Palawan

I'm going to begin at the end. At the airport to board my plane from El Nido, Palawan going back to Manila for my last few days in this country that I love so much.




The El Nido airport is the most charming airport I’ve ever passed through. When my motorized tricycle stops, I look around at the open-air bamboo huts clustered along a river.



- This can’t be the airport!

- We are here, sir.



The waiting area is an open air shack with couches and fans. They serve complimentary tea, coffee and Biko, one of my favorite desserts made of sticky rice, sugar and a touch of cinnamon and cocoa. The smoking area is a shaded garden with tree stump stools and hammocks! This place would make a fetching resort. It looks like the airport for Fantasy Island. There is no Tattoo screaming for de plane, but the staff is rather diminutive. This is to airports what Koalas and Volkswagen Beatles are to bears and cars. I want to kiss it and squeeze it. The flight safety announcement is given in the waiting hut because there will be no attendant aboard our 18 passenger plane. As we walk to the tarmac, we are serenaded by women, a guitarist and a carabao singing folk songs. The carabao sings bass and also performs a decent keyboard solo. 

My favorite part of the airport is the environmental consciousness that pervades it. The trash is separated into biodegradable and non-biodegradable. There is a video playing about the horrors of climate change. And the best part – you can pay 200 pesos that will plant six trees that will offset the carbon footprint of your flight!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Like so many countries struggling to develop, the Philippines is an ecological nightmare. The jeepney spewing black clouds is a symbol that merely scratches the surface of the environmental devastation here. Perhaps the greatest sin is the huge loss of rainforests, I believe 80% loss since 1945, threatening hundreds of endemic species including the Visayan deer, Visayan wild boar, and the monkey eating eagle. Palawan stand out as an exception and blissful beacon of hope to the country. The leaders of the island, led by visionary mayor Edward Hagedorn, pursue polices that support both economy and ecology. Ecotourism is a huge part of this; Palawan boasts remarkable land and sea scapes, that call to divers, trekkers and beach bums from across the globe.

My first stop is the underground river near Sabang. This is the longest navigable underground river in the world, stretching 14 kilometers from source to sea.  Its stunning eery, airy and filled with interesting sites.  There are two winged creatures that inhabit the cave.  Thousands of bats line the ceiling.  We are encouraged to minimize looking up to avoid bat droppings in the eye.  Swiftlets abound in the cave as well, building their nests from salivary secretions in the cracks and crevices.  These are the nests that fetch high prices from the Chinese for bird's nest soup.  Limited collection is allowed during certain parts of the year, but in all likelihood illegal harvesting goes on all the time.  Swiftlets and swallows are my favorite birds.  I love their sleek look and the way they cut and zag at vicious angles like X-wing Fighters from Star Wars.

There are eight of us in our boat on a group tour: me, a cross-continental couple from Canada and Scotland, and five Filipino tourists on a weekend trip from Manila.  Of course I get the question from one of the Filipino women.

- Are you married?
- Why do you ask?
- My cousin is single.

Finally, the perfect answer to this constant and annoying question comes to me.

- No, but I'm in love.
Aaaaaah!  There is nodding and smiles all around.

- What is her name?
- Christopher.

We are packed into a rowboat with flashlights and a guide.  The guide encourages us to inspect stalactite and stalagmite formations that have been given interpretive names: mushroom with penis, face of Christ (it really does look like classic rendition of Jesus's face), and my personal favorite, a large vaginal shaped rock formation named, "Sharon Stone".

The caves are in the middle of beautiful rainforest and I stay on an extra day to experience it.  I hire a guide, or rather, I find a cute local boy who likes hiking and we set off on the trails.  Except for monitor lizards and mosquitoes we don't see a lot of wildlife, but the flora and rock formations are lovely.  The humidity in the jungle is intense, and the up and down climb over limestone hills is quite taxing in the heat.  I'm sweat drenched in seconds.  My guide, of course, hasn't a drop of perspiration on him.  We end our trek at a beautiful, clear ocean pool.  It's the most delightful swim I've ever had.