The Underground River

The Underground River has just been deemed the 7^th Natural Wonder of Nature. It has  become so popular that people from all over the world come to see it now  so in order to go there you have to buy tickets weeks in advance.  But we didn’t know this and we didn't have tickets.  But no worries because somehow we are told we are getting picked up by a private driver and he will take us there.  When we arrive, we found out that the mayor has arranged a PRIVATE boat to get us there! To my left is a massive line of people waiting to get on their boats from pre-arranged tickets and Nathaniel and I swiftly board our boat, cutting in front of everyone, and are on are way.  WHO ARE WE?, I think to myself.  But as I look around, I can see the folks across the way are wondering the same thing!  The U.R. is a river that flows through limestone rock that has been forming for thousands of years.  It is like boating through a cave full of stalagmites, stalactites, bats, and birds.  It is full of color, unusual shapes, and carvings.  To see anything you must use a flashlight as it is pitch black.  Below are the best pics we could capture.

From there our private driver took us to the zip lines where Nathaniel zip lined for the first time.  Cruising high above the water is always a good time.  This was complements of the mayor who also treated us to a beach lunch just before taking us back to the hotel.

To end our day, we were invited to a dinner presentation put on by the mayor himself. Yay, we finally get to meet him!  We learned all about the workings of the underground river and just how important this natural wonder is to the island and its people.  That evening we met lovely Ivy, Isobelle’s sister.  We tell her that the next two days we will be spending time in El Nido, the northern coast of Palawan.   Ivy and her dad are about to graciously give us the perfect ending to our trip, but we’ll talk about that after we tell you about El Nido.  Day 2 was another incredible day for us.