Kuya J's Diaries Episode 1 - Journey to New Israel

Hello fellow STEEMians! Good day to all of us!

Since I have just recently started here in this STEEMIT community, all the blogs I've posted since I started were all random and I find it somewhat messy and so I have decided to make a “series” to make it easier for all of my followers on what to expect on my future blogs and I would like to officially call it “Kuya J’s Diaries” (so please look forward to it ^_). In this series, I will only be talking about three things;

First, it will be about the TRAVELS I've made and I will make from the most beautiful places in the Philippines.
Second, it will be about FOODS (who doesn’t like food right? Lol!). All kinds of foods that are available in the Philippines, from the exotic foods to the best affordable restaurants, cafés, street foods, and also homemade foods.
And lastly, it will be about SCIENCE. Since my fields of expertise are in biological sciences and environmental engineering, the things I will be sharing about will be mostly related to environmental issues, health and wellness issues, and facts about our body.

So for our first episode, I will introduce you on my journey to a small community in New Israel, Makilala, North Cotabato.

Kidapawan City is known for mountaineers because the city is one of the gateways off to Mt. Apo but unknown to many, not too far from the city, lies a naturally made Eco-Adventure Park situated at the foot of Mt. Apo in the Barangay New Israel of Makilala.

What amazes me about this community is that it is also the home of the tamed Macaque monkeys. These monkeys live side by side with the residents here freely. The community treats these monkeys as their own family, feeds them and takes care of them. They’ve been living with the community for more than five decades. Imagine? Five decade!!! Woooooah.

You can just see these monkeys strolling around, playing on the ground, walking with humans and greeting tourists like us.

This is the first time I’ve seen many monkeys roaming around as they please without any chains, collars or in a cage.

This town also has a lot of history in terms of religious beliefs and culture in them. The locals of this town are members of a religious organization Moncado Alpha and Omega Peace Crusaders Missionaries Inc., which was founded by Maximino Sandot Guibernas in the late 1950’s.

They believe that Jose Rizal (Philippine Hero) is their prophet and they practice the religion Moncadista. You will see in the walkway huge tablets, symbolic figures and a worship hall near the zip line ride station.

Aside from the monkeys, the main tourist attraction of this town is their 2.3-kilometer zip line. They claim that it is the longest zip line in Asia but such claims are not accepted yet by the Department of Tourism.

Before you can reach the top to ride the zip line, you need to ride a horse while ascending to the top. The travel will take about 15 minutes before you will reach the top.

When we arrive at the top, I feel like I’m on top of the world. All I can see are the trees from the mountains and the fresh air that gently breezes on my cheeks. It's a wonderful place to relax and appreciate the beauty of nature. They have a platform constructed so that you can have a greater look on the flatland and take pictures of the place. You will then need to walk 400 steps to arrive at the first station.

The zip line is divided into two stations; the first station is a 1 kilometer long that will let you see the whole community of New Israel and the second station, is a 1.3-kilometer long that will bring you back to the starting point.