Newsflash! Dinosaurs discovered in Clarkfield, Pampanga!
A few days before Christmas, the stokedtraveler was invited
by his bro to go to a dinosaur park with the kids. The inner child in him was thrilled
by the thought of going to a dinosaur park. It also helped that his nephew and
niece were practically shouting with excitement that they were going to see
dinosaurs.
However, the pessimist in him thought that it was just going to be
one of those playgrounds where there would be dinosaur replicas and kiddie
rides. He didn't even think it was possible to have such an attraction so close to his home
and not even hear of it anywhere else.
It was just a few minutes drive from his house to the Clark
Nature Park (Picnic grounds) in Clark Freeport Zone for them to reach “Dinosaur
Island”
Outside, it was the typical Clark Freeport zone scenery:
Native aetas selling bows & arrows, flutes, other crafts and home grown
crops. The park passes cost Php 350.00 each. Students and the elderly get
special discounted rates. It seemed somewhat expensive for what the
stokedtraveler was expecting for a playground or even a dusty museum.
When the large doors opened to welcome the visitors, the
stokedtraveler was jolted back to his childhood fantasy adventure.
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| That kid just can't wait to show the group around the park |
Seeing the
almost life like dinosaur animatronics felt like being in the 90’s film “Jurassic
Park”. The forest landscape, the replicas and the dinosaur sounds all fell together to create the perfect ambiance to recreate a child's imaginary dinosaur park.
As a young boy, the stokedtraveler was very much interested in fossils and
dinosaurs. In an alternate universe he might be an archeologist. He was also so in touch with
the characters of the animated film series “The Land Before Time”. Perhaps the
love for dinosaurs runs in the blood too. The stokedtraveler saw himself in the
kids who were dragging him and their dad to go from one park feature to the
next.
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| Imagine having a monster on a high protein diet tower over you like that... |
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| Caught in the midst of a dino battle |
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| Smash that critter before it hatches completely! |
The park consist of four main features: the adventure ride
where kids can ride the animatronics dino, fossils museum which features
skeletons and fossils from the Mesozoic era, Dino Trail where each dino is
sensor activated to respond to visitors as soon as they get close enough and
the World of Fun where dino mascots interact with the park visitors.
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| Having a growling contest with the dino :) |
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| Fossil museum |
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| The walking trail is fun but expect to perspire from the humid air and the long walk |
Although the fossil museum was closed at the time of their visit, the Dino Trail was more than enough to keep the family awed with the work done on each Dinosaur. People wearing dino mascots in world of fun feature seemed to lack taste but having to face life like mascots was still a totally different experience. Don't think it is like seeing "Barney" in action. It is really more like having a real walking dinosaur unleashed into the crowd.
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| The park offers escorts that will guide you through the trail. If you prefer to read than listen, there are also interesting facts found on the stones next to the dinosaurs |
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| This one looks so real that it can even close its eyes |
The park is still on its soft opening. They just started
accepting guests last August 2012 and there’s a lot more to improve on to
really attract a regular flow of visitors. The stokedtraveler hopes that the
park gets sufficient funding to really make it a competitive destination for
both kids and kids-at-heart.
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| spitting dinosaur |
Park Schedule:
Monday to Sunday (9 AM to 5 PM)
Website:
How to get there:
DINOSAURS ISLAND is located in Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga. Clark is located 80 kilometers north of Manila and is reachable by land or air. Driving by car from Manila takes an hour and a half. Take the North Luzon Expressway and exit at Dau, Mabalacat, Pampanga. Make a left turn toward Angeles City and then a right turn toward Clark.
Take M. A. Roxas / Turn right at C. M. Rector / until Gil
Puyat / Turn right at Gil Puyat until you reach Clark Nature Park (Picnic
Grounds)
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It sounds complicated but it really isn’t. Clark
is a nice driving area so don’t worry even if you miss a few turns. You can
just ask one of the patrol units for directions J
The video below is not taken professionally and could've been done better. It's not really worth including on their website but it's the only one available
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