Jungle Jen and Climate change presentations!

Jungle Tail to the Underground River, Sabang

First off sorry for the slow updates. I have no excuse but pure procrastination. Anyways on with the adventures! Before Nancy flew back to Iloilo we decided on going to Sabang to investigate the 'Underground River', a 'must see' here in Palawan and I have to admit it definitely is!!!! Sabang is located about a 2 hour jeepney ride (plus a good few stops) to the north from Puerto Princesa. Nancy and I got up pretty early, packed a snack and headed to the terminal, we decided to go with public transit mainly because it was cheaper and leaving early (7am). After the driver squeezed us all in and a few bags of rice we were off. We arrived just before 10 and found some accommodations at a near by lodging place called Blue Bamboo. It was a simple little Nipa hut but was perfect for price (150 Pesos each ($3.50))! After we dropped off our things we were off to purchase our permit to go to the river. We decided on doing the trek in and then taking the boat back because the tide was coming in and we would have to swim across a river if we hiked back. The trek was AMAZING! A short 5 K but proved to be challenging due to sharp inclines and declines, a few tree trunks to hop over and of course a million pictures to take! I felt like one of those crazy people on OLN who speaks with an Australian accent trying to survive in the fierce Jungle! I was very tempted to swing on the vines and scream like Tarzan! I however did not give into temptation in fear of injuring myself in the middle of a mighty jungle no where near proper medical care haha! The last section of the trail was all stairs going down to the river, I hopped off the last stair and what should I face but 2 large Monitor lizards! Sticking their tongue out and blocking my way but they were moving towards the side of the path so I didn't panic. I also knew they were harmless, I still got a fright though!! So I waited a lil bit, took a breath then started to walk past them when a freaking monkey jumped out and ran right in front of me and before I knew it I was surrounded by lizards and monkeys that were too freaking fast for my photography skills! I finally made it passed them towards the guide who was taking us to the underground river. He handed us a life jacket and a hard hat and smiled and told us to get in the boat. I was sat in the front and was given the job of holding the light. Well the Underground river lived up to all the hype it was extraordinary! Seeing all the geomophological formations in the cave and all the bats were flying around plus me holding the light meant if I wanted to look in a certain direction I had the power to do so! hahaha After the paddled power cruise throughout the river we took a boat back to our place. The next morning Nancy and I decided to do the Mangrove tour before heading back to Puerto and I am very happy we did! It was so peaceful paddling through the MASSIVE mangroves!! We spotted a few snakes and a cool lizard hanging out on a tree branch over the water, all in all the entire Sabang trip was GREAT!

Presenting to the Oceanography class

After Nancy left and Christmas and New Year celebrations were finally concluded it was back to work. Our first day back was a faculty meeting and Alicia and I were asked to give a few talks at upcoming functions about Canadian Fisheries and Agriculture. I will need to do my research on Canadian farming, growing up 'on a rock' has not helped my understanding of agriculture what so ever! After the meeting the head of the Trocus research in Binduyan came up and asked if I could do 3 presentations/lