Zamboanga City is located on the western most peninsula of the big island of Mindanao, the Philippines. It is a busy international port strategically located on the Basilan Straight.

The city has long been a bastion of Spanish intelligentsia, and is home to some of the finest educational institutions in the country and around Asia. The literacy rate of the region, and of the country in general, is one of the highest in all of Asia.

The Spanish culture influences the way of life of the Zamboangueρos. The culture blends harmoniously with Moorish and western influence.

Zamboanga City's Art history spans a period of over 500 years, with heavy influence coming from the Malay and Spanish culture early on, and the West more recently. Countless, and quite priceless, artefacts dating back to over a thousand years have been excavated in the early 1900s by American archaeologists during their occupation of the Philippines in the vicinities of Zamboanga and Mindanao. Many of these artefacts are currently housed in "vaults" of some major U.S. universities, inaccessible to the general public.

Zamboanga City is also a centre for Moro brassware and bronze ware, and a collecting point for numerous varieties of shells, which are exported or used locally for button manufacture and many other products and souvenirs. The Philippine Archipelago is home to over a third of the world's known sea shells, and Zamboanga's Great Santa Cruz Island is home to many shells and corals, and the pristine "pink" sand - a coloration effect of the white sand and red coral sand mixed together.

Fort Pilar with its world-renowned religious shrine of Our Lady of the Pillar, was built in the 17th century by the Spanish soldiers, along with their Jesuit counterparts, for the protection of Christian settlers against Moro (Muslim) pirates, and other marauding invaders from nearby Chinese and Dutch outposts. It now houses the Fort Pilar Museum, one the few national historic museum chain that houses cultural artefacts of the region, and a wealthy display of its surrounding rich marine and natural life.

Rio Hondo, Taluksangay, and Campo Muslim are nearby Muslim villages built on stilts over water.  Indigenous peoples include the Tau Sugs, Samals, and Yakans. The colourful Bajau, or sea gypsies, ply the waters of the Basilan Straight for fish, coral, and shells; they live on board their multi-hued vintas (sailboats) and take temporary shelter in stilt-raised homes during storms.

Valderosa St. is just beside the City Hall, walking thru this street gives you a feeling like you're in a time warp. Old houses and palm trees still stands along the street, it gives you a glimpse of the past. This street will lead you to Bayot Hotel now known as Lantaka Hotel by the sea.

Zamboanga cuisine is like its exotic Chabacano: basically Spanish with an admixture of local tongues, thus endowing it with a delectable gastronomical flavour that provides a rich cultural experience as well. This was especially true in the old days when Castilian influence rubbed off quite thickly on the people of that little Spanish town, now revered in prose as "un glorioso pedaza del corazon de Castilla" (a glorious piece of the heart of Spain).

Most Zamboanga dishes are Spanish in origin. Others, like bagon de gata, tamales, and those with heavy dependence on gata (coconut cream/milk) are distinctly indigenous. Yet, even the most native of local foods, namely the sinigang, Spanish influence is evident in the use of herbal spices, such as tanglad (lemon grass), and bambawing (a "weed" which seems to be peculiar to Zamboanga, and looks and smells like a "wild" member of the basil family). Olive oil is often used for some fish preparations.

The Tree House, complete with all amenities of a modern house. You can rent this house for your honeymoon through the local tourism authority.