Weekend in Palawan

Thick virgin forests on the mountain ranges are typical views in Palawan. This can be seen while still on the plane and while boarding off at the Puerto Princesa City airport. Above is a very pleasant sight for Metro Manila dwellers, away from the madding crowd!

 Some hillsides are already used for agricultural purposes, either for livestock or crop production. Views of the horizon are still beautiful with the layers and degrees of blue of the mountain ranges. When there are some patches of brown, denoting some quarrying or construction, it always feel like an eyesore inside the verdant greens.

This is the driveway to the Mitra Ranch, the provincial home of the late Senator Ramon Mitra, now tended by his sons. The ancestral home is located on the promontory overlooking the hills and the plains below.

This is the main building at Baker's Hill, where restaurants and bakery stores are available. The area is well landscaped and a new product line addition are the ornamental plants for sale. Many families and groups come here to eat and rest on the grounds. The garlic vine near the gate is blooming profusely, while the dome of bromeliad makes a beautiful front accent. A hut inside the compound is attractive also with full bromeliads as its roof, and dischidias hanging on the eaves. 

 This is an old Adenium obesum or dessert rose plant when started from seeds. They are prized for the unusual forms of the caudex or base of the plant. Below are rows of newly trimmed adeniums.

This trellis covers the walkway to the ancestral home of the Mitra clan. It is grown with a few varieties of Thunbergia gigantea. One is violet flowered and one is white, one is green leaves and the other is variegated leaves as shown in the photo below.  I wonder if these leaves just mutated already here or are already variegated when planted.