Tags: Vacation, Zoos and Animal Sanctuaries
By Leo Magno
MENDEZ, CAVITE — Thirty minutes from the heart of Tagaytay City is an integrated farm on a 10-hectare lot where you can have a different kind of “zoo” experience. Here you can not only view pigs, deer, sheep, camels, ostriches, miniature horses and other animals — you can even pet some of them. The place is called Paradizoo in the municipality of Mendez in the Province of Cavite, and aside from being an integrated theme farm and agri-festival venue, it is also home to a five-legged cow.
Yes, a five-legged cow, and his name is “Bull-tez-five,” taken obviously from “Voltes V.” But this isn’t the place’s only attraction. Overall one would realize that the theme farm is a practice in sustainability — with a greenhouse, a nursery, an orchard, a composting station, a honeybee farm and even a pet cemetery. From food to sustain the animals and its workers, to fertilizers recycled from animal byproducts all the way to their final resting place, Paradizoo is a self-enclosed and self-sustaining place that offers a different kind of zoo and agri experience.
Entrepreneur Robert Yupangco started developing this tourist spot in 2005 and has turned it into a family-friendly place. Inside you will find the Paradizoo Café, which sells flowers, ginger tea, jams, peanut butter and other produce grown and processed in the farm. There is also the Discovery Shop which sells toys and gift items. For those who wish to stay overnight, there are ranch-type houses and the Bromeliad and Orchid Pavilions as function rooms to accommodate groups of visitors.
Aside from the five-legged cow which has become a tourist attraction, one would see dromedary camels, Kalahari goats with huge horns, dorper sheep, russa deer, alpacas, wild boars with their bristly snouts, llamas and other animals such as dogs, namely Greyhounds and Labradors. Paradizoo sells, trades and breeds animals, plants and seeds. The farm therefore creates awareness for the protection of flora and fauna among the farming communities in Cavite.
We learned a lot at the mushroom and honey farms, where staffers accommodatingly gave us clear explanations of how they grow mushrooms and bees. We learned that mushroom substrates could either be straw or soil and that they should be grown in dark and damp conditions. Right outside the mushroom farm are rows of plants – from common vegetables to exotic spices. A bit further beyond that was the nursery and the honey farm, where we were given the basics of apiculture or honey farming, as well as a taste of pure honey freshly taken from one of the combs. It was an educational experience as well as an ecological one.
But since the entire farm sprawls over 10 hectares, one can rent guided horses or golf carts to move around. If you plan to go on foot, make sure you are wearing washable shoes – this is a farm and so mud and animal droppings abound.
Very near Paradizoo are Sonia’s Garden and Residence Inn Zoo, which you could pass by if you want to maximize your trip. To get to Paradizo coming from Tagaytay City proper, you need to drive toward Nasugbu, Batangas. After passing Tagaytay Market, look for the road going to Mendez, Cavite. About 10 minutes more and you’ll see the Paradizoo sign. You’ll go through a narrow but paved road, just continue following the signs. Entrance fee is P199 for adults, but this is always subject to change, something which visitors find disconcerting.
However, the day we went to Paradizoo, there was some sort of worker’s strike, with people discussing whether or not they received their pay for the past month. Let’s hope everything turns out well for both the farm and its workers.
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