One of the sights to see is the Underground River in Palawan. Truly the beauty of the area and seeing such an incredible natural wonder is breath taking. We traveled 2.5 hours to Sabang, a little town hosting transportation to and from the natural wonder through the national park. We rode a banka boat away from the town into a neighboring bay. From there we walked into the forest and saw some rather large lizards hanging around just below the walking path. There were lots of natural noises from the critters, creatures and animals living in the jungle. On our way to the Underground River we saw monkeys having lunch on some fruits on the jungle floor. They were in a troop and they were easy to spot.
We were given the brightest orange life jackets (they were just that clean) and green construction helmets. We felt oh-so safe. Helmets were there to protect us from the bat guano that may or may not drop itself upon us at any time. At least that was our rational for them ;-) We were strategically placed in the boat and for some reason our guide thought the best place for me was at the front and designated the official light provider. The car battery sat in front of me, my light had to clips that attached to the screws on top of the battery. The lamp would be used to keep us going in the correct direction into the black hole of the cave. At points the water was 27 meters deep and the water was alive with snakes, fish and various larvae looking stuff. The fruit bats above kept a constant chatter and we saw a sparrow every now and then lost in the cave. We only boated 1.5km of the 8km river but it was enough. Our guide kept us giggling with descriptions of various formations. We even traveled down the vegetable section! We bi-passed the bat cave to our dismay but we drove very slowly to catch a glimpse of another cave with a formation in the center of the round room.
On our way back to Sabang we chose to hike it 5km back through the jungle. It was beautiful and the trees would grow around, through or attach themselves to each other to reach water. All sorts of vines hung from everywhere. It was if each plant or tree was connected to the other in some fashion. I could only imagine how trying it must have been to walk through it without the nifty trail we were on. The trail lead to a few beaches and it was incredible to see hundreds of crabs walking up the beach away from the water. I have no idea why they were doing this but I got a kick out of watching them go. They are quick little suckers. About half a kilometer from the town a torrential down pour hit and 2 of us did not bring an umbrella not that it did much good anyway. Within 5 minutes I was soaked and cold, this was not a feeling I was expecting. Finally when we arrived back to town we were able to grab some grub before taking a break at our amazing nipa hut.
It was another great adventure here in the Philippines!
1 comment:
Good for people to know.
Post a Comment