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| Another day, another Tuk-Tuk adventure for the Tuck-Tuckers! |
The welcome we received at all our Philippine ports was much appreciated. At Puerto Princesa it started before we were even docked. Some official sounding person was reading what seemed to be an official sounding proclamation over a speaker system. She concluded her comments with “Welcome to Puerto Princesa, where the adventure begins and never ends”! I’m not sure if the adventure never ends, but it sure was a fun adventure for us.
We had no real plans when we disembarked, but that quickly changed. Thanks to Beth’s excellent negotiating skills we soon found ourselves on one of the Filipino style “tuk-tuks” being chauffeured around the island on a four hour tour. We paid a fraction ($20 each) of what the folks who had booked through the ship paid ($169 each), for a tour that was longer and included more highlights.
Our guide for the adventure was named Ernie. He was super friendly and always smiling. He told us that he was born in Puerto Princesa, so we felt confident he knew his way around.
There are quite a few cars in Puerto Princesa, but they are significantly outnumbered by the Filipino Tuk-Tuks. Ernie’s tuk-tuk was typical to all the rest. A motorcycle with a homemade sidecar. From the looks and sounds of it, the motorcycle had been making its way around Puerto Princesa for quite a few years. It coughed, sputtered, spit and even stalled a few times, but it got us where we needed to be.
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| The Tuk-Tuks are popular with tourists as well as locals. I saw one Tuk-Tuk going along that was packed. I counted three adults and five children. There could have been a few more in there that I couldn’t see. |
Our tour hit several points of interest both within the city and out in the tropical countryside. Before we left the ship we saw a popular area attraction was a crocodile farm. Beth said “I don’t need to go to a crocodile farm”. After a brief stop at the large Catholic Church our next stop was…..the crocodile farm. Our visit was fairly short but informative.
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| Like a cattle ranch, crocodiles are bred, raised and then sold for their meat and hide. They had both fresh water and saltwater crocs. One interesting fact we learned was that the sex of the crocodiles can be manipulated by the temperature of the nest. If the nest temperature is less than 89.6 the babies will be female. Above that temperature and you’ve got a bunch of boys! |
There were numerous other stops along the journey. Our favorite was a butterfly garden and aboriginal tribal village that were really fun and interesting.
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| The butterfly garden had plenty of butterflies to enjoy…… |
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| plus a few more animals like this bearcat that was taking a siesta….. |
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| a “walking stick” bug (can you find it?) |
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Fire making demo in the aboriginal village. He’d destroy the contestants on Survivor. We were told fire making is taught to both males and females at the age of five.
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Baker’s Hill was a mixture of a playground and garden with nice landscaping, fun fantasy characters and of course a gift shop!
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| There was also a really big snake…. |
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….and an opportunity to hold a vicious crocodile!
Our four hour tour with Ernie was fun and passed quickly, just like our four days in the Philippines!
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