Bon Courage!: Puerto Princesa, Palawan

So waaaaaay back in March I took a little adventure to South East Asia. My teaching contract was up at the end of February so I had planned a month of fun in the sun island hopping before coming back home to California. It was a nice little reward I had saved up for after completing my year abroad.

I kicked off my journey with Diane and we went to the Philippines, to the island of Palawan. We stayed in Puerto Princesa in the Subli Guest Cabins. The people at Subli were super helpful and awesome. The breakfasts were cooked up fresh in the morning, you could lay beneath their giant mango tree, and somebody was always there to call you a motorbike for a fair price. The cabins themselves were surrounded by lush vegetation and little fearless geckos.

View from out room.

Smart little guy liked to hang out on the screen by the lamp to catch insects drawn to the light!

Since we were spending a few days in the area, we signed up for a couple of guided tours. Most noteworthy sights take an hour or more to arrive by a minibus cramped to capacity with tourists. Our first outing was to Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park. It was full of tourists, but still very cool to be paddled around the dark caves.

Underground River

Sweet glorious coconut (Buko) juice

Zipline over water! Wheeeeeeee!

The area also had a zipline and nature preserve to walk through.

Best part about this photo is that right after I took this, a monkey charged Diane.

BIG gecko!

My biggest problem with the trip was that we were so close to the ocean and didn't get to play in it! Our next plan of attack was to start island hopping, so we signed up for a Honda Bay tour. We went to two or three islands for swimming, snorkeling, and lunch!

This is also the day I got to be creeped out by the boat captain, who seemed to have taken a fancy to me... The guy was at least twice my age, and pretty much reminded me of a lecherous old man in some exaggerated cartoon. Heeby-jeebies aside, it was a pretty fun day!