After having our brunch at Kahoy Cafe, we made our way to Alhibé Farm, an acclaimed farmstay in the town of Carmen in Northern Cebu. 3 or 5 years ago, farmstay or staycations away from the city and into forested areas gained popularity. In fact, I had a list of these places I want to visit; when this weekend getaway was in the talks, I knew exactly where to bring my friends. The universe aligned, the farm was available on our preferred date. What a blessing indeed!
Part of our payment to Alhibé is our plated dinner with one round of drinks; we knew ahead of time that there are no restaurants nor convenience stores nearby so we dropped by 7 Eleven to grab drinks and chips for the long day and night ahead of us.
We did an unavoidable mistake of not downloading an offline Map of the area; five minutes from the Carmen's main highway, we lost good signal and consequently, access to the internet and maps. We just followed the road and when we reached the Cebu Safari and Adventure Park, I knew we're lost. We asked a few locals for direction and they gladly helped us find our way. The road leading to Alhibé isn't the finest; it's steep, rocky and mostly unpaved. Navigating on rainy days needs extra care; mud, puddles of water and chances of minor landslides will make the journey more difficult. Summer is the ideal time to visit Alhibé.
We reached Alhibé safe and sound. Even at the gate, I felt this will be a rejuvinating weekend. We waited for everyone else to arrive before getting inside. Were welcomed by nature at its purest and flawless form. Nature has its way to calm the nerves in no time and remind us that nothing else matters but the present.
We walked passed Agwas Café, the cafe owned and operated by the same owners of Alhibé. I'm thinking of writing a separate post for Agwas Café; it deserves the limelight. Going back, we were told that check-in will be done at the holding area located at the farm. A staff guided us going there. The walk down was very pleasant; it's evident that the farm's management carefully thought of what they wanted the farm to look. The farm is organized and highly maintained.
Register here!
When we reach the only flat terrain in the farm, we were surprised to see a huge covered court which was designed to mimic a living room. It has no walls with only a waist-high railings to keep kids, and maybe adults too, from failing down the steep sides.
I love the layout and overall goal of this open common space at Alhibé. The design makes communicating and connecting with everyone easy. There's a long table set at the center with oversizd throw pillows which served as our seats. It's very comfortable and relaxing. This is where we had all our meals and drinking games that night.
And did I mention there are a lot more to this space? There's a flat screen TV hidden behind an old wooden cabinet. We were all shocked when the staff revealed the TV to us. If you're running out of topics to discuss, you can do karaoke, too! If you want your stay to be a fullblown wellness retreat, you can grab yoga maps and connect deeper with yourself and the people you're with. But if like us, you're here for the chill and fun times, board games and cards for all sorts of games were at our disposal. All of these are included in the rates we've paid. How nice that is!
One of the staff took a good 5-8 minutes to discuss everything we needed to know about Alhibé. Activities we can do, corners to check out and some guidelines to stay safe the entire time. They left a walkie talkie to us so we can communicate with them at the reception area.
Then the staff told us that they prepared some welcome drinks for us. It wasn't so hot but we can denitely use some fresh drinks to revive us after the long trip up North.
On the opposite end of where we initial stayed, there's another uniquely-shaped covered court. The staff led us there only to find some coconuts prepared for each one of us.
The welcome drinks were freshly picked coconuts? What a healthy way to start on awesome weekend. Unfortunately, the meat were too hard but still, the water was refreshing and more than enough to quench our thirst.
Find me, dip and enjoy!
We dropped by our belongings in our assigned accommodation and wasted no time; I told my friends that we'd meet at the pool on the upper portion of the farm. It was a bit hard to find; this place is literally a forest. Trees, ferns and ornamental plants filled every inch of the farm. We were in doubt to explore some of the pathways because plants were in the way. Our exploration wasn't in vain when the still, clear and blue-green water finally revealed itself. The pool is rather small but because we had the entire farm to ourselves, we didn't have any problem with privacy and things like that. The small pool was more than enough for all of us.
Soon my friends joined us and we had so much fun here. We tried both of the pools at Alhibé but we stayed longer at this pool. I'll show the other pool in a while but Linaw, the name of this ciruclar pool, is my favorite between the two.
We took a lot of photos by this pool that gave off Bali-inspired vibes with all the hanging native chairs and the countless plants surrounding the circumference of the pool. The water here is very cold, maybe it's the trees and plants or the time of day (late afternoon) or perhaps the fact that this is a natural pool/spring.
Time flew by so fast, we hurried to the next pool which was nearer our tents before the night fell. This pool was bigger and more into the open than Linaw. This one is named Linaw Dos.
As mentioned earlier, this pool is 2-3 times bigger than Linaw but, and this is a big but, it appeared to be dirty and unmaintained. It's murky and the sides of the pool are slippery. I don't know. Are natural pools supposed to look like this on a bad day? 🤔 Nonetheless, its surroundings are as green and relaxing as the one in Linaw. Plants were thriving.
We could've opted out and chose the safer side but the caretaker assured us that it's safe and clean. We got in the water but didn't stay long there tho. We didn't get any skin rashes or the like, so maybe it's really clean despite how it looked. We took more photos, played and left the pool to dry ourselves in preparation for dinner and game night.
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