This article originally appeared in VIA Times Newsmagazine
Puerta Princesa, Palawan: The Quick Tour
I had been wanting to go to Palawan, the fabled “last frontier” of the Philippines
since my four and a half month teaching stint at UP Diliman (the University of the
Philippines main campus) in 1998. Finally eleven years later, on my fourth trip to the
Philippines, my wish became reality, and I was not disappointed.
It was a balmy December 1, 2009 when my older brother (Kuya) and I left from
the PAL (Philipine Air Line) terminal at Ninoy Aquino Airport in Manila. A little more
than an hour later we landed in Puerto Princesa, the capital city and port of entry of the
province of Palawan. Across a part of the South China Sea was Vitetnam.
I have a photo of Kuya in front of Puerta Princesa Airport. The sky is a smogfree and deep azure blue. The sun is brighter than it had been in Manila. I recall that the
temperature was even balmier than it had been in Manila.
A driver from our hotel, Hotel Fleuris, stood outside the airport holding an
identifying sign. We were on a pleasantly open-ended tour package (three days, two
nights) promoted by the hotel. Filipino friends had made the arrangements for us ahead
of time, which is probably a good idea since Palawan, especially Puerta Princesa, is an
increasingly attractive tourist attraction in the Philippines.
After checking in and having lunch, we had our introductory city tour to help us
get oriented for our stay. This is an amazing tour, not to be missed. Airport, seaport, and
downtown make up only a fraction of the geographic area of the city.
Beaches, mountains, farms, suburban estates, parks, an alligator farm, a penal
colony, and perhaps most important, forests make up the rest of the city. Much of the
Philippines has suffered from deforestation, but not Puerta Princesa. Trees are protected
by laws, promoted by the city’s popular environmentalist mayor.
Our “Quick Tour” of the city actually took all afternoon and into the evening, but
I didn’t notice anyone complaining. Also our last stop before getting back to the hotel
was a bakery so we could satisfy our before-dinner hunger pangs.
The first stop was the government-operated crocodile farm. I have two pictures
of Kuya from this stop. In the first he is standing in front of a crocodile skin that was
stretched out on the wall of the tourist center/museum. Kuya, I should mention is six fee
tall and about two hundred pounds. He was dwarfed by the twelve-foot skin.
In the second photo, Kuya is holding a live baby crocodile. The animal’s tail
hung down to his knee while his snout (happily tied shut) reached Kuya’s nose.
Crocodiles would be probably be extinct in the Philippines were it not for their being
raised here. Good for the tourists and good for the crocodiles.
From the crocodile farm we bounced along a dirt road for about a half hour until
we reached the penal colony. The largest building dates back to 1904, a couple of years
into the American colonial era. This building had a stage for amateur performances as
well as films (after the 1920s). It also had lots of room for dancing (prisoners wives and
families could live in the colony) as well as for ping-pong tables. It reminded me a great
deal of resort pavilions from the Jersey shore or the Poconos of my childhood.
I found myself getting nostalgic in this now run-down structure in the middle of a
Philippine penal colony. And as I looked out the windows (some still had bars on them),
I was enchanted by the trees and, in the distance, the mountains. Our final stop there was
the store where I bought one of the many mahogany carvings made by the inmates.
Between the store and agriculture, the colony is self sustaining.
Evening was descending. On to the hillside bakery. Then back to the hotel in
time to wash up for an 8:30 dinner reservation. More to come next time.
Bob Boyer welcomes your observations at Robert.boyer@snc.edu.
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