St Paul's Cave has been known to the local people since ancient days. Stories handed down to the present generation tell how the cave was inhabited by a spirit that prevented them from entering. The park's immediate territory and surroundings are the ancestral lands of the Batak and Tagbanua people, the original inhabitants of Palawan.
The Tagbanua who have settled around the park's boundaries (about 2,300 of them) are seafaring people. They use a syllabic form of writing. These people subsist on minor forest products for commerce, such as rattan for handicrafts and furniture, resin of the almaciga tree for making varnish and paints, and wild honey.
I did my Y2K Easter trek to the Underground River. to get there from Puerto Princessa, we traveled for about 3 hours through rough and winding roads: a back-breaking yet immensely enjoyable trip. We reached picturesque Sabang and then rode an outrigger boat for about 20 minutes. The view is absolutely charming.
The park is clean, thanks to the civic
consciousness of the Palawanons and their reminders that
littering is punishable. The monitor lizards (bayawak) are a delightful sight,
and so are the very naughty monkeys--be warned--these little creatures are really
wonton--you can't leave your belongings for even one minute. They
scoured my tote bag when I just turned my back to take a quick
photo, and made off with some precious things.
At the park we were whisked to the riverbank, where we started the journey below the earth. Canoeing through the dark filled my mind with many thoughts. The captivating, intricate web of caves was painstakingly carved by the river's flow. Quietly, the banca pushed through the dark caverns. We saw but a single beam of light, heard nothing but the rowing of our boatman, in unison with the calm flow of the April waters. Occasionally, the boatman would motion the torchlight bearer to highlight a particular mineral formation. The boatman was good, but the park would benefit from an official guide to narrate the wonders we saw and didn't fully comprehend.
Along the way was a fascinating variety of vast stalactites, delicately structured columns, irregular caverns, and huge awesome chambers 120 m wide and 60 m high. Dripstones glittered with amazing rainbow colors, caused by the impurities that created what seemed like a perfect work of art, even in the dark. St. Paul's Underground River National Park, now called Puerto Princessa Subterranean River National Park, is a unique phenomenon. It features spectacular limestone (karst) formations, a truly captivating landscape. Estimated to be 16-20 million years old, the underground river traverses the network of caves and flows out to the sea.
The park has recently been added to UNESCO's World
Heritage List Site,
confirming that its outstanding cultural and natural assets
deserve to be safeguarded and protected for the benefit of the
present and future generations.