Day 2: Puerto Princesa

 Day 2 we woke up around 8:30, had a pancake breakfast and headed out to the adventure park outside of town where we were going to have a morning filled with an assortment of activities. First up was the sky walk, where you were suspended on bamboo bridges in the jungle going from tree to tree. At first I wasn't sure how I would do with this considering I'm not the biggest fan of heights  however we were only 10 feet off the ground. The course was short and my balance was impeccable.

Next there was zip lining through the jungle, the place boasted the longest zip line in Asia, it was actually 3 zip lines that you switched on and off from. It was really cool, and a fun way to see the jungle.

Then we took a caribow cart ride to our lunch destination, which really we could have walked, and I just felt bad for the caribow.

Then in the afternoon there was market shopping were I picked up some carved masks. Then off to the beach. We were told by a worker at the hotel that this one was a good one to go to, it was free and there was ice cream. The place was beautiful, but the whole thing was a sand bar and the water was less than a foot deep for over a kilometer from shore. It was a local beach clearly, because most Filippinos surprisingly can't swim, despite living on islands and being surrounded by ocean.

Lauren teaching the local kid how to play hopscotch. 

That evening we had a firefly tour, which I wasn't exactly sure about but, it was amazing! We were three to a boat plus our guide "Ranch" who paddled us down this slow salt water river, in all the trees that lined the banks, where hundreds of fireflies. The trees looked like they had been covered with Christmas lights. 

There's an unofficial rule of nature that all tropical bugs must be bigger and scarier than bugs from cooler climate like Canada. Red ants here don't just bite you but they remove chunks of flesh. Spiders can kill you with one bite and are often enormous. Mosquitoes carry malaria and dengue fever. And cockroaches are everywhere and the size of house pets. So natural I expect these millions of fireflies to be much larger than our beetle size ones from home. But after catching them I was surprise to discover they were very similar to flying ants. They also for some reason were attracted to my hair, so I glowed for the majority of the tour, our guide said it was a sign that I was healthy, because the fireflies only like the healthy trees. 

About to embark on our journey down the river. Of course you have to dress the part.