February 19
Today we were joined by Tom & Yvonne from Scotland and Bobby & Shera from New York and our guide is Junalyn, but she goes by Jo.
Jo said it was imperative that we be the first ones off the ship to get
ahead of the crowds due to a new rule by the National Park that ship tours have
priority. Apparently, on one day a lot of cruise ship tours did not get
to all do the cave and it caused a ruckus, so a rule was implemented to appease
the ship. We lined up early to be the first ones off the ship and we were first in
line.
We were on the road in no time and in front of the HAL tours. Jo told us what to expect on the tour and explained much about life in the Philippines on the 1.5 – 2-hour drive.
I’m pretty sure The Beatles song “The
Long and Winding Road” was written for the drive to the cave. Eugene, our
driver took us there quickly and safely. (though there were some in the vehicle
that were nervous riders)
The weather was overcast and a bit
rainy. Upon arrival it was raining more and we all got rain ponchos. Jo was
sweet and lent us Pesos since we hadn’t had an ATM stop yet. She said it was
more important that we keep ahead of the line, or we could wait all day to get
a spot in between the HAL tours. (and possibly not get to go at all if time ran
out)
Despite the rain at Sabang Port in the
National Park, we easily got on the second motorized boat. (like outrigger
boats) It was a pleasant less than 30-minute ride to shore where we got some
photo ops and then a restroom break before it was our turn for the 45-minute
paddle boat tour inside the cave. The boat guys all knew Jo and she easily got
our boat slot, and we were off.
It was a lovely and interesting
cave, and our boat paddler shined his light on the formations as our audio
guide told the story of how they got their names or what they looked like.
(huge mushroom, nativity scene etc.)
While we were waiting for our guide, we enjoyed some long-tailed macaques playing and a couple of large monitor lizards. (looked like very small Komodo Dragons) It had stopped raining by the time we got out of the cave.
After the tour, an included lunch was provided serving Filipino food. It was quite good with great spring rolls, noodles, and beef & chicken dishes. The desserts were watermelon and some Jello type cubes.
On the ride back we hit a bump in the road, and I dropped my metal water bottle (almost full) onto my right ankle. OUCH! It’s still very sore days later.
The weather could have been better (or much worse) with some troublesome rain. So, all of our photos we are decked out in our just purchased rain ponchos and photos are flat.
It was a great day and the scene with all the boats was beautiful. It is one of the prettier caves we have been in.
Back on board the weather had cleared so we went out on deck to take some photos.
Trumpet player Chaw was the evening entertainment and kind of boring. All jazzy type stuff that all sounded the same.
We stopped in to listen to the group in the Rolling Stone as they are always great. It’s a late arrival tomorrow in Boracay, Philippines so no need to get to bed early tonight.
Underground River - Puerto Princesa, Philippines https://photos.app.goo.gl/wviYPkce3J6Qmfb1A
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