Ever feel like the city is too fast, too noisy, too much? Ever need to relax, unwind, and just enjoy nature. But then, you don’t have the time to go away from Manila for so long? Or that you can’t do much of the adventure-y outdoors-y things, but you kind of want to try?
Haranah Eco Park seems like the perfect place to give it a go! It’s teeming with fun activities, fresh air, and a whole new level of delicious food!
Location
The Haranah Eco Park is located near the old Radar Station of PAGASA about 300m away from the Marcos Highway and around 2km from Sierra Madre Hotel. It is about 1 to 1 ½ hour drive from Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall.
How to Get There
From Masinag Market Marikina you can take a jeepney to Sampaloc and ask to get dropped off Haranah Eco Park. It’s literally that easy.
Accommodation
There’re no other way to stay the night but via camping. Don’t worry! The grounds are large, flat, and perfectly comfortable. You can even opt to rent their tents so you need not bring your own. In my experience, not only did they let us borrow their huge and comfortable tents, they even set it up for us! Not only that, they made sure to bring us foam mattresses for an even more comfortable stay.
One of our companions even coined it as “Comfing” or comfortable camping. It’s not exactly the luxurious glamping, but it isn’t hardcore camping, either! Anyhoo, I liked comfing. It’s certainly comfortable, but it isn’t over the top either. I like my comforts, so I appreciate the effort they gave to give us just that.
Pro-Tips:
- Be prepared for comfing and do bring warm blankets, even in summer, it gets really chilly at night
- Rechargeable lights are also a great addition to the camp
- Use your bag of clothes as a pillow to get even more comfortable, better yet, bring a pillow if you can
- No heaters are available for use in their showers so I suggest showering in the afternoon before dinner
- Bring a jacket because it really really REALLY is generally cold and windy at night
Food
I can’t say anything negative about their food. It simply tastes heavenly. Especially their pasta. You should definitely try their pasta. If you’re staying there overnight, you can specifically ask the chef to cook whatever you want (within means, of course).
Soon, they would open a place for casual dining within the park! Hooray! I don’t think they have qualms with the guests bringing their own food, though. But please remember to clean up after yourself. After all, Haranah is trying to promote sustainable, clean, and ecological living!
Activities
With huge open grassy spaces, you can do almost all the team building activities you can imagine. One field is so large, I bet it can take 50 players in one go, no hassle!
Outdoor Theatre
Haranah Eco Park has its own outdoor amphitheater. Hold gigs and mini concerts for your private audience, play charades with a bunch of friends, and even just enjoy taking photos!
Bird Watching
With a majority of the land untouched, a lot of endemic birds still reside inside this ecological haven. Bring your binoculars with you and enjoy a light trek to the forest to watch birds in their natural habitat. The land is so full of birds that you can even just hear the many different songs of birds.
Flower Photography
Haranah filled their gardens and pathways with lush and colorful flora. For educational purposes, they even took time to label almost all of it. I personally took home a lot of beautiful photos of flowers.
Star Gazing
With Haranah isolated from many light polluted places, the night sky is unbelievably visually stunning. On a clear day, the stars flood the sky and paints the cosmos right before your very eyes. Lie down on sleeping bag, huddled in darkness and wonder upon the vastness of the universe.
Bonfires
My absolute favorite activity. Bonfires are fun, warm, and a great social activity. Clump together near the friendly warmth of the fire while sharing stories and laughter. Complete the experience by making sticky sweet s’mores!
Rock Balancing
Surprisingly, this activity became one of my favorite to do here. It’s fun in a quiet, don’t-destroy-my-concentration way. Apparently, a lot of kids love rock balancing, too! They would sit in the rock balance area and balance pieces of the earth for hours.
Personally, not only do I feel challenged by this activity, it feels quite peaceful, too. Zen, if you will. MUST TRY! Haranah even invites a Rock Balance Master to teach you how to balance! Super cool dud, if I do say so myself.
Camping
Of course,let’s not forget the only accommodation of the place. More specifically, it’s comfing with it’s hassle free camping where you can opt to set up your own tent or have someone else set it up. I liked it. Being my first camping trip, this easy experience made me want repeats of this in the future!
Price
Day Tour
Day Tours are at Php1,000 per person. This includes entrance to the park and lunch!
Camping
Camping rates are at Php3,200 per person (minimum of 10pax). Here are the inclusions with this deal:
- Day 1:
- (Start at 1pm) Lunch, PM snack, dinner
- Bonfire and tent rental (6-8pax)
- Day 2:
- (End 11 am) Breakfast and AM snack
Venue Rental
Venue rental is by quotation, I would assume. You can contact them via email at [email protected]. Or opt to call them at this number 632-376-6645.
Best OOTD Places
Amphitheater
Geodome
Mountain View
Overall of Haranah Eco Park
Haranah Eco Park really does rejuvenate and recharges you. The serene landscape is a breath of fresh air from the noisy and dirty city. I recommend trying out Haranah Eco Park if you’re in the need for a quick serene escape from the city or looking for a huge private venue that’s both beautiful and tranquil, they have your back! I’m glad I got to experience this park. Since I was getting burnt out by city life, it really revitalized my energy.
Aside from the serenity and tranquility that Haranah has to offer, the place is located near a lot of Rizal’s beautiful tourist spots like the Calinawan Cave and Regina RICA Pilgrimage Site! More about those two sites soon!
