Team building fun at Gratchi's Getaway, Tagaytay

The threat of rain that never came as everyone was huddled inside one of around 3 or 4 "tents" at Gratchi's.

My colleagues and I enjoyed a fun-filled Friday last week as we all trooped to Gratchi's Getaway in Tagaytay for a cascade and team building session. Technically it's in Silang, Cavite but as with a lot of other establishments, it chose to adopt the more recognizable Tagaytay as its location.

Set along a rolling and hilly terrain with wide open spaces, Gratchi's specifically caters to groups and companies looking for a venue for their team building activities. So what do they have here? Let's take a look.
Team building facilities
Team building is their specialty, so there are loads of different implements here from as simple as tires to more challenging obstacle courses. Also noticeable is that they have several sets of the same facilities, meaning, Gratchi's is quite capable of receiving more than one group at a time and therefore hold simultaneous team building exercises.

When not playing under the sun, guest groups can take comfort under one of maybe 3 or 4 tents. Packages are available should you wish to entrust practically everything to them, including team building facilitators. As for us, we were still on top of our activities and we simply had some of their staff assist us during the games.

Some of the obstacle courses at Gratchi's.

 

(Top) Monkey bars in the background and "Through the Tires" in the foreground.
(Bottom) Tire relay.

For those wanting a bit more adrenaline rush, high ropes, elevated hanging steps and the like are on hand. These are all equipped with safety harnesses, by the way.

"Buwis-buhay" obstacle courses. Would have been fun here, though, I suppose.

But since we simply wanted lighthearted fun, we settled for the "safer" courses. Some of them weren't necessarily easy, however.

Monkey bars. Very few can actually complete the entire length of this installation, though I did (with my feet on the ground - haha!). And in the spirit of team building, the "monkeys" are really meant to be assisted by their teammates anyway.

 

Bamboo wall climb. Players scale a bamboo ladder and then descend via a web of ropes.

 

Tarzan swing. Deceptively easy is all I can say.

 

Zigzag logs. Originally we thought players just had to individually cross the logs. Turns out it's meant to be completed by pairs. Yeah, I forgot, it's a team building exercise.

 

Military crawl. Geez, we made our bosses do this!

 

I don't know what they call this. Spider web, perhaps? Anyway, because of my medical condition this was the only physical challenge I joined. Why not when it was me whom they had to put through the hole of the web? Great!

Okay, I enjoyed the games, even if I was just taking pictures nearly the whole time. Nonetheless, I believe the general consensus among our group was that it was a whole lot of fun. No one tried the mudslide, though.

The food
I wasn't expecting much from them in this department but it was pretty decent fare what they served us. Champorado and tuyo for AM snacks; fried chicken, kare-kareng gulay, fish fillet, rice and leche flan for lunch; and ginataang bilo-bilo for PM snacks. I also ordered brewed coffee after lunch. Not excellent but still pretty decent. I just forgot to try their civet coffee. Grrrr!!!

Other facilities
Apart from the myriad of team building installations, the place also has showers for freshening up after getting all dirty. Overnighters are also welcome as Gratchi's has a slew of different accommodation options as well. Camping is likewise possible.

In the background is one of several accommodation options at Gratchi's.

 

A section of the pool. I don't know why I don't have any photo of the entire pool.

 

Apart from open grass-covered spaces, everything else is filled with foliage. It's actually nice to just walk around the property.

The place has a small pool, pavilions, a gift shop (though I never saw it open), a few gardens, and a host of different farm animals. ATV rides are also available for rent. As for parking, the place can accommodate a number of vehicles inside the gate.

Farm animals
Oh yes, the animals. I surely had fun with them and I couldn't resist not posting a few photos of them.

It all started with these ostriches.

They had 3 ostriches: 2 female and 1 male. For some strange reason the male approached me and did some weird ritual before me.

Awkward moment for me.

Oh yeah, he did a mating dance in front of me. I don't know if I was supposed to be flattered or insulted. All I remember saying was "Hey, nice to meet you." Maybe he was deaf or something that he thought I said "mate."

Anyway, ostriches always entertain me.

Not only big birds but Gratchi's also keeps other feathered creatures from chickens and geese to turkey and other fowl. There are also mammals like pigs, goats, 2 civets, and a monkey. I also saw a cute chow-chow.

Aren't they cute or what? I wanted to bring them home but then I remembered we have 4 cats.

 

These guys, however, were the noisiest. Once I approached their enclosure they wouldn't stop making these modified quack-like sounds. I reckon they were expecting me to bring food.

 

Beautiful guineafowl.

 

Suspicious Mr Chicken who's also a rooster-in-the-making.

 

27, 28, 29... turkey! My colleagues were so amused when I imitated their sound and they would all respond to me in unison.

 

I wanted to pet this civet. He looked so sad.

 

These goats gave me a judging stare. To be fair they weren't total snobs because they answered me everytime I cried "Me-e-e-eh..."

************************
In hindsight
It was unfortunate that we were slapped with a 10% penalty when we had to begrudgingly cancel our original schedule at the last minute due to typhoon Mario (Fung-Wong). Maybe some provisions for fortuitous events can be considered in their contract, moving forward.

Thankfully my experience at Gratchi's Getaway was a good one in general. The place definitely delivers in the team building department, especially in terms of facilities and in the activities they have in store. The spacious surroundings and the animals were a pleasant bonus, too. But if they can probably add just a little more excitement to their food, that would be even greater.

For rates, directions, and more info, go to www.gratchi.com.

Grazie, Gratchi's!