A LUNCH VISIT TO ALINDAHAW RESORT, LAKEWOOD, ZAMBOANGA DEL SUR circa 2010

From Pagadian City, we were advised by my friend, Clint M. to pass by Lakewood, which is a detour from the main highway back to Zamboanga City.
We were on a private van and took about an hour to reach the place.

Lakewood... sounds so American!

Well, Lakewood is a municipality of Zamboanga Del Sur named after Lake Wood, a large lake intersecting the town which is about 722 hectares in size.

from Wikipedia: Lakewood (Subanen:G'benwa Danaw) is a 4th class municipality in the province ofZamboanga del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 16,317 people in 3,122 households.

Lakewood was named after Lake Wood, a large lake intersecting the town. The most popular species of fish in the province can only be caught in the lake: the carpa and porang.

The Subanen tribe is the major ethnic group living in the suburban areas; they cultivatevegetables and corn for their own use. Subanens have their own dialect, but they also speakCebuano as a common dialect for conversation.

http://www.zamboangadelsur.gov.ph/contents/about/natural_resources/water.php

The freshwater lakes are the Lakewood Lake in Lakewood with an area of 722 hectares; Lake Dasay in San Miguel with 40 hectares; and Lake Maragang and Lake Timolan with a total combined area of 20 hectares at Tigbao.

From the Zamboanga Del Sur portal, here are more historical data about Lakewood.

http://www.zamboangadelsur.com/lakewood

Located in the eastern part of the central Zamboanga Peninsula, the municipality of Lakewood is bounded by seven municipalities: Midsalip and Siayan on the north, Kumalarang and Lapuyan on the south, Pagadian Cityand Tigbao on the east, and Bayog on the west. It is classified as a 4th class municipality, with a population of about 16,317 people as of the 2000 census, distributed among 3,122 households. From Pagadian City, it is about 42 kilometers away along the Zamboanga City – Pagadian City highway. Geographically, it is 7 degrees, 49′ 60″ north and 123 degrees, 9′ 0″ south.

Lakewoods’ original inhabitants were the Subanens who originally hailed from the banks of Lake Lanao, somewhere in the Dansalan. Proof of this is the fact that even now, the Maranaos from Lake Lanao still has some Subanen words in their dialect. When the Islamic missionaries came to Lanao, the Maranaos who were also living there readily accepted the faith but the Subanens did not. This eventually resulted in enmity between the two ethnicities, which ended with the Maranaos killing the Subanens and taking their women and children as wives and slaves. The Subanens finally decided to move westward to what is now known as Misamis Occidental. From there, they moved south towards the Zamboanga Peninsula, where they came upon a big body of water they called “Danao Guiyawan”, which literally means “Lake of the Woods”. The Subanens eventually settled in the place, since food was abundant in the area.

When Gen. Leonard Wood, the governor of the Moro Province in 1904, ordered Capt. Cornelius Smith to explore the inner territories of Mindanao starting from Iligan to Misamis, they stumbled upon the lake, which the natives called “Danao”. Capt. Smith renamed it “Lake Leonard Wood”, which eventually became “Lakewood.”

A few years ago, my friend said, you had to pass a really rough road just to go to this place.

The road has really improved since and it is quite easy to go a resort in the area, the Alindahaw Lakeview Resort.

You know, what is an "Alindahaw"?

For me, a Cebuana, an "alindahaw" is a dragonfly.
http://tagaloglang.com/Filipino-Music/Filipino-Songs-Not-in-Tagalog/akoy-pobreng-alindahaw-lyrics-translation.html
The Visayan word alindahaw normally means 'drizzle' (ambon in Tagalog), but in this song, it refers to a small, beautiful insect. Depending on the which part of the Visayas you're in, it could be a butterfly, firefly or dragonfly. 

I, myself, never thought of "Alindahaw" as shower or drizzle.


So off we go and see for ourselves what Lakewood has to offer.

Just before reaching the Alindahaw Lakeview Resort, I saw the lake before the detour...

Another friend, Nette G., also from Zamboanga Del Sur remembers that there is a large lake over there, which she says was used for logging. 
Maybe, Lake Wood also meant, "Lake of Lumber"?... but this story is anecdotal. Anybody can shed light on this?


Here we are at the Alindahaw Lakeview Resort in Lakewood...WELCOME!

As we enter the resort, we already see the Lake!

There is also this structure for accommodations which has an overlooking view of the Lake!

We see a large gazebo for gatherings and karaoke.

Some go kayaking at the Lake Wood!

We proceeded further to the back part of the Resort where we see more developments! 
By this time, these structures are more likely done and now functioning!

Then, we proceed to the pools... but we see this massive hilltop accommodation!

Isn't it amazing and the rooms are available!

So we climbed up... as in climbed!!!

Here are the rooms with a balcony giving us a beautiful view of the lake and the Zamboamountains in the horizon.

Great view of the Lake and great view of the swimming pools below!
This is one of the rooms...

This is the view of the pools from the balcony!

We felt to comfortable, but we were just sightseeing so we had to move on...(and out of the room)!
The kids walk down the path...

We pass by a grotto along this path.

The people are enjoying themselves in the pools.

Then, we had our lunch!

We had a simple but hearty lunch, then, had to go on our way back to Zamboanga City, which is another 4 to 6 hours away.

Beautiful and calm panorama, which was unexpected in the middle of a very remote place... a treasure indeed!