Kawasan Falls Adventure

No San Miguel yet today, although two are chilling in the minifridge in the room for us when I complete this blog posting. Instead, we made the trip to Kawasan Falls, a point of interest and beauty in this area. About 10 am, we walked a bit down the road to where the motorcycle taxi drivers congregate as they await passengers. We announced that we wanted to go the Falls and several drivers stepped forward, so we just chose the one closest to us and agreed upon 700 pesos to take us, wait for us, and bring us back. The Falls are about 15 miles away, so our driver gassed up before we left the area. Yes, that is a one liter Coca-Cola bottle. He put three liters of gas in his motorcycle via the Coke bottles, not from a gas pump. And then off we went… a basically paved road to get the 4 km to Moalboal. The road from Moalboal to Kawasan Falls was all paved; however, in one location to slow vehicles before a bridge, they had installed rumble strips. Our driver slowed way down, but the strips were still quite the rumble. I couldn’t read what size engine the motorcycle had, but the driver had to downshift quite a bit to make it up some of the hills. Looking at the picture of the passenger compartment of our taxi, you’d think the seats were padded. You would be wrong. Other than the noise of the straining engine and the lack of padding, the ride was great – we could see and smell the countryside. The earthy smell of decomposing leaves (this farm girl loves that smell), the roasting meat as we passed roadside restaurants, the acrid smoke of burning piles of palm leaves.

Our driver turned into the parking area for Kawasan Falls and we paid his 50 peso parking fee. He stayed with his motorcycle taxi as we walked to the Falls. The walkway to the first waterfall was almost all like this, only more shaded in most areas. It had a slight incline but not enough to cause us any grief. About 5 minutes in, we came to the attendant where we paid our 10 peso per person entry fee. The river was immediately to our left for most of the walk, except where a bridge took us to the other side for about 500 yards. At both the bridges, kids were playing in the water. We would occasionally come across an occupied house, like the ones you see near this bridge. Most of the time, however, it was just the river, trees, and plants. The river isn’t particularly deep, nor is it rushing terribly fast. After about 20 minutes, we came to the first waterfall. Food vendors and tables for resting were next to the pool created by the waterfall, but it was still beautiful We liked that they had rafts for families to rent. The rafts would take the folks right under the waterfall. Is is unspoiled nature? No, but it was a wonderful place filled with the laughter of kids and families enjoying themselves. I think that it was more special because it is enjoyed by local folks, not just tourist types like us. This is the first of three waterfalls. We found the steps to go beyond this one, so we started up them. I must have found the only sunny spot to photograph, as those steps were generally shaded, moss-covered, and damp. This set took us to the top of the first waterfall. I stayed in a flat area while Phillip went over and took some great video looking down from the top of the waterfall. Caution signs and safety railings are not found in the Philippines. The steps leading further up the side of the mountain were more narrow and steeper, so we decided that seeing the first, biggest of the Kawasan Falls was sufficient. We turned around and walked back the way we had come. En route back, I took critter pictures. Almost all the houses we passed had some type of animal outside. A person was sitting on the porch of the house with a pig tied out, so I didn’t get a picture of him, but the goats and roosters were unattended. The rooster could get off his perch, but he seemed to enjoy sitting there, watching the people go by. And the trees… they just grow out of the side of the rock that is the mountain. These are tree roots that could not penetrate the rock, so they grew down on top of the rock. Smaller, feeder roots made their way into the rock fissures, but the bulk of the tree roots along the path were visible like this. A lot of ferns grew on rocks in the river. In the areas where the river pooled and didn’t flow fast, moss covered the submerged rocks.

