March: Palawan Underground River

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My Christmas gift to Karen last time around was a groupon voucher for a 3 day trip to Sabang, Palawan, which is home to the world’s longest navigable subterranean river. The place was recently acknowledged as one of the 7 new wonders of the natural world, and we thought it might be a good idea to pay it a visit before it gets too crowded. 

The voucher included a 3-day, 2-night stay at Sheridan Resort, the underground river tour, and a mangrove forest tour, and a half hour massage for two. For the price of the voucher, we were expecting a decent resort, but nothing luxurious. We were pleased to find the place well above our expectations, with excellent rooms, amenities, and service. 

With the exception of the check-in process, which took about 30 minutes because of the volume of people in line, everything else went smoothly enough. There were always staff who would go out of their way to make sure our stay was pleasant. 

The resort was not very big (although the biggest one in the area), but the lay out was well planned. The huge pool in the middle of the rooms allowed easy access to guests, while the beach was a 2 minute walk away. The sand was fine, and the water clear save for some seaweeds floating around. 

The mangrove forest tour was by paddle boat. Local guides, trained by the department of tourism pointed out the different species of mangroves that lined the river. They also pointed out mangrove snakes, a python, a monitor lizard, and monkeys. It made me feel like I was part of National Geographic show, and the fact that we could freely converse with the guides and ask our questions helped make the experience enjoyable.

There was a lot of people queued at the underground river. We became friends with our tour group, (comprised of another 4 couples besides us) quickly being able to draw common denominators and identify common affiliations while we waited in line. The most lively of the bunch, an 80+ year old man who cam with his wife, son, and daughter-in-law kept us entertained the whole time, until our turn to go into the caves came. Unfortunately the boats could only hold 8 people at a time, so we were separated from them going in.

It was pitch-black-dark in the caves. Karen was in charge of the spot light for our boat, following instructions to point left or right at the formations as directed by our guide. It’s amazing how such a big cavern could exist underground; it’s as if the whole mountain on top were literally hollow. The guide pointed to bats, of which there must have been thousands. There were entire islands inside made of guano (bat poop)! Too bad it was hard to take pictures inside the cave because it was too dark.

Bat Poop Island

On our way back to the resort, I managed to find a lady selling a local delicacy they call the Tamilok. A “wood worm” the burrows into and eats mangrove wood, the tamilok is not really a worm but a mollusk. It is usually found in dead mangrove trees, although they have been known to predate on living trees as well, which could eventually lead to the tree’s death. 

Karen was brave enough to try eating it sashimi-style. To be honest, once you get over the icky feeling of eating something slimy and long, it actually tasted pretty good, like oysters. We tried eating it with kalamansi, hot sauce, vinegar, and even chased down with a shot of tequila.