The promised land: Canaan Hill Farms and Honey Garden

3 hours drive from Tacloban is this small yet brilliant place they call Biliran. Roads here are like webs of roundabouts compared to the first one (click HERE for the previous blog). You will literally twist and turn inside your car. Haha! Kidding aside, upon our arrival, we were welcomed with a treat they call Cab-cab - a cassava cracker oozed with honey. Oh...what a treat indeed!

The rain was drizzling when we reached Canaan Hill Farms and Honey Garden, thus they decided to move our tour the day after. They gave us a short brief about the policy inside the farm. It is prohibited to play rock music because it tends to disturb plants. Yes! Plants here cannot be disturbed! RESPECT MAN! For girls, they are strictly prohibited from wearing short pants. It must be below the knee.

We trekked up to a 1-kilometer steep hill to reach the simple yet efficient house that we're going to stay in. Out of exhaustion from our previous trips my blogger friends "hilariously" shared scary stories. Literally, a night to remember! We all got up early to catch the sunrise. Unfortunately, clouds blocked the mighty sun and we end up taking pictures of the overlooking view. The farm reveals its beauty when daylight lit up the whole place.

The 7 hectares farm is being managed by the Espinazo siblings. It's very unusual to know that they don't have any agricultural background yet they run the farm well. Some of them are Doctors, Teachers, Seaman, and Fisherman by profession.

They have 30 varieties of endangered species of fruit-bearing trees on their farm. The main source of their income mostly come from their products like ginger tea, honey, crops, and of course the entrance fee of the farm. Since it's very near to the sea, fishing is their backup to support their daily needs.

Despite the challenges in life, they were able to acquire these land little by little through hard work. The Espinazo family agreed to name the farm "Canaan" which means the promised land in the bible. As for them, it is a blessing from God. All their hard works eventually paid off when DOT accredited it as one of the agri-tourism destination in Eastern Visayas.

As much as we want to stay longer, we left the farm immediately after our hearty breakfast because we have other side-trips and flight to catch. One thing I learned from the family and in this journey was to never stop chasing your dreams, even if a building block of hindrance comes in your way.