Hot spring tour site to rise in Leyte

BURAUEN, Leyte, Jan. 20  -- The local government here is eyeing a hot spring within a natural park as a new tourism destination in Eastern Visayas.

Burauen town tourism officer, Carmela Corazon Crebillo, said Friday they had already drawn up plans to develop the Calor Hot Spring, but were awaiting further comments from concerned national government agencies.

The hot spring is inside the Mahagnao Volcano Natural Park, while the park is nestled on a 635-hectare forestland that surrounds the pristine Mahagnao Lake and has an elevation of 860 meters.

“We are ready to develop the destination with available funding and recent hiring of consultants to supervise the site development activities. We hope to complete the project within 2018,” Crebillo said.

The site development will use a PHP3-million budget for local eco-tourism.
Among the proposed tourism activities are sight-seeing, storytelling, educational tours, and nature trek.

The local tourism office will train community-based tour guides who will share stories of Mahagnao’s volcanic eruption and natural wonders in the area.

“They will talk about the history of Mahagnao, like when did the volcano last erupt and so on and so forth, so that when people leave the place, they will not just be awed by nature’s beauty, but will be full of information as well,” she added.

Mahagnao Volcano reportedly erupted in 1895, but no further details are available, according to the Global Volcanism Program.

Crebillo assured the public that the local government is concerned with preserving the hot spring’s natural beauty. Instead of putting concrete structures, the project will only use wood to build the view deck.

“No shed will be made to cover the view deck since the main goal of the site is for the tourists to appreciate the view of the place. In other words, it will be an open space with the hot spring and natural wonders around,” Crebillo told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).

To make the site more tourist-friendly, the local government will also improve the access pathway by piling up stones and wooden rails for more convenient climbing, not only for young hikers, but for senior citizens as well.
The development of the Calor hot spring is just the first step to fully develop the Mahagnao Volcano Natural Park into a top eco-tourism site in Eastern Visayas.

Proclaimed as a national park in 1937, the site is endowed with other natural attractions – a lake, falls, multi-colored mud, virgin forests, and lagoon.

Mahagnao is 18 km. away from the town center of Burauen. The town in central Leyte is about 50 km. from Tacloban City, the regional capital.

From Tacloban, where the airport is located, the site is one hour and 30 minutes by bus. At the town center, visitors without a 4x4 vehicle can hire a motorcycle to get to Mahagnao, passing through seven villages. (SQM/With reports from Madelene B. Perez, OJT/PNA)