It was the first interesting sight of the tour when the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) participants saw a guy in a cowboy outfit complete with a buri cowboy hat. They named him Cowboy Cobra. Naming him cowboy was obvious but why they called him Cobra, well, that’s another story. Cowboy Cobra became the official mascot of the tour.
The tour was organized by the staff of the iSchools Project of the CICT to give participants a much needed reprieve from the week-long intensive workshops and training. On May 24, Sunday,forty-four participants were ready by eight in the morning for the tour. Geared in their summer T-shirts, shorts, and walking shoes, with drinking water and cameras in their bags, they were all set to go.
Paradise Ranch was the first stop of the tour. Neil Supan a.k.a. Cowboy Cobra, the Marketing Representative of the Ranch, welcomed the group. Paradise Ranch, located in Clark, Pampanga, is project of Philippines Children Fund of America that helps and supports Amerasian (half America, half Filipino) children through its programs and services.
The participants were treated to a traditional dance number with a modern twist by the Aetas (minority group in Pampanga) who worked at the ranch. Participants who jammed and danced with them were given buri hats as prizes. The participants did not need any more prodding, they all danced ng dahil sa sombrero!
Participants then explored one hectare of the total fifty hectares of Paradise Ranch. The once bare land is now home to wild monkeys, mating peacocks, hungry ostrich and the biggest butterfly garden in the Philippines.
After the fat-burning trek at the ranch, the participants were very disappointed to find that Clark Museum, the next stop, was already closed. Or were they really? You could hear a participants shouting in the shuttle bus of two letters in the alphabet- S – and- M.
But before participants were brought to the place where they could unload the week’s long stress in some retail therapy, they had to make a stop at Nayong Pilipino. Picture-taking with the heritage houses, Barasoain Church and Kalesa in the background was the highlight of that stop. Nayong Pilipino sa Clark Expo was created to visualize the diversity and beauty of the country’s rich cultural heritage.
Finally, at half past twelve noon, the tour officially ended when participants were dropped off at the mall. The air-conditioned haven for shoppers was a perfect end to the hot Sunday summer morning tour.
