Palawan: Gateway to Paradise

PUERTO PRINCESA, Palawan — Our three-day visit in this province, dubbed as "the Philippines’ last nature frontier" was unexpectedly marked by pleasurable surprises.

As soon as we stepped down from an Asian Spirit jet plane, after a 55-minute flight from Manila, we were greeted by smiling airport porters who offered their services in very polite manner and friendly hotel representatives.

As a van drove us to Legend Hotel Palawan, our temporary home for our brief stay here, we were surprised to see the city’s clean surrounding and its outback ambience despite the onset of modern technology and thriving commerce.

Puerto Princesa is right in the center of the Palawan mainland. A chain of tall and thick forests-covered mountain ranges runs through the middle of the city, dividing it between the east and west coasts.

The city is the jump-off point to different eco-tourism destinations in the province. As in most cities and urban centers in the Philippines, the sounds of tricycles, jeepneys and buses fill the air especially during rush hours. Being an archipelago consisting of 1,780 islands and islets, motorized bancas or pumpboat are widely used and available for rent or hire.

We availed of the Legend Hotel’s Palawan Nature Experience (PAX) package which range for as low as R1,750 per person and includes 4 days/3 nights accommodation on team room, full board meals (buffet breakfast, buffet lunch and buffet dinner, morning and afternoon snacks) city tour, and choice of Honda Bay, Underground River or Dos Palmas tour.

The Legend Hotel Palawan is located along Malvar Street, some five minutes drive from the airport.

Wasting no time, shortly after our arrival here, a van drove us to Sta. Lourdes wharf, located 10 kilometers north of the city, to take a tour of Honda Bay via MB Legend of the Sea, Legend Hotel’s official water boat service that could accommodate more or less 30 people at a time. With us were Lynne A. Abanilla, Manila Bulletin’s Asst. Vice President for Classified Ads, Mrs. Lydia Crisostomo-de Guzman, a newlywed couple and their parents and other members of the family.

Our first stop was on Snake Island, an island with long stretch of fine white sand and shaped like a snake. Here, we disembarked from the boat to enjoy the sand and the sea. Travel time was 40 minutes.

The excitement continued with a visit to Pandan, an island with white sand beaches and coral reef nearby. Our tour guide said the island is a natural habitat of Pandan, a kind of bird endemic in the area that digs the ground one-and-a-half meter deep to lay her eggs, then covering them with soil until they are hatched. Then the baby birds crawl their way up to the surface to start a life of their own.

The Pandan Island visit was followed by a running tour of Luli Island (a short word for Tagalog words Lulubog-Lilitaw), meaning an island that sinks and floats as sea tide changes. Travel time is 20 minutes. Meara Marina, a quiet, cozy and privately-owned island, is an ideal place to relax and enjoy nature’s wonder.

On our way home, we briefly stopped near the uninhabited Bat Island, a bat habitat to watch thousands of bats making their way out of the island to look for food in the Palawan mainland. The amazing sight took our breath away. Our tour guide said those bats will come home to the island the next day at dawn.

A dinner at Deep Forest Garden ended our day activities. The restaurant as its name suggests, is located at the middle of mangrove forests. To reach it, one has to walk into an elevated wooden narrow pathway.

More exciting and memorable was the second day of our tour: The Puerto Princesa Underground River Adventure. Right after our hotel breakfast, we departed for the Underground River via an air-con van. As we traveled on rugged and winding road, we enjoyed the scenic beauty of the countryside. After a 2 ½ drive, we reached the Sabang Wharf for a 15-minute motorboat to St. Paul Subterranean Park, the official name of the Underground River.

As soon as we arrived at the Park, we experienced a close encounter with squirrels, crab-eating monkeys who were quick to snatch the food you carry, and monitor lizards (bayawak) that you can touch at your own risk. They do not bite you but their long tails can hit you hard or knock you down.

Because of so many tourists the day we came to the park, after registering, we queued right away for the Underground River paddle boat ride. Each boat, armed with a big flash light connected to a car battery, can carry only eight passengers including the pilot.

Known as one of the world’s wonders, it is actually a river inside the cave running 8 kms. in length. Outside the river’s mouth is a beautiful lagoon teeming with fish. As our pilot, who acted as our tour guide at the same time, paddled deep into the dark cave with the aid of search light, rugged limestones and marble cliffs of different colors greeted us. Some of these formations or "nature sculptures" called stalagmites and stalactites looked like giant candles, the image of the Holy Family, mushroom, cacao or even Casper, the Friendly Ghost. It was very cool inside the cave and became even cooler everytime the wind blew gently from invisible holes and cracks of the mountain above. Our tour guide said only paddle boats are allowed to enter the exotic cave because motorboats disturb or drive away cave dwellers mostly tiny insect-eating bats, water snakes, fish, frogs and various kinds of insect.

The eight-and-a-half kilometer Underground River is part of the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park which has been declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

After the cave tour, we took our lunch at the nearby Taraw Lodge that served freshly grilled seafoods, marinated chicken and newly-harvested seaweeds mixed with fresh onion and tomatoes. The lodge has several nipa huts for vacationing couples.

After picture-taking and sightseeing, we departed back to the city proper for a side trip to the Vietnamese Village where former Vietnamese boat people who escaped from the communist rule were confined.

We devoted the last day of our trip to Palawan to shopping for "pasalubong." Things to buy include "lamayo" or marinated danggit ; cashew nuts or kasuy (fried, roasted or coated with sugar); fresh fish like lapu-lapu, samaral, mayamaya etc. and other seafoods, like lobsters, crabs, squid and shrimps; local pearls (necklace and bracelet); pure local honey; handicrafts (native or ethnic); longanisa; and authentic French bread from the Vietnamese Village. The prices of these goods which they package for you are amazingly cheaper than in Manila.

It is interesting to note also that while in Puerto Princesa¸we met by chance our good friend Mamerth Banatin, president of Adam’s Express Travel, who informed us that a new tourist destination that is in the works is a Garden Hot Spring. A project of the Puerto Princesa Tourism Council, it will be a spread of rolling flowering terrain with the medicinal hot spring to be enjoyed in several pools of hot and tepid water. There will be kiosks for dining and a souvenir shop. It’s a natural stop coming from the Underground River caves and the interesting Vietnamese village. Spearheading this project is Mrs. Felisa Torres, newly-seated president of the Puerto Princesa Tourism Council and owner of the Bulwagang Princesa Tourist Inn.

[ Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park Wiki | Honda Bay Wiki ]