Today we had planned to visit the Subterranean River and ride into the underground caves by boat. This national park is the Philippines official entry to the voting for the new 7 Natural Wonders of the World.
We had to wake up at 5:30 am for our tour van pick up and we wer the first to be picked up. The other party in our van was a couple from the USA and the basketball player gentleman was probably the biggest human the islanders had ever seen.
The 2 hour drive to the ferry spot was a mix between riding full speed on a lame horse and free back massage. There was more waiting at the ferry spot before we loaded up on a Bangka boat for the half hour ride to the island which housed the St Paul Limestone Mountains and the caves underneath those.
At the island there was a pleasant surprise...a pair of monitor lizards were searching for food near the vacationers. We mistook them for Komodo Dragons initially....
The underground river is around 8 km long and houses a variety of bat habitats.
We get on to our 8 seater boat with another overeager tour guide/boatman and I am in charge of running the battery powered search light to guide our way and to highlight interesting formations along our way.
The entrance to the cave is eerily dark and we slowly row our way into virtually, the belly of the beast. Around us
we start seeing bats nesting and veins of different ores in the walls of the cave. Claustrophobics..please avoid this particular location.
Further in the cave, the guide points out some rock formations that resemble: The Man on the Mountain, Nativity/Pieta, The Shroud of Turin and Sharon "Stone" (a likeness of a womans posterior lovingly referred to as Sharon Stone, a.k.a. our boatmans girlfriend).
Midway into the trip, our searchlight battery died and I must say, its a superb feeling to be left lightless in a bat infested cave, with a mountain above you and razor sharp stalactites flanking you on all sides. Soon, another boat comes along and we follow it all the way watching more cave formations toPublish Post the furthest possible point allowed for tourists.
No comments:
Post a Comment