Back at the entrance, our motorcycle taxi and driver were waiting for us. As soon as he saw us, our driver, who had been laying back on his motorcycle, jumped up and helped us back in the passenger compartment. Back on the road for the return trip. I think our driver would have talked to us, but his motorcycle was too loud for any of us to hear anything but the engine. I could say he was a safe driver and didn’t do crazy passing maneuvers like the van drivers did, but I think the reason he didn’t pass a lot of other vehicles is because his motorcycle needed a serious tune-up. We did pass some vehicles, mainly these on the right – bicycle taxis. We did go faster than the bicycle taxis. Our driver took us back to exactly where we had hired him and we walked back to our hotel. The first order of business upon our return was to have a mango shake. After that, we decided to go for a swim. The tide was going out (so were any jellyfish) and other people were getting in the water. We didn’t rent snorkels or  vests as the sand slopes gradually out and we just wanted to get wet. I took my underwater camera, but the battery died before we saw the school of small fish swim around us. I was able to capture a picture of the underwater plants. They tickled our legs, so we stayed pretty much in the sand-only areas.

I hope our San Miguels haven’t frozen as Phillip moved them to the freezer compartment! Tomorrow we head for Cebu to spend one night before we take the overnight boat to Samar. We arranged with our hotel here for a private car to take us to our hotel in Cebu, so no repeat of that last van experience.

Chillin’ by the beach

We are now in Moalboal, actually at Pangswana Beach, on the island of Cebu. However, I have a story and pictures from Palawan and some details of the trip to get here to relate before I describe how wonderful this place is. Our last evening in Puerto Princessa, we walked back down to the celebration on the Bay Walk after I made the previous blog entry. We hadn’t eaten dinner yet, so we were fair game for the sales pitches from the various food vendors. We went with the one who had a full meal for two for 300 pesos. She allowed us to substitute more barbecue sticks for the squid that came with the meal (neither of us are fans of squid). I took several pictures as just when I thought they had brought all our food, they brought out more. Even this picture isn’t complete as after we dug in, they brought a grilled fish! Clam soup, barbecue (pork) sticks, boiled shrimp, two crabs, rice, four different vegetables including okra (Phillip’s hand covers it in the picture), an Asian spinachy veggie, a grilled eggplant topped with diced tomatoes and onions that resembled salsa, and some vegetable (just north of the barbecue sticks) that looked like little balls on a stalk. They popped in my mouth when I ate them, but they were a vegetable. It was all placed on several banana leaves laid out like a tablecloth. Including out bottled water and tip for the waitress, our feast came to the equivalent of $9.30. Very much worth it!

The next morning, after breakfast, I messed around with my pictures and Phillip walked a few blocks to the bank to gets funds for our next destination. Moalboal has not ATMs and our hotel there does not take charge cards, so cash is the order of the day. Before I leave the description of Puerto Princessa, I have to include a picture of the worthwhile cause for which we were asked to donate when we checked out. Robin, notice the logo of the cause… The World Wildlife Fund. Or, as Phillip called it when you were a member, “Save the Mutts.” And we did donate, with funds going for elementary school eco-programs.

The Puerto Pension staff provided a free transport to the airport (we would definitely stay there again!) and we were on our way to the island of Cebu. The airport was a little bigger than the one in Manta, Ecuador, but not by much. I will say that airport administrators could use a lesson in orderly queing. People would inadvertently cut in line because there really were no lines. Oh well, we had plenty of time and eventually made it to the counter to check our luggage and get our ticket. The plane ride was totally uneventful. Up to 35,000 feet, then descent to Cebu. About an hour from gate to gate. The Cebu Airport is a modern airport with international flights and real ramps, not stairs. Then a taxi ride to the bus terminal; however, we needed to be a few blocks away at the van terminal. That was a bit frustrating for me, so Phillip took the lead to get us out of the bus terminal. I will say that the van ride from Cebu to Moalboal ranks in the top five of our most miserable transportation experiences. Just a brief description: overpacked van, ineffective air conditioning, our luggage beside me and charged as a passenger instead of under the seat, several coughing fits by me (leftover from inhaled salt water during snorkeling) and terrible traffic (even the he-shes sitting in front of us told us this was unusually bad traffic). And FYI, “he-she” is not a disparaging term. It’s what the transvestites call themselves here. And we’ve come across several, not just at the hair salon. Enough about the van… we are here at the beach and it is great!

