Some Sparks of Palawan Beauty

Palawan may be the final frontier to some but it is far too inaccessible as most people thought it could be.  Geographically, the island group is far from the Visayan island cluster, separated by the vast Sulu Sea and the flanked by several groups of reefs. But Palawan itself is opening its doors for sojourners to come and be enchanted by its natural beauty.

Of the several jewels that the island has, the St. Paul Subterranean River is its priced possession. Renamed as Puerto Princesa Subterranean National River National Park, it is a Natural World Heritage Site that is in contention for the new 7 natural wonders of the world.

The underground river is found within the limits of Puerto Princesa City. Before we embarked on a long drive to the central west coast of Palawan, our dear friend had already secured a permit for us to visit the heritage site.

Unique in Palawan, tourists who want to visit the underground river must secure the permit as part of the LGU’s objective to limit the the number of visitors to 700 a day. Boats getting in and coming out of the cave is limited.

Tourists may avail of shuttle or vans going to and leaving Barangay Sabang. The road going to St. Paul Bay is good in most part of the stretch. A portion of the road going to the Sabang shoreline is currently under repair.

It took us more than an hour to reach Sabang. Several view decks could be found along the way.

This is taken from view deck at Buenavista. It offered a scenic view of the bay. This is fronting the South China Sea and is at the opposite side of Puerto Princesa City. The long road trip to Barangay Sabang offered a view of Palawan’s vast forest cover. The hills and the mountains slopes are still covered with green but save for a few portions of the highway where one could still see some stone quarrying.

From Buenavista to Sabang, the road slopes down and winds for several stretches until the coast that is dotted with restaurants and resorts. To get to the mouth of the cave,  we took a motorized banca (boat) and crossed to the other side of the bay. We passed by several huge limestone formations and went around some majestic limestone cliffs before the boat beached on a short stretch of white sand.

From the beach, we took the short wooden trail toward the entrance of the cave. The trail ends up to the wooden hut where the eco-tour staff gave instructions for the underground river cruise.

This is the entrance to the undergound river. The mouth of the cave releases the brackish water into the aquamarine pool. The pool itself feeds a short river that joins the small bay.

This is what I needed to visit Puerto Princesa: the underground river cruise.

We were instructed to don our life vests and to wear hard hats for the cruise. The site staff advised us not to leave things in plastics bags because they would find their ways in the hands of the monkeys. Primates abound in the area and they are notorious for stealing food from tourists, most especially if the food are placed in poly ethylene bags.

It was time for us to enter the bat cave.

The natural beauty of the cave system was unfolded as we passed through the underground river. The boatman cum tour guide informed us that we would only reach 1/8 of the entire lenght of the river or roughly 1.2km in and another 1.2 km back. This section is from the mouth of the cave system and stretched to the portion that resembles a long mine tunnel.

The long stretch of the cave system offers some of the most beautiful stalactite and stalagmite formations. Some take the form of animals, vegetables, biblical figures, and whatnot.

The resident bats were taking their naps but a lot of the “balinsasayaw” or those species of birds whose nests were harvested to make bird’s nest soup, come to play near the spotlight.

  

Inside the cave, the only source of light is from the spotlight of the boat. It’s pitch dark and cold inside. Water drops on some part of the cave. Some of this water continue to feed the stalactites where minerals are deposited. These minerals provide the color and the sparkle in most of the the formations.

We  were told that the caves were discovered in the 19th century. Several speleologists and cave adventure seekers have already checked the entire system. I suspect that during the second world war, people might have sought shelter here.

Of course the most famous discovery ever in a Philippine cave was the skull of a man, though not in the cave where the undergound river flows but it’s found in a cave at the west side. Palawan has the oldest fossilized remains of a human being, which was called the “Tabon” man. The remains are showcased at the Palawan museum.

The subterranean river cruise has made me appreciate the beauty of nature when it is not disturbed or destroyed. Palawan itself still has vast forest cover and undeveloped shorelines.

Maybe the local government had its hands in keeping everything in its original state. As in the case of the underground river, efforts have been made to keep it the way it should be.

So it took us about 3 hours to explore the allowed length of the river. When we returned to the station, we were pretty much happy about the one of a kind experience.

We went back to Sabang Beach and had a brief stop at a resort for a late afternoon lunch. From Sabang, it’s another 2 hours drive to Puerto Princesa City proper.

The following day,  my dear friend toured me around Puerto Princesa City. At one end of the main road, Rizal Avenue is the city cathedral. The blue gothic church is the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

   

The iglesia sits on an elevated spot overlooking the shores of Puerto Princesa. The first mass in Palawan was celebrated in 1872. The church was built several decades later. The church has two tall gothic spires. The blue hues homogenizes the blue Puerto Princesa sky.

To the southwest of the church, facing Rizal Park is the Plaza Cuartel. This spot is an old garrison that was severely damaged during world war II. A small marker was erected inside the park to remember the 143 american soldiers who were burned by the Japanese forces inside the tunnel.

Two blocks away from the churchyard is the Mendoza Park. The Palawan Museum sits on one side of the park, it is being housed inside the old Puerto Princesa City Hall.

The museum was not open on Sundays. I did not have the opportunity to see the remains of the Tabon Man. The museum has a collection of artifacts and relics from the Tabon Cave. Reputedly, these remains are from the early Filipino ancestors.

The museum is now managed by the National History Foundation of Palawan and the City of Puerto Princesa. The collection includes ethnological and archaelogical artifacts. Most importantly, the museum showcases the artifacts from the Tabon Cave.

North of Mendoza Park and a few blocks from the Holy Trinity College is the bayside promenade. Most of the residents refer to this promenade as Sa Baybay. It is patterned after Manila’s Baywalk, with colorful lamposts and reddish brick paths and modern sheds.

 

Sa Baybay is adorned with colorful fish figures and Puerto Princesa’s emblem –the peacock. It faces the little cove that cradles several small fishing boats. The promenade is a bit long, one end connects to the port area.

Then there’s this bronze statue of a maiden found off the promenade. It faces the open sea, one hand is raised palm open to let the birds feed on some morsel. She may be the princess, the symbol of someone ready to embrace tomorrow.

Puerto de la Princesa. Puerto Princesa. It is sparkling in its natural beauty. I am pretty much sure that I would be coming back Palawan and explore the rest of the natural gems.