Before this visit to Guimaras, I didn’t realize that windmills could be so fascinating. You see, I’ve never seen them up close. It’s either only in pictures or from afar. The San Lorenzo Windmills of Guimaras was my first close encounter (literally) and it was surprising how I ended up being in awe of the structures.
This fascination was awakened anew, and became even more intense, when we visited the Bangui Windmills and Burgos Wind Farm up north in Ilocos Norte, but that is for another future post. For now, let’s stay in Guimaras, shall we?
From the Holy Hills Farm (see blog post here), we found ourselves driving on a wide dirt road which afforded us a view of several windmills on both sides, at quite a far distance. I actually thought that’s as close as we can get to the windmills. Boy, am I glad to be wrong.
Because it did not take long until we felt our multicab going up a slope, and I just saw that we were actually approaching them!
The San Lorenzo Wind Farm
I can’t help but appreciate structures that are considered to be tourist attractions but functional at the same time. You see, the windmills, which were built in the area by a private company called TAREC (Trans-Asia Renewable Energy Corporation, actually supply electricity for the whole province of Guimaras, and some parts of Iloilo and Negros Oriental.
Man, these windmills are hella tall and towering~!! Standing before it, even at a considerable distance, one cannot help but feel really small. Which, in actuality, they are.
It may also be somewhat disorienting as well, especially if you look up to the very tip. At one point I imagined the thing toppling down on me. XDD Look how small Jen looks in front of this 123-meter tall windmill.
By the way, the place got its name because it is situated in the town of San Lorenzo, a 5th class municipality in Guimaras. But the wind farm actually covers 5 barangays, since the windmills are built on hills, road sides and farms. Unlike the ones in Bangui, which are neatly lined up in a straight line on the beach,
Just try to look far and out, and you’re bound to spot the windmills.
There are a total of 27 windmills, and each windmills has a turbine that generates 2 megawatts of power. That means we’re talking about 54 megawatts of power being supplied by the wind farm.
Instead of going to each of the windmills to check them out up close, our multicab driver/guide brought us to this elevated area that has that single windmill in the middle. It appears to be the best vantage point to view the other windmills all around.
We just became shutter-happy for a good ten minutes. XDD It was exhausting, in hindsight. All that jumping… phew.
Getting a Taste of Guimaras’ Mango Pizza
If you don’t already know by now, Guimaras is famous for having the sweetest and best-tasting mangoes in the Philippines. They have “export-quality” mangoes, meaning its these Guimaras mangoes that get priority to be sold outside the country. For the longest time, bringing mango fruits outside the island was prohibited. It’s a good thing that is no longer the case, so we ended up each buying at least one box per person of these fresh ripe mangoes back home to Baguio.
And they weren’t lying. Those mangoes are DA BOMB.
But I digress. I’m supposed to talk about their equally famous Mango Pizza.
The Mango Pizza of The Pitstop Restaurant, in particular, was highly recommended. When we mentioned this to our driver/guide, he drove us over to the restaurant’s branch in Buenavista.
Since we did not really want to waste time eating when we can visit other places (coz, you see, we don’t have all dayyyy), we just got a box of pizza to go and ate it while we were traveling inside the multicab.
For reference, though, you can check out the offerings of The Pitstop by looking at their menu. Click on the thumbnails to view larger image.
Finally, we got to taste the pizza! Look at it!
I wouldn’t call myself passionate when it comes to pizza, but I liked this one. Not necessarily loved it, but I’d have to say it was quite a novelty. Mango and melted cheese on top of yummy pizza crust? Definitely worth a taste.
Personally, though, I’d prefer eating the mango on its own, then picking different toppings for my pizza.
Come to think of it, I heard a couple of friends raving about the mango pizza at Future’s Diner of Hotel Supreme in Baguio, so I just might swing by some time to check it out.
Oh, wait, a quick stop: the Guimaras sign
But wait, before I end this post.
You know how many cities or provinces have these installations involving giant letters spelling out their city/province name? Guimaras also has it, and it is situated right in front of their Provincial Capitol, a good distance away from their market that sells mainly mangoes.
Our guide gave us several minutes to take photos on the sign. Predictably, I had to climb up on top of the letters. Why? Because… why not? XDD
I was going through my photos and saw this one of a map of Guimaras on the wall of The Pitstop Restaurant, showing the towns of the province.
Clearly, although Guimaras is small, one day of exploration is not enough. We were only able to go around Jordan, Buenavista, San Lorenzo and Nueva Valencia. And not even the whole towns but just some parts. [insert sad pout here]
I have one last post on my Guimaras visit, and it will be coming up soon. Meanwhile, check out our ride throughout our Guimaras tour.
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