We walked along the wooden boardwalk to the left. It wasn’t a long walk as the forest gave way to a small clearing for with tables for people who want to rest and eat. There are no places to buy food from, so if you really need to eat there, make sure you bring them with you from Sabang village. Actually, I would recommend not bringing anything at all. The place is a World Heritage Site, please try to avoid bring trash to the site. If you do, remember to bring them back out again.
Just beyond the clearing is the “pier” where people get on tiny outriggers and tour the cave. Everybody is given a life vest so that in the unlikely event that the outrigger capsizes, the crocodiles can still find you. Ten people get to sit on the boat, one in front and the back (usually the boatman) and eight in the middle. If you want to sit in front, you get to hold the battery powered torchlight used during the tour.
I was already excited when I got to get on my outrigger, I was lucky enough to sit just behind the light guy in front, so I would get a good view. Behind me was a Filipino family with a kid. It was a full boat, though a little tiny, but I guess that’s what they need to be able to navigate through the cave.
The entrance of the cave is an amazing sight. The water is a very unreal emerald color made even more brilliant by the bright morning sun. The mouth of the cave has stalactites that makes it something like a gigantic monster with fangs ready to swallow any soul brave enough to enter its mouth.
With everyone on board, our boatman set sail to the bowels of the earth. The boat tiny as it was, was quite stable, with its two wings stabilizing the boat. With everyone on board, the boat took in the weight of everyone and the top of the outrigger was almost on level with the water. If someone moves too much, I could imagine that water can actually go in. I just hope that no one does such a thing, especially, some kid sitting right behind me!
As we approach the mouth of the cave, it feels more and more like we are being swallowed up by the earth. I’ve never been to a cave before, so I don’t really know what to expect. Once our eyes adjusted to the pitch black darkness right in front of us, and the bright lights of the mid morning sun fading away from view, we were treated to a great display of natural limestone formations.
At this point our boatman, now our guide started his usual spiel. He introduced himself and told us a some facts about the underground river. The underground river is actually still at sea level, so it is underground in the sense that there is solid rock above it. It 8.2 kilometers long and until recently it was thought to be the world’s longest underground river. Longest one is a still unnamed subterranean river somewhere in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico discovered only in 2007. What the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River can claim is it may be the longest navigable underground river in the world.
The water in the river is brackish which means it is a mixture of fresh and salt water. This unique features gives rise to a unique ecosystem of its own. Our boatman mentions it would be best not to put our hand in the crystal clear water as there may be crocodiles lurking in the water. Above us, the cave it abuzz with the flapping or countless swiftlet who make the cave their home. So impressive as the caves formations are, it would also be best not be gawk at them with your mouth wide open.
I shall continue more in my next post.
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