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Above: Enigmata treehouse

Ever feel like running away from the maddening crowd? You need to relax, chill out, and detoxify but find the resorts too crowded and too touristy? Then go to Enigmata Treehouse in Cagayan de Oro where you will find a sanctuary.

Enigmata means “to open your eyes.” Once you’re there, you will enjoy the visual feast before you—from the tree house that seems like an art gallery made of wood and rattan and bamboo to the beauty of unspoiled nature around you. It was formerly a rest house fondly called Tarzan’s Nest, which was turned by Mindanao artists into a place that invites its guests “to enter the journey inward the creative circles of the mind.” Having no television or air-conditioning, Enigmata compensates by providing you with an atmosphere that will enable you to contemplate and meditate.

Above: Some art in the enigmata

The floors where the suites and common areas are found are built around a big acacia tree. You will feel like a child again because time here moves slowly, if it hasn’t stopped altogether. You can spend the day by resting on a swinging bench or by choosing any bed for your lazy afternoon catnaps. You can marvel at the art pieces found in the tree house such as murals, paintings, sculptures, shell collections, and even craftily designed colorful bottles. You can indulge in the delicious meals served by the cafe and not have to bother about gaining extra pounds. (They serve vegetarian meals to those who have been meaning to cleanse their body but have never gotten around to doing it.) You can go outside to walk, hike, swim, or simply commune with nature. When night falls, you will be pleasantly surprised to have the sound of crickets as your background music. This would literally be a breath of fresh air from the polluted, overpopulated cityscape you have to deal with daily.

Above: Environment around the enigmata

What sets Enigmata Treehouse apart from other “retreat” areas is that not only will you get to unwind and relax, but you will also become exposed to worthwhile causes that the resident artists advocate. They are dedicated to raising environmental awareness, which you can clearly observe by the way they promote low-impact, sustainable ecotourism. Their systematic waste management system will make you feel proud that you are somehow doing your bit for the environment by simply being there. You will also be impressed by their commitment to promoting cultural awareness. The tree house is home to Enigmata Creative Circle, a group of Mindanao artists composed of musicians, visual artists, and digital film directors who work together in promoting and enriching Mindanao arts and culture. Jamming sessions, poetry reading, and the like are a way of life here.

Enigmata Treehouse is that one perfect place for you to go to if you want to rejuvenate your senses, get in touch with your inner self, and reacquaint yourself with nature.

How to get there

From Manila, take a plane to Cagayan de Oro. From the airport, go to Agora Market where you can catch a ride to Balingoan Bus Terminal in Misamis Oriental. Take a tricycle ride to get to Balingoan Port where you can take a ferry to Camiguin. From there, jeepneys or multicabs can take you to Enigmata.

Above: Mauro Malang recent painting

Mauro Malang Santos, a man that stood the art scene for quite sometime with flying hues of colors that signifies his positive life of a loving artistic family and with God to thank for.

Mauro Malang Santos, famously called Malang had just turned 78 this month of January. To celebrate his birthday was another glooming exhibit entitled “Celebration” and it never failed to shine. It seems Malang continues to inspire people by simply being real to himself and to his art.

Being the man that yield the art scene, people would have expected to hear inspirational and profound words of wisdom from Malang himself, but to our surprise he said something even more that makes it simpler and seem easier to attain.

So what does motivate a man like Malang in creating his artwork?

Clear and Real Inspirational thoughts from Malang;

• “I don’t mix colors. You can now buy all the colors in tubes. Why should I tire myself?”

- Malang does not mix color to attain consistency in his work as he wants to achieve the same shade in following coats. Admittedly he says that he did not study art and so he cannot configure the same shade when trying to mix it up.

• How does Malang chose the colors, he replies with…“Yun ang available!” (That’s what’s available!”

- Practical as it may seem, looking at it would be just making something of what you have into something beautiful. Accidental in a sense but the management of color accents simply dignifies his creativity.

• What inspires Malang to paint, he answers in conviction… “Money!”

- Very practical but rational. He explains that money motivates him for the mere reason that one would need money to get to places, visit museums around the world, buy materials that he need etc.

To sum it up, Malang is indeed an artist that just followed what he wanted by a stroke of a brush, not letting convention get in the way. Just feel and be real is what he portrays to be… true to his craft.