Sorry for the delayed post! I’ve been busy working on my
health systems paper for Georgetown for the past two weeks and haven’t really
had much time to blog. But I am back! We spent a lovely weekend in Puerto Princesa,
Palawan two weekends ago and I thought I would start off by writing about that.
Day 1:
We arrived in Puerto Princesa around 10 am on Saturday morning
and headed straight to our hotel to drop off our stuff. After we changed and
applied plenty of bug spray (Palawan is a malaria area), we were off to Honda
Bay. A hotel van took us to Honda Bay and we were on our own from there. Once
we got there, we spent a while negotiating the price for our boat ride.
Basically, you pay someone to boat you around the islands for a set price and
you get to choose which islands to stop at. We chose a three-stop boat trip and
decided to stop at a coral reef sanctuary, Starfish island, and Pandan island.
My favorite by far was Starfish island- it was small and deserted and there
were sand dollars and shells lining the water. We were able to go snorkeling in
the shallow water and see the fish as well as a few lone starfish.
Unfortunately I didn’t take my camera to this island so I don’t have any
pictures to do it justice but it was absolutely beautiful. After Starfish
island we went to Pandan island which was nice as well but there were a lot
more people on that island so it wasn’t quite as enjoyable. After our
island-hopping adventure, we headed back to the hotel for some R&R.
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| Off to the islands! |
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| Arriving at the coral reef sanctuary |
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| My sand dollars- one for me, one for Meredith, and one for Gordon :) |
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| Pandan Island- our last stop in Honda Bay |
Day 2:
On the second day, we woke up early so we could go to the
underground river (one of the new seven wonders of nature). Our tour guide came
to pick us up and then we stopped at two different hotels to pick up six more
people. The first step of the trip was to get our permits so that we could
enter the river. (in order to conserve the underground river in its natural
state, they only allow 900 people to visit it a day). Once we had out permits,
the adventure began. The trip there took a little over an hour and the road was
UNBELIEVABLY bumpy! Not only was it a gravel road but we were making sharp left
and right turns all the way there. We finally arrived at the site that takes us
by boat to the island that the underground river is on. The boat ride was took
about 15 minutes and when we got to the island, all we had left was a short
5-minute walk through the rainforest. Unfortunately, we had to wait a while for
our turn as the permits were set for a specific entry time. When out entry time
came, we geared up in our life jackets and helmets and got on the 8-person boat
that would lead us into the underground river.
Alex and I sat in the front of the boat, which meant we were
in charge of shining the hand-held light once we were inside the cave. To be honest,
I was a little disappointed in the underground river for the fact that so much
hype was built up about it. Besides the fact that we were in a boat instead of
on foot, the underground river was like any other cave I have been to. In
addition, there were these giant mosquito-like creatures that were flying
around everywhere, especially up by the front of the boat where the light was,
and cave water kept dripping on us throughout the boat ride. Nonetheless, it
was quite a memorable experience. After that, we stopped at this restaurant by
the water to get a buffet lunch and then we headed straight to the airport for
out return flight to Manila. All and all, it was a great weekend. J
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| Pretty view from the boating station |
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| The water on our way to the underground river was so blue! |
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| Lookin' good in our gear ;) |
More posts to come once we come back from our next trip!
