“Looking where to relax alone or with a group? After hectic-tiresome works, your mind needs peace and tranquility! SAYOCOCNA PICNIC GROVE is the answer. – Dionie Chungalan, Tourism Advocate and owner.
That truism rings true to the innermost being of a tired soul; tired from work, tired of the worries of the world. Come to this place of solitude and tranquility with its lush greeneries everywhere.
Sayococna Picnic Grove is a 15-minutes hike from the national road in Barangay Banao, Natonin bounded on the south by Kadaclan, with it perimeters bounded by banana plantations of both the table and the Abaca, or wild, varieties, extending up to 50 hectares until the tip of the hill and forest, with also a mini-fish park hosting the fish varieties of “paltat” and tilapia.
The five-hectare sprawling area also hosts cottages and lodging facilities for visitors and tourists trekking to the place, with bananas and coconuts around, and animals such as sheep and native chickens loitering around the premises.
In Sayococna Picnic Grove, one finds a spot that is conducive to listening, singing, meditating to begin a spiritual journey in quietness.
For a group of guests, they trekked up to see the “King of the Rocks” at the zenith of Mount Patikking with a majestic viewpoint of Natonin, including the magnificent rice terraces and most of the barangays.
Mayor Anthony Wooden, who was with the group, took the opportunity to pray to God while positioned on top of the “Elephant Head”.
At the launching of the Sayococna Picnic Grove and the Mount Patikking trekking, local tourists graced the affair with Koreans, Japanese tourists headed by Takashi Fukuda, a frequent visitor to Kadaclan for more than 30 years.
Swooping down Sayococna, on our return, it took us another hour through a different trail that was really a relaxing experience.
Mount Patiking, as the legend says, is where the “tikke” or a large eagle-like bird watched over the municipality and scoured for preys while stationed thereat.
Then the battle of the bird and the monkeys ensued with the trees uprooted from the large boulder to reveal the elephant head look-a-like.
That is how it became a legendary “King of the Rocks”, as it is called today.
By Roger Sacyaten
