As our boatman/guide continued paddling us deeper and deeper into the bowels of the earth, the light coming from the entrance of the cave grew further and further away until it was pitch black right in front. It took us a while before our eyes got accustomed to the darkness. Ok, no one can see in pitch black. That is when the powerful lamp in front of the boat was switched on. As mentioned previously, the person who sits in front of the boat gets to be the one who controls the light, the boatman would then give instructions to his lucky “assistant” on where to point the light. I would have loved to be that assistant but I would still have to take pictures of the cave. Besides, since I was already near the front, I already have an unobstructed view of everything.
The cave was dead silent as the boatman pushed deeper into the cave. Surprisingly the cave was cool inside, I wasn’t expecting that. It there was a slight breeze coming from the inside of the cave, and I don’t think it was because of the boat moving forward. At least it wasn’t hot, I thought. The cool river waters was just outside the boat, if someone made any sudden movements, the water might spill over. The silence of the cave was kind of creepy. Then from behind, a small voice was heard, “Mom, I’m scared.” That’s it! I’m freaked out too, luckily the kid’s mother calmed the kid down (and me) before he would make any sudden moves.
If it were bright enough, I’m sure the waters will be crystal clear. I’m not sure if there were fish in the water though. The boatman did mention not to stick our hands or feet in the water lest it be devoured by crocodiles or piranha. Whatever. He started pointing out several interesting features of the cave. There a lot of structures with supposed similarities to other things or people. Things ranging from bacon, Marilyn Monroe, candles to religious figures like the Holy Family or the half face of Jesus. Although sometimes you do need to stretch the imagination a bit more to be able to see what the boatman is pointing out. It is amusing to try to figure out where exactly the things are.
The river actually branches out underground, into smaller and more inaccessible streams. One of them branches out to a chamber what the boatman called the Bat Cave, because it is inhabited by bats. We didn’t go there because that cave is quite smelly. We followed the main river into the cave. There were portions of the cave which were almost touching the water, I supposed it would be best to visit when the tide is low. High tide might make the place a little more difficult to navigate. Already, the boatman has to swing our little craft from left to right to avoid the more low lying structures.
Near the midpoint of the tour we reached a huge underground chamber called the Cathedral. The ceiling is really high that you can hardly see the roof of the Cathedral. It is quite amazing to be in such a huge place and it is all natural. The Cathedral (and the entire cave system) was formed through thousands of years of erosion of the limestone rock by water until it reached the sea, and it is still ongoing. I supposed a few thousand more years or erosion and the cave will be no more. I’m lucky to be able to visit it while it is still here. High above us, are the sounds of birds, swiftlets. These birds make the cave their home in this unending darkness. Like bats and dolphins, the swiftlets find their way through echolocation. That’s pretty cool. Amazing as the limestone structures around us were it would be best to keep your mouth closed. That is not water dripping down from the ceiling.
The boatman turned the boat around and headed back to the entrance. I tried taking pictures of the formations I missed the first time. The conditions were really tough, since it was really dark, a powerful flash would have helped a lot. No wonder I hardly saw any pictures of the inside of the cave on the web. There is no where you can place a tripod on. Everything will turn out all blurry since everything will have to be handheld. Maybe those new cameras with high ISO sensitivities would be able to take better pictures, coupled with a powerful flash.
Along the way back, there was another boatload of happy tourists on their way. Now I know how we look like. The friendly bunch waved and said hi. Near the entrance of the cave, the boatman stopped for a while to let us take pictures of the mouth of the cave from the inside. Apparently, it was a popular spot in the tour, it was really indeed breathtaking. It was a relief to see daylight again, being used to the darkness of the cave, the light hurts. But what an adventure it was! The tour last around 45 minutes. We only traveled a kilometer or two into the cave system. The entire stretch is more than eight kilometers long!
After disembarking, I took a few photos of the area and went back to the open area. There were some animals around. There were monitor lizard and some monkeys. Apparently the monkeys are not afraid of people and would routinely steal food from you if you are not careful. The park personnel would throw branches or small rocks near the monkeys to scare the away. Some of the more aggressive ones would be put to sleep, probably as a lesson to the others. Having rested, our cameras full of memories, our group headed back to our waiting outrigger and set sail for Sabang.
[xmlgm {http://www.worldwanderings.net/kml/PuertoPrincesaSubterraneanRiver.kmz}]