Applauding Palawan: Part 3 - The Puerto Princesa Underground River

I have never, in my lifetime, thought that I would be able to visit any of the 7 Wonders of the World. God somehow found a way for me, and for us Filipinos to be able to do so. He gave us one! When it was officially announced last year, I was very happy. It bested so many other amazing places. 

On our way, our tour guide Ate Malou played short clip regarding the Underground River. It was more on what the Italian cave experts - La Venta Geographical Association found inside the cave. They were the group that has backed up our claim on the 7 Wonders.

They have found rare a mineral named serrabrancaite that was never found in caves like this. The scientists themeseleves are amazed at the sheer number of minerals found in the cave. Caves usually just have 3 or 4 minerals at most but our little paradise here holds 11 kinds of minerals. This is what exceeding expectations means! Aside from minerals there are also different kinds of bat residing in the area and two of which can only be found here. To top it all off, they have found a 20 Million-year old fossil of the sea cow in perfect, as in perfect condition, in the walls of the cave. This discovery will somehow help our scientists understand our past better. 

Here's Mt. Saint John Paul, directly underneath that is the Underground River. The mountain is said to be named Saint John Paul because of the facelike peak and because the underground river has a "Cathedral" Inside. Here's a closer look

There are two ways to access the underground river: The hard way and the easy way. 

Hard way: You jump, climb, swim, rappel, walk, crawl through the jagged stone mountains and along the shorelines. That could take days. 

We of course took the easy way: We rode a pumpboat for 15 minutes cutting through the open ocean of the West Philippine Sea. Easy Peasy. 

You see, I wasnt exagerating on the "jump, climb, swim, rappel, walk, crawl" part and I havent even mentioned the crushing and crashing waves that can easily knock you to the stones. 

The beach was awesome! It is secluded.
Ate Malou gave us a very STERN warning. We should not be bring any plastic bags or anything that'll sound like plastic bags. This little guy here and the rest of his kind are very mischievous. They steal anything that they find interesting. They are not the shy type who cowers on the sight of humans - they on the other hand shows you that this is not your domain. We were bringing a bottle of Lemonade flavored Gatorade and one monkey kept on circling around us waiting for an opportunity to grab the bottle. It only left when we wrapped the bottle with a scarf. They even have stealth mode! 

 Touristy Shot 

A moment of silence please for this majestic place. 
Ladies and Gentlemen: One of the 7 Wonders of the World. 

We are very lucky to have a very funny boatman too. Manong Dom, you made our trip so much more special. Boo to the guy holding our lamp who cant tell which is right and left. 

Here's two of our most decent shots inside the cave: 
These are small bats living inside the ceilings of the river. As per Manong Dom, if you feel cold drops that's Holy water, if it's warm it's Holy Shit! That'll be the bats peeing on your face. *wink*

 All these amazing stalactite and stalagmite formations are all made by nature and it took millions of years to get to this point. What Mother Nature painstakenly made for millions of years, humans can destroy in hours. I hope my grandchildren's grandchildren will still see places like this in their time. 

I applaud the Palaweños for not losing sight of what's more important. I applaud the Palaweños for not abusing the environment. Thank you for protecting the environment, I got to experience the beauty of nature.