ideal for seminars and conferences.
Pag-asa Farms boasts three classy rooms good for three persons each available for overnight accommodations. A very affordable price of P750 per room includes free breakfast which includes their specialties like lechon de leche, spare ribs and other mouth-watering cuisine depending on the client's choices.
If you're lucky, you might be fortunate to dine on ostrich meat and eggs.
Evelyn Mercado, sister of Toy Mercado who owns and manages Pag-asa Farms, said they are targetting Cabana to be complete and fully operational by November in time to accommodate the holiday visitors. It is presently undergoing renovation.
Pag-asa Farms is also home to the largest of all the bird species in the world, the ostrich. There are about 48 ostriches here and an ostrich egg incubator.
Alfonso Biñan Jr., one of the staff of Pag-asa Farms, explains that an ostrich can lay as many as 30 eggs in a year and it hatches within 42 days in an incubator.
Survival rate however, is only around 50 percent of the eggs.
The price of ostrich meat hovers from P900 to P1,000 per kilo while an ostrich egg can fetch a market price from P600 to P800 each.
"You can cook ostrich meat with recipes like steak, salpicao with mushrooms, adobo, and other ways of cooking it and it is fat-free, definitely no cholesterol," Ms. Pardo said.
An ostrich egg, which is equivalent to ten or 11 chicken eggs weighs about 1.5 kgs. Hard boiling an ostrich egg though, will take more than three hours as the shell is very hard. An ostrich egg omelet would be enough to feed 8 men or 10 women, Ms. Parcon said.
Pag-asa Farms is worth a visit, a place ideal for agro-forestry educational tours, fieldtrips and visits. In fact, a trip to Kapalong will not be complete without dropping by. To get there, one has board an hour's trip in a jeep from Tagum City to Kapalong. From there, get in touch with the Kapalong tourism office at tel. nos. (084) 371-0703 or (084) 371-0661 and contact Edna Bernardino-Parcon.
(October 23, 2004 issue)
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