Anniversary Underground

Jon and Maria arrived shortly after 1:00 am Sunday morning, July 6, with a driver delivering them to their hotel. We picked them up at 9:30 for church, which we attended, then raced back to our apartment for a quick lunch and drove to the airport.  We flew to Palawan, were delivered to our hotel, and then walked over to a Robinson's(one of the big department stores here) mall to find a quick supper.

Monday morning July 7, we were toured to Palawan's Underground River, one of the world's natural wonders. We drove about two hours out of Puerto Princessa, got on a catamaran, and boated over St. Paul's Bay to another bay shore where the river empties into the ocean. There we got into a smaller boat paddled by a guide who then took us into the underground cavern of the river. It is an 8-kilometer covered portion of the river, but they are only authorized to navigate the first 1.5 K. Picture Carlsbad Caverns ceilings with a river at the bottom. It was amazing! There were huge caverns, bats, swallows, all narrated/editorialized by our inimitable boatman. A really fun experience.

I thought of the kids when I saw this girl--a perfect illustration of Hats for Sale that I read to my own kids often. She was on the dock trying to sell her wares.

David, Maria, Jon and Cheryl crossing St. Paul's Bay

Our boatman and the view out front

The entrance to the cavern, actually the outlet of the river

Some of the views in the cavern, also filled with sparrows and bats

 

When we returned to the river bank, we walked over a bit and were treated to the sight of a large monitor lizard and some monkeys. We returned down the mountain, and David, who was getting sick, took a nap at the motel while Jon, Maria and I were taken to a palengke by District President and Sister Leo Mosquera, who happened to also own the tour company we were booked with. We wandered around there and bought several exotic fruits, then rode back to the motel by trisikel (a motorcycle with a sidecar).  The Mosqueras had recommended a Philippine restaurant, Ka Lui, where we went for supper. It was really a beautiful island restaurant in which to celebrate our 41st wedding anniversary!

We rode home again by trisikel, which was an adventure. It was reminiscent of riding from our wedding at the Methodist Church to our Northrup grandparents house in a golf cart!  Our driver didn't want to stop at the stoplight, so he turned right on red, pulled a u-turn, then turned right back onto our street, all while the light was still red!