The developers and project managers behind NUVALI take pride in their vision of sustainability. The concept of sustainability has three points: social, environmental and economic. This alone stems from the very origin of the project where all these new facilities now stand on. NUVALI was once a former sugarcane plantation owned by the Yulo family. What the developers did was to relocate the workers to an area within the vicinity of NUVALI and provided them with a new means of livelihood by helping them create and sell their handicrafts. Even the road layout and the buildings populating the land area follow a rule dictated by the sustainability concept – all public vehicles travel on different lanes and all structures must have 45 to 50% of open space.
NUVALI also has developments that cater to residents’ dining, shopping and sporting activities. Solenad 1 and 2 house shops and restaurants, and facilities such as the Republ1c Wakepark and The Fields for all sports enthusiasts. This great respect for our environment paves the way for diverse business and leisure opportunities and an active lifestyle suitable for community members of all ages.
Camp N, one of their newest projects, is part and parcel of their highly promoted active lifestyle package. This adventure zone is home to several teambuilding facilities such as the Rope Courses, Obstacle Course, Aerial Walk, and Camping Grounds, which are all designed to develop camaraderie and sportsmanship in all adventurers.
Staring up at the High Ropes mounted on seemingly wibbly-wobbly poles way up in the air immediately got me wondering how all these courses were engineered in terms of safety. The experts were quick to assure us just how safe we would be despite dangling ten or twenty feet in the air from harnesses and hooks.
“In terms of safety, Ayala wants only the best,” says Architect Joy Dawis-Asuncion. “All the helmets, harnesses, hooks and belay devices we have here were bought from various locations abroad. The materials used to make these safety devices are of the utmost quality. The hooks and harnesses are strong enough to lift two cars!”
To further assure their guests from the media, the camp experts taught us how to properly strap on and check our safety devices. Even after you strap yourself in and tighten all belts to fit properly, you have to do an eight-point check (one for each set of buckles) to assure yourself of your safety.
The course that we tried for this visit was the Aerial Ropes. This is basically a suspended obstacle course supported by ropes. Although you won’t fall, the real challenge here is to keep your balance, footing and willpower in check. As soon as we were properly strapped in, they showed us how to work the belay device. What is cool (and actually highly reassuring!) about it is that you cannot unhook one device without latching on the other.
Testing the belay devices before the Aerial Walk
I had a ball monkeying around the course and taking on the challenges it presented. It was so much fun to walk on logs, crawl through barrels and balance on thin wooden planks before finally taking that victorious zipline ride to the end of the course. This, along with the other facilities of the camp, makes for great corporate teambuilding and basic friend-and-family programmes.
I was also able to try wakeboarding for the first time. Republ1c Wakepark at NUVALI is designed in such a way that it caters to both expert and beginner wakeboarders. The expert lane is a long and winding snake filled with bumps and ramps, and supported by a faster-traveling cable.
We were, of course, herded off to the beginners’ lane, which is much more basic and much less imposing. The people in our team were only able to take one turn each due to time constraints (they close the lane at 5:30PM to prepare for nightboarding), so it was more of getting to experience it rather than learning how to actually do it. I found it quite hard to keep my balance in the water as well as keep my arms in the right position, but I was able to stand up for a few glorious moments before going under. (For cable rates and board rental fees, visit republ1cwakepark.com)
NUVALI Summerscape was a great educational experience. I am definitely looking forward to coming back for their future developments such as the Adventure Tower, which will be home to a rollercoaster zipline, a rappel and climbing wall, and a vertical drop ala Mission Impossible. Sounds swell, don’t you think?
My biggest takeaway from this experience was the importance of conquering my nerves and believing that I could reach my goal. Architect Joy was ready to reinforce this during our safety talk. “The bigger picture, still, is you being able to conquer your fear in hopes of making it to your goal. It’s really your will and your heart to focus yourself on what you are doing. All the fear just goes away after that.”
Getting There and Getting Around:
There are regular round trips to NUVALI via mass transit. Buses (Jam Liner) are available Mondays to Fridays, Nuvali to Makati (back of Hotel Intercon Manila) and vice versa. Jeepneys are available daily, Balibago Terminal to Nuvali and vice versa. Public transport (E-Jeep and vans) is available within NUVALI, weekdays from 6:30AM to 6:00PM. Visit http://nuvali.ph/about/location-and-transportation for more information.
Camp N Rates and Schedule:
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To know more about Camp N, visit www.nuvali.ph, like NUVALI on Facebook (www.facebook.com/Nuvaliofficial) and follow them onTwitter (@Nuvaliofficial). Contact 0917-5ASK-NUV (0917-5275-688).
Additional images courtesy of NUVALI.
