Sabang Mangrove River Tour

Near the Entrance of the Mangrove River Tour

Near the Entrance of the Mangrove River Tour

After touring the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River, I was faced with a choice.  Either go back to the beach and our waiting outrigger to head back to Sabang village, or to do the jungle trail.  The jungle trail lets you hike through the rain forest and appreciate the flora and fauna of Sabang.  There are two trails, the Monkey trail and the other one is the Jungle Trail.  It takes around two hours of sweaty walking to get back to the end of Sabang beach, ending near Mary’s cottage.   Tempting as the walk may be, I decided against it.  One, it was already 11 in the morning.  If I walk for two hours, I will get back to Sabang by one on the afternoon.  Unfortunately, I was already starving.  Two, I was alone, and trekking into the deep forest with no companions doesn’t seem like a good idea.  I could have hooked up with some of the foreigners that were there, but then again, there was reason number three: I was lazy.  

Path to Sabang Falls

Path to Sabang Falls

After resting a bit and watching monkeys steal food from unsuspecting tourists.  Actually, the tourists had it coming, as they have already been warned against eating in front of the monkeys.  There were monitor lizards in the area, but they didn’t steal any food.  There were a couple of people playing with the monitor lizard by pulling its tail. The lizard didn’t really seem interested and crawled away.  Fascinating as it is to see the animals, they didn’t really do much.  So we headed back to the outrigger with my boat mates.

Back in Sabang, I grabbed a simple lunch of meat and rice.  It was one of those point-point food, and had no idea what it was.  Not that it really mattered.  After a brief rest, I proceeded to the visit Sabang falls.  Facing the sea, It was to the far left of the beach.  The white sands of Sabang beach soon turned into big grains of grey sand.  It then turned into fist sized stones and much bigger boulders.   Just wearing sandals, I started to clamber up some rocks to find the easiest path to this falls.  It was actually hard work because the rocks were uneven and moving.  I was afraid of getting a sprained ankle from stepping on the wrong rock.  Again, there was no one in this area, although getting lost is not really a possibility as you just need to follow the coast, I still don’t want something happening to me here all alone.

Sabang Falls

Sabang Falls

After an hour of walking to the falls I finally made it.  There is was, Sabang falls.  I worked so hard for it and it is a huge disappointment!  It wasn’t worth calling a falls at all.  It is more like someone stuck a hose with running water on the side of the mountain and let it flow down the sea.  Needless to say, it was nothing like the picture.  It wasn’t even half as wide as the picture shows.  To be fair, it is summer time, and maybe the rains haven’t been falling that much.  It might be more impressive during the rainy season.  Anyway, not wanting to waste my hard work getting here, refreshed my feet in the cool waters of the falls and headed back.

The walk back was no easier, every step still has to be carefully measured to avoid that potential sprain.  Along the way back, I passed by some houses, and to my surprise, a Buddhist temple.  I was wondering what it was doing in this remote area.  Probably some doing some charity work.  I couldn’t really tell whether the people there were foreigners or local Chinese-Filipinos, though the latter would be quite unlikely.

After another hour of walking, finally reached Sabang village proper.  My feet were so tired from all the walking I rested back in my cottage.  I emerged refreshed and continued exploring the rest of Sabang village.

Wooden Bridge Near Mangrove River Tour

Wooden Bridge Near Mangrove River Tour

Facing the sea, to the far right of the beach, was the Mangrove River tour.  This sounded a little iffy, but the guide books were recommending it so I tried it out.  The area was expectedly filled with mangrove trees.  Near the pier, was a wooden bridge presumably connecting to the Jungle trail and Monkey trail.  My river tour apparently comes with a boatman and a guide.  The guide was the one manning the information booth beside the river.  She seemed be very friendly and really talks a lot!  The boat was another outrigger not unlike the one used in the underground river, and just as small.

The boatman sat at the back and the guide sat in front.  I sat in the middle, which I realized was a mistake as I won’t be able to take pictures with the guide in front of the boat.  Anway, we set off and the guide started talking about the mangrove forest and how important it is everyone.  Mangroves serve as fish nurseries so it is important to protect them.  No baby fish, no big fish.  It also help to prevent erosion, since the help to keep the short stable.  As we pushed deeper into the forest.  The forest grew thicker and thicker, if humans ever step into this part of the forest, it would be not obvious at all.  The guide said there are a lot of wild animals here like wild boars, but since it was already late in the afternoon, I won’t be able to see any.  The best time to visit the place is early morning.  Going through the forest really feels like I was part of some expedition to some unknown part of the world.  Quite cool.

River Tour Guide

River Tour Guide

The guide also told me that a huge percentage of the fish supply of the Philippines actually comes from Palawan and it shipped to Manila.  A Palawan delicacy called tamilok is also found here.  Tamilok is some sort of mollusk that lives in the mangrove, it is also is eaten as a delicacy.  At that point, I decided to stop listening, else I lose my appetite.  Appreciating the mangroves are much better.  The trees are quite fascinating, it seems like as the tree grows, the branches bend down towards the water and become roots themselves.

We then reached a part of the river with a fallen tree.  Unable to proceed, we turned back.  At this point the guide was talking about how her non-government organization is raising awareness of the importance of mangroves in public schools.  She even said there was a song taught to the children.  Predictably, she started singing the song along with the boatman.  It was first in the Palawan dialect.  Then in Tagalog.  

Boats for the River Tour

Boats for the River Tour

 
After surviving that.  We reached the end of the tour.  The guide then invited me to plant a mangrove sapling as part of their efforts to preserve the mangrove trees.  I took a picture of it.  Maybe when I get back it would be a full grown mangrove plant.  Aside from paying the fee for the river tour, the guide encouraged me to make a little “contribution” to their cause.  Being reasonably satisfied with the tour, I did.  Looking back, I realize that the tour was surprisingly interesting.  This is not something I get to do everyday.  And for a small amount of money I get to contribute to saving the Earth.  If you ever get to visit Sabang, I encourage you to do this wonderful little tour.

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