Cano Gwapo again

It was not a planned trip but when our niece, Dr. Marilou Estoya Fougeirol had time from her busy schedule, we decided to take her and her mother, Dr. Salome Estoya to Cano Gwapo, the officially known Campuestohan Highland Resort last Tuesday, December 11.

Our readers will recall that Malou took care of us, me and my wife Verns, during our trip to France last October and she came here for a brief stay for the holidays and we thought this is an opportunity for us to reciprocate her hospitality and generosity when we were there where the language is really difficult for us. After years of living in France, she naturally speaks French fluently and that was one way we were able to enjoy the country and visit famous places that remain the marvels of human genius.

And speaking of ingenuity, Cano Gwapo had remarkably developed since I visited and wrote about it last August when it was first exposed to the public though not opened officially. I thought our readers should know what are new in Cano Gwapo to make a visit there more worthwhile.

The most significant change is the condition of the road. From the boundary of Bacolod and Talisay City, to Cano Gwapo, the road had been paved and leveled for all-weather passage. Ricardo “Cano”Tan who owns the highland resort had dumped hundreds of trucks of volcano soil so that the trip, even on dirt road was smooth. Compared to our previous visit which took 45 minutes, it took us only 30 minutes of slow travel to see the countryside to reach the resort. The road is not concreted or asphalted but with volcanic soil the travel by car was smooth just the same.

Bacolod has helped a little with the culvert at the turn to the Talisay road. We heard that the camp of Monico Puentevella charged that Bacolod City spent for the road. This is half-true because, in the first place, the road is government owned and it has the duty to insure that the road is in good condition, considering particularly that it is supposed to invite tourists to the city.

The road to and from Talisay is scandalous so that people from the north should take the Bacolod-Alangilan road to Cano Gwapo. Campuestohan which is just about three kilometers from the Bacolod boundary belongs to Talisay so that Talisay which gets taxes from this resort on its own has nothing to show for tourism purposes. It should help by putting its money where its mouth is about tourism programs.

By the way, what is a tourism destination of Talisay?

Rep. Alfredo Benitez has helped by extending electricity power to the area and while it energizes the mountain barangays, it at least helped reduce the cost of the resort which relied on its own generator.

Visitors will not get lost this time and end up in Talisay. There are signs along the way from Alangilan Bridge (just after the barangay’s market and church). The signs say “This Way” so visitors will not miss the place.

A lot of new things to see and enjoy are already in place. The road inside has been concreted and a new bridge has been constructed to bring the visitors farther back near the lush trees of the Negros forest reserves. This forest helps us in the lowlands by preventing the kind of flash floods that hit Mindanao and Cagayan de Oro.

Looking at the devastation of these places during the Pablo onslaught, one can readily appreciate the value of our forest and the need to protect them from poachers – the mindless illegal loggers and kaingeros. Looking at the forest is already a relaxation aside from the cool breeze throughout the day.

There is something new all will enjoy. There are bigger than life-size, colored statues of favorite television and comic characters – Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Captain America, Superman, Thor, Iron Man, Spider Man, Batman, the huge legs of The Hulk, Snow White and the 7 dwarfs and even the Last Mohican which will be placed on a pedestal.

There is also Elvis Presley and Michael Jordan and at the main entrance, lording over the landscape on an elevated platform of volcanic rocks is John Wayne on a horse. Kids and adults posed for photographs. One man held the reins of John Wayne’s horse as if he was a Wayne sidekick. For the Christmas season there is Santa Claus and his reindeer and a large Christmas tree.

The umbrellas dotting the area around the pool are not the same as in other resorts. They look like umbrellas from outer space like the igloo-shaped separate huts.

One has to see them to enjoy them. Just don’t forget the camera.*

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