Fantastic Palawan

Hello My Dear Great Ones,

Celia and I spent our honeymoon on the lovely island of Palawan, Philippines.  Recently it was voted as the world's best island by a travel magazine.  While that is certainly debatable the following pictures will certainly present a strong case for that distinction.  

First of all the beaches, lagoons, mini islands, and landscape are spectacular. 

 Beach near our hotel.

 View from the 800 meter zip line.

 The beach near our hotel was vast, with beautiful sand and hardly any people.  The water was warm and clear.

 

My lovely wife adding to the beautiful scenery.

 Enjoying a boat ride through a lagoon.

The local culture is colorful, unique, and fun.

 Celia in front of a local bus packed to the rafters with people and goods.

 There were a few peddlers, but they were not obnoxious and pushy.

 A local village near our hotel.

 Fresh buko (coconut) was everywhere.

 The fruit was great.

 Local tour guides relaxing.

 Halo Halo (mix mix)  a local snack/drink common in the Philippines.

 A local street scene.

 A good, but cheap local restaurant.

 Ambience is a little lacking, but its quaint and the food is good.

 Fresh coconut was refreshing and very nutritious.

 Worm eating challenge.  Very entertaining.

 Dining local.

 Man up in the palm tree collecting cocounts.  Was rather entertaining.  Little indents cut into the trunk of the coconut tree helps the man climb up and down.

 Mangos.  Love them.  Mango cake rocks.

 A common local way to travel.

 Typical Filipino fare.

 Celia and I rented a van and a driver.  On the way to our destination we stopped at the Half Way restaurant.  Food selection however was rather minimal.

 Stray dogs seem to be everywhere in the Philippines.  This spotted one, for real not painted, should be considered a prize.  Never seen anything like it.

Typical village hut.

Snorkeling in Palawan is good.

 Having a Go Pro camera is fun cause it works underwater!

 Celia and I went to one of the World's seven natural wonders.  It's the Puerto Princessa Underground River and you need to take a boat to reach the entrance.

 Near the entrance are smaller tour boats.

 Wearing safety gear is a must to tour the underground river.

 Entering the river.

 Inside the cave were amazing rock formations.

 We also went on a Mangrove Boat tour.  The Canadian gov't has donated a pile of money to protect this mangrove, which is a great thing.

 We had a paddler and a guide and ...

 …lazy lizards watched us from the trees.

 We came upon other tours.

 Our guide was friendly and funny and pointed out interesting things like…

 …snakes.

 Rather creepy so best to end off with something positive:

Our resort:  Sheridan Resort and Spa.  Awesome.

Have a great week everyone and thanks for your prayers.

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk