the garden of eden

This past weekend we were invited by two friends of ours, Marla and Jim, to join them in an overnight trip.
We managed to squeeze all of our luggage (and the kids!) into the office vehicle, and off we went!



Our destination was Eden Nature Park, a large park with cabins to rent, trails to explore, a lovely pool, and other activities to enjoy.
Eden is 3,000 feet above sea level in the foothills of Mt. Apo, the tallest mountain in the Philippines.

One of the best things about Eden is that the temperatures there are noticeably cooler than down in the city. It was incredibly refreshing to be in a cooler, quieter place for a little while.
We rented this cabin together,



...brought food to share, and games to play together, too.



The kitchen was in a separate building in the back.



From Lola's (Grandmother's) Garden near our cabin, we had a beautiful view of the city of Davao down below, the ocean, and nearby islands.

Here we are on the Mountain Trail, a 4k hike.
This hanging bridge was pretty amazing!

Mark caught a shot of this classy black and white butterfly perched on a Bird of Paradise plant.



After warming up on the hike, a dip in the cool pool was wonderful.
For the first time since we've arrived in the Philippines we actually felt COLD.
What a luxury!



The flowers and vegetation at Eden were gorgeous.
Elise reveled in using the macro feature on her camera.

Elise, Amy and Michael were good sports and posed for us on the caribou (water buffalo)



A nighttime visit to Lola's Garden gave us a beautiful view of the lights of Davao, but an even more AMAZING display in the heavens. The stars were brilliant, and we could see the glow of the Milky Way!





We'll post a few more photos in a later blog!