We had an understanding motorcycle taxi driver for the 4 km from Moalboal to this beach where the resort is. He waited for us to cool down from the van ride and spoke to us of the activities in the area. The price he quoted us was actually less than what I had read it would be, and he knew exactly where he was going. Our room is the closest of the ten rooms to the water. Air conditioning, a comfortable bed, friendly staff. I had only paid one night’s rent as a deposit when I booked this one, and Phillip tried to pay for the other two nights when we arrived, but they said, “No worries, pay tomorrow or maybe when you check out. It’s good.” And good it is indeed.

From the corner of our private porch, we have an excellent view of the water. This morning, we walked a little bit on the beach during low tide and saw two fisherman in a very small boat, like a skinny canoe, come to shore. One of them ran to the hotel restaurant staff and brought her to the water’s edge to inspect their catch. She bought this tuna from him for the equivalent of $1.90 a pound. I’m thinking a tuna steak for dinner tonight or maybe a dish called kenlau that a guest here from Switzerland told me about this morning at breakfast. And speaking of breakfast, I ordered pancakes with bananas. what I received was even better than American pancakes. It was actually three rolled crepes covered with banana slices. I had locally harvested honey to drizzle over the top. Phillip had a ham and egg omelet. Not nearly as special as my “pancakes.”

After breakfast, we decided to just walk around. The “road” in front of the hotel is more like a hard-packed wide sidewalk, easily navigable by the motorcycles and motorcycle taxis, but a bit difficult for the occasional van. We walked in both directions from the hotel. I bought a banana (short, stubby, and green looking, but very sweet) from two little girls who were walking with two tubs of them for sale. They wanted to sell me a bunch for 20 pesos, so my 5 pesos for one was actually more than she was asking. She was very happy with the sale. Once back at the hotel, it was time for… mango shakes! This picture is for Eddie Wells, as Phillip said he was holding one for his dad. These mango shakes were very smooth and creamy, the smoothest we’ve had. We could hear the blender and it sounded ferocious as the staff made them. A final picture from the grounds of the hotel… If you look carefully. you can see Phillip sitting on our porch.

Tomorrow, we may try to go to Kawasan Falls, or maybe we’ll snorkel, or maybe we’ll just have another San Miguel while sitting on our porch listening to the surf….

Underground River

Other travelers that we have met here in the Philippines identified the Underground River as a “must see” for any visit to Palawan. We went yesterday and are now in the ranks of those who encourage anyone we meet to go see it for themselves. It was great, and although we have pictures and video, they don’t really do it justice. It was named as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature in 2011 and a UNESCO World Heritage site about ten years prior to that.

Our trip started with a van ride, but only about 90 minutes of actual van time with two stops. The Underground River is nearest to Sabang, about 50 km northwest of Puerto Princessa. When our van arrived, we had a buffet lunch before we went to our boats. The “good china” here isn’t paper plates, it’s banana leaves. That’s a small helping of chicken adobo, rice, and two veggie dishes on my plate next to a bowl of tasty chicken broth soup.

After lunch, we loaded in groups of 8 aboard these boats, similar, but a little smaller, to the ones we used for island hopping in El Nido. Also different from El Nido, the water was not smooth, but rather choppy as we weren’t in a bay. Needless to say, the boat ride to the river entrance was my least favorite activity of the day. Not seasick, just anxiety as I did not like the sensation of the boat movement. Fortunately, after about fifteen minutes, we arrived at the entrance where we gathered with the rest of our tour and waited for our turn to get into the canoe. Our tour guide warned us to mind our possessions as the inhabitants of this area are known to be thieves and can open a zipper. She was talking about the monkeys. Only one sauntered thru our waiting area, sat and posed, then wandered off into the trees. I arrived as she was leaving to get a picture, but Phillip videoed her entire visit. After a brief wait, we walked thru a forested area on a raised plank walkway to the canoe landing. We were issued plastic hardhats with visors. Our guide advised us that if we look up while in the cave, please keep our mouth shut. What may fall on our face could be dripping water or it could be from the bats. This is a picture of the underground river opening as seen from the canoe landing area. 10 people to a canoe were loaded and our canoe guide (different from our tour guide) began talking and paddling toward the river entrance. The cave is actually called St. Pauls Underground River Cave and is more than 15 miles long. The cave contains the 8.2 km (5.1 mi) long underground section of Cabayugan River. The river winds through the cave before flowing directly into the South China Sea. The tours only go 1.5 km into the Underground River, as boats can’t navigate very much further in it. The cave includes major formations of stalactites and stalagmites, and several large chambers. And bats. At first, I thought I was hearing cave crickets, but then I noticed the bats. Not a lot of them, just an occasional one flying across the beam of the light or hanging above us as the light was turned upward. I couldn’t get a picture of them, but got pictures of the rock formations. The rock contains some deposits of manganese, that’s the black stuff that looks like tar but isn’t. All different shapes and textures of rock and salt deposits, and bat guano deposits! We saw an inscription carved into the rock by some folks who explored the cave in 1937. Our canoe tour guide’s spiel was pretty dated. He likened one shapely looking rock to Sharon Stone. Somebody needs to write them some new material. His banter, however, did not distract from the awesomeness of the river. We are so glad we went. When we came back out the entrance, the guide paddle us back to the canoe area and we walked back to our motorized boats for the trip across to the area where our van awaited us.  The van trip was actually fun because of our tour guide, Celia. She was funny and bantered back and forth with Phillip and several other passengers. The van delivered us back to our hotel. Dinner and two San Miguels followed, so I’m writing this blog today instead of yesterday.

This morning, our fruit at breakfast was a banana. Bananas are better when they aren’t shipped halfway around the world. These guys were pretty darn tasty. Phillip gave me his to eat. Today, we just walked around town. Phillip wanted a haircut, so we went into a hair salon that advertised haircuts for 50 pesos. The stylist who cut Phillip’s hair, an older male, had a black, pink and orange upswept hairstyle. We didn’t turn around and leave because… it was an adventure! They actually did a fine job, and Phillip looks just the same as he does after a US haircut, so no picture. I decided to get my hair washed and blow-dryed (100 pesos). My stylist, a younger male, only had one pink streak in the long mowhawk-ish top of his hair. He too did a great job, better than I could ever do. I will say that Phillip and I spent our time with the stylists trying to figure out the gender of the salon manager. Now, back to our room for picture downloading and blog-writing. Tomorrow, we fly to Cebu, then ride a van (again!) to Moalboal for our next 3-night location.

El Nido to Puerto Princessa

Today was a travel day for us, making that grueling five hour ride back to Puerto Princessa, over the partially unfinished road. Phillip wanted me to say that this is what we rode in; however, I strive for accuracy! We actually rode in a van like we had been in to get to El Nido. It was an adventure, though, as the bus terminal staff put 20 people in a 15-passenger van. I was lucky and got the seat next to the window. The boy beside Phillip had a grocery sack with the handles hooked over his ears, as he was prone to motion sickness (we talked to his dad at the rest stop). However, it was his sister beside him who actually became ill on the bus. The man crouching in the step area was quick to slide open the window, so at least no incident occurred in the van… just along the outside of the van. Once in Puerto Princessa, we took a motorcycle taxi, similar to the one pictured to our hotel.

Phillip says that this is his favorite hotel so far. The security/doorman got our bags out of the taxi as I paid. The Underground River tour tomorrow, that I had emailed to hotel to arrange, is on. That’s the tour we are most looking forward to, so we were very happy. The hotel had a welcome sign for its guests just outside the reception area.  Nice staff, wonderful room. A table and two chairs on the porch in front of our room. Within a few minutes of trying out the chairs, a staff member brought us an iced drink of some sweet, coffee-tasting juice with little tapioca-feeling balls in it. Not sure what it was, but it was refreshing. Our room has two twin beds, which I prefer as the “big” beds are only an American full-size bed, not even a queen size. In Manila, in a “big” bed, Phillip stole my pillow twice in his sleep and woke me up. The walls are covered in woven bamboo. There’s a desk and stock mini-fridge (bottled water: 22 pesos, i.e. 50 cents. A good price for hotel water… $2.00 in the US at a hotel!) Electrical power 24/7 (we liked our El Nido pension, but it didn’t have a generator so no electricity from 6 am to 4 pm).

After settling in and dropping off our laundry at the reception desk (they have a laundry service!), we walked down the street from the hotel and found the Bay Walk, called a boardwalk or malecon in other countries. Clean, with vendors setting up for some event tonight. A group of kids were rehearsing on a stage. I’m not sure we’ll still be out for that as we are tired from the van and want to rest well for tomorrow’s tour. While we strolled along the Bay Walk, we noticed what first appeared to be a while plastic grocery sack in the water’s edge. As we got closer, we saw that it was a jelly fish, about the size of an inflated Walmart sack. This guy could do some serious harm, unlike the mucousy, translucent small ones that I saw yesterday while snorkeling.  I still don’t want to tangle with any of them.

We had dinner at the hotel this evening. Phillip is developing a taste for pork adobo. He really liked his dinner tonight. I had pork chops with rice (always, dinner come with rice). No mango shake today, but we did have a crepe filled with mango (a la mode) … delicious. The ice cream started to melt when I took this picture, but that just made it taste better. Tomorrow: Underground River!

Just Call Us Kermit: Two Days of Island Hopping

Phillip and I spent the last two days island hopping. No, we didn’t literally  jump from island to island nor did we actually see frogs (except for the little one that the pension owner’s dog played with). We went on all-day boat tours of some of the island near El Nido – and it was a great time as you’ll see in these pictures. We used the same tour company both days, so the boat on the second day looked pretty much the same as this boat for our first day. Twelve passengers with a crew of three. The distance traveled by the boats on both days wasn’t far, all within the bay area so the water was quite smooth. Even when I saw swells today, the design of this boat minimized rocking and bouncing, so it was a pleasurable ride, not a white-knuckled one. The sunshade over the seats was certainly necessary as those clouds you see in this picture were not with us very long.
Yesterday, we took Tour A, which went to five islands near to El Nido. We snorkled at every opportunity and saw fascinating coral. Phillip used the GoPro camera for the first time and got some great video. Remember, coral is not a rock, it is a living organism. They moved with the water and came in such a variety of shapes and colors. These looked like a 6-foot wide mushroom. The next picture shows a variety of the shapes. Some remind me of pasta, others look spiney and some are more of a blob. The  next one was really waved around like a purple mop. It wasn’t bright purple, rather a muted shade. And within it, you may be able to see the clown fish hiding. Nemo! There you are! Our favorite, however, was this one. These fellows opened and closed. Phillip and I saw several clusters of these, in all different colors. One cluster was close enough to the surface that he could wave his hand above it and we watched them close up as they felt the water move. I know Phillip has video of these in action. They appeared to be almost like colored fissures in the rock as they opened.
Our boat dropped anchor almost up on a beach. While the crew fixed lunch – fresh grilled fish, beef kabobs, rice, cabbage salad, and fresh fruit – Phillip found a cave and climbed up to it. Only at the beach areas did we find white sand and white rock like the one Phillip is on. Most of the islands are of black volcanic rock, and most do not have beaches or have only small beaches. None of the islands we visited or saw today had beaches that went around the entire island. A final picture from our first day. At one point, the boat went into a lagoon, but the entrance was shallow, so the captain had the six people seated in the rear of the boat move to the very front to change the weight distribution. While we were there, Daniela took our picture.
Today, we went on Tour C, at the recommendation of the other passengers from yesterday. Tour C goes farther out from El Nido and had more fish to see during our snorkeling opportunities. At our first stop, we swan into the “Hidden Lake.” We actually had to snorkel into it as the rocks were just above the top of the water. Once on the other side of these rocks, the walls opened up. Basically, we went into the side of the island through a crack in the rock. A couple more pictures of the islands:



We saw a lot more fish today as we snorkled. One variety of fish kept swimming in front of me and looking at me. Phillip said that those fish actually came at his camera and hit it as he was videoing. I haven’t watched the videos yet (except for one from yesterday to make sure he was operating the camera coreectly), so I’m looking forward to that video in particular. I saw a lot of these little blue guys, but they’d usually swim out of the frame before I could get their picture, but they were bright blue. At all our snorkel locations today, there was a definite drop-off at some point out from the rock or beach. This is what it looked like from a snorkeler’s perspective. I never swam out above the drop-off because it looked like a cliff. Yes, I was wearing a life vest and would never have fallen in, but it was heart-stopping for me. This picture was taken looking down, not out. Actually, I can’t say for sure that our last location had a drop-off. I can tell you it had jellyfish. Phillip and I did not get stung, but I came out of the water as soon as one got about an arm’s length from me. They look like big blobs of floating mucous. With a multitude of mucous legs. I tried to take a picture, but, as you can imagine, I didn’t get close enough and it was like taking a picture of a ghost. One guy on the boat yesterday did tangle with some and ended up with red rash-looking stripes across his chest. The final picture for this posting is of us with Daniela, the international teacher we met in the Manila airport. We enjoyed her company on both tour days and learned quite a bit about Saudi Arabia, where she taught for a couple of years, and China, where she teaches now. She has traveled extensively and recommended several locations for us to visit for our adventures. Thank you, Daniela!

Journey to El Nido

We didn’t have internet at last night’s hotel, but we have it here in El Nido, so time for a blog posting. On Saturday, the 29^th, we had the morning to walk around Manila some more before we needed to return to the hotel to leave for the airport and our flight to the island of Palawan. We walked past the American Embassy and along to other side of Roxas Boulevard from our hotel. We walked almost to the Pasig River before we turned and came back thru Intramuros. Even though it was only about 10:30 am when we got back to Rizal Park, it was hot and we were sweltering. Fortunately for us, the ice cream vendor was open, so we had another mango shake. Here it is, with a scoop of melon ice cream. Phillip didn’t want melon ice cream, so he pointed to another one that resembled vanilla with chunks. They scooped it on for him. Cheese ice cream. I didn’t get a picture of it, but I think he’ll ask next time what flavor the ice cream is before he gets it!

We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. The lines were actually tremendously shorter than when we had taken Mom for her 5 am flight. Our flight ended up leaving two hours late, so we spent over 4-1/2 hours in the airport. We did meet Daniela, a vacationing international teacher on her way to Puerto Princessa, then on to El Nido, just like us. Our hotel in Puerto Princessa had a van awaiting us (and five other guests of theirs on the same flight) as we deplaned and got our luggage. Although the hotel was very new, it is not one we will return to. It had very spare furnishings, steep stairs, and no blankets. The picture on the Internet did not show the surrounding buildings, and for good reason. They were shacks.

After breakfast the next morning, the hotel called us a taxi – a motorcycle taxi. At the bus terminal, we waited a bit and finally got all loaded for the 5 hour trip to El Nido – 8 passengers in a fifteen passenger van. That’s our luggage being tied on top of the van. We had plenty of room until the van picked up four more passengers for the last hour of the trip. That last hour was over unpaved roads about 60% of the time. They are constructing a concrete road, it just isn’t finished yet. And the van driver – let’s say that lane markings are just suggestions and the horn is the most important part on the van. I’m sure that Phillip was wondering what I’d gotten him into as the road got worse and worse and the van’s air conditioner couldn’t keep up with the extra people and afternoon sun. We finally arrived at El Nido – and a lovely room in a pension (basically a small bed and breakfast inn). We were greeted by a smiling, friendly lady with bearing bottles of cold water. And the bay… Today’s bay pictures don’t really show the beauty of the area because the sun had already dropped behind the mountains when I took them, but I’ll have some great shots in my next post.

As we walked along the beach, Daniela, drinking a San Miguel in a beachfront café, called out to us and we stopped to talk. She hadn’t booked any tours yet, so the three of us walked inland a block to the tour agency recommended in Lonely Planet and booked the same tour for tomorrow – several islands by boat with snorkeling. We parted ways with Daniela and headed back to the beach for dinner – here’s Phillip’s chicken adobo and shrimp plate, 200 pesos (less than $5). I had the fish plate, same price. And we got a free delicious fried banana appetizer. Tomorrow: island hopping!