La Mesa Eco Park

            People may think Quezon City is just a bustling city of skyscrapers, noisy Jeep and buses, malls and other symbols of city life except a park, wildlife or anything related to nature.  I love nature and in the process of  looking for a best place to enjoy this "loving", I found La Mesa Eco Park. You don't need to drive too far, La Mesa Eco Park is located within the city of Quezon in Metro Manila - specifically in East Fairview Subdivision.  This breath of life offers different activities that friends and family can enjoy without spending all that much in your wallet.

              Huts and cottages are available for rent, some are free, but you may also bring your own tent or picnic blanket for your own comfort.  The area is around five(5) hectares of picnic, grill, garden and exercises stations.  I've been to the place several times with friends and office mates.  We busied ourselves with  taking pictures of beautiful and colorful flowers around the area, different types of trees, satisfy our curiosity about the water shed, tried different activities such as: horse back riding (Oh well, in our case - we used the 'calesa'.He-he!), bicycle riding, kite flying, getting a temporary tattoo, badminton, wall climbing, etc.  There are other activities designed for more adventurous guests: paintball, wall climbing, zipline and rappelling.

           The park is right at the center of  La Mesa Dam Watershed which is the source of Metro Manila water supply.  It is divided into three major facilities:

1. Lopez Picnic Grounds - where you can spread your picnic blanket under the huge trees and bond with your friends and family.
2. Superferry Boating Lagoon - where you can rent a boat and paddle ala Burnham Park lagoon in Baguio City.
3. Petron Fitness and Mountain Bike Trail - where you can enjoy performing your various exercises surrounded by those huge trees. 

           You can also take a dip in their big and cold water swimming pool, per Eco Park administration, probably  the only salt water (instead of using chlorine) pool in Metro Manila that is open to public use.  If your planning to swim, make sure you do it on weekdays or as early as 8AM during weekends.  Volume of visitors/swimmers arrive during Sundays and the swimming pool, maybe big is not big enough to accommodate the number of swimmers. You can also do some fishing, trek their not-so-many steps but tired me off Shell Flower terraces and wander in their Butterfly Trail and Hatchery.  Biking area for both adult and kids is also available.  You can rent a bike for an hour or more, unfortunately, you cannot ride the bike beyond the specified premises.

           The park offers educational tour, team building packages and overnight camping by special arrangement.  You may also rent a pavilion or function halls or  reserve some part of the area as venue for special occasions. 

            The entrance fee to the La Mesa Eco Park is very affordable, its only 50Php/adult.  For Quezon City residents  its only 40Php and 20Php for students of Quezon City (make sure though to bring your valid ID's  because the reception crew will definitely ask you to show it at the entrance).  Kids below 3feet and senior citizens are free of charge.  The park is open daily except holidays and opens at 8AM-5PM (swimming pool closes as early as 4PM).