Northern Blossom Flower Farm
Atok, Benguet, Philippines
February 23, 2019 @ 06:00 (PST)
The Venue is in Atok Benguet, a fast rising tourist destination with very little information in Google Maps. We aim to help improve Google Maps by doing a photowalk and adding landmarks in the process.
Hi @VincePH
Thank you for creating this great meet-up! Your contributions will be beneficial for Google Maps as the area is not that well mapped. Don’t forget to share your photos and recap from the event here.
Good luck and have fun!
Hi @VitB
Yes one of the reasons why I chose Atok Benguet, not to mention the fact that this place is starting to become very popular with tourists, unfortunately the place is not well mapped so it is going to be difficult for them to go around. We hope to change that.
A Recap of our Nature Photowalk in Atok Benguet
A little History: Sayangan Atok Benguet just started becoming a tourist destination towards the end of 2017 and well into the first months of 2018. That is also my first time to visit the place. Photographers who know the place have shared their photos in different social media platforms and I shared mine too. Photos became viral that people have been messaging me on how to go to Sayangan Atok benguet particularly at the flower farm Northern Blossom. I asked the permission of the owner to put their farm on Google Maps but she refused, she argued that they are not a tourist destination but rather a flower farm. Out of respect I did not add them to Google Maps.
I frequented the place in 2018 and have discovered other places that are tourism-worthy such as the Kochi Sakura Park which is a collaboration between the government of Sayangan and their sister city Kochi in Japan. The Japanese botanists brought the Sakura seedlings for planting and in just two years it started to bear flowers. Another notable place is the Bosleng Lourdes Grotto, a church that is made out of rock formation. In 2018 i have been sharing photos and answering queries from people but was really frustrated because I am unable to send them a link to Google Maps so they could easily locate the place. Previously on Google Maps the farm was mislabled as Atok flower farm, but since the owner doesn’t want to be placed on Google Maps I did not change the name but contributed my photos on that location.
Because of our posts online going viral and a photographer’s photo of the place caught the eye of TV stations, there was no stopping tourists from going to Sayangan Atok Benguet. It was until last January that the owner of the farm decided that since people like the farm so much, they converted their farm into a tourist destination, they developed another hectare of their land for flower growing and for tourists and they also built a guest house and a cafe, in addition the sleepy municipality of Sayangan, Atok Benguet became vibrant with the influx of tourists.
I decided it is time for Sayangan, Atok Benguet to be put on the Map. Thus I organized a nature photowalk. Note however that this place is about 2 hours away from our main city, Baguio City and those who will be joining will have to pay for transportation, food, entrance fees and tourism fees. There were 7 willing local guides who joined us for this walk.
Upon arriving at Northern Blossom flower farm we were greeted by the owner and my first question to her was may we put your farm in Google Maps? She replied with a resounding Yes! Finally we can correctly put the details.
After exploring the newly developed farm the owner who was very excited asked us about the other locations which we will be mapping. After giving her a list she immediately called the owners of the establishments so they could accommodate us properly.
We explored the Sakura Park, Highest Point and the Bosleng Grotto. After that we went on foot at their town center where we mapped different landmarks and business establishments.
There are still a lot to explore at Sayangan, Atok Benguet, we still haven’t been to the Spanish Trail and Mount Timbac, so we will definitely go back for more Mapping Adventures.
Overall, everyone enjoyed the Nature Photowalk especially so with the warm welcome that we received from the locals.
More Photos Here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/wzRT4zgpMAex9Xrt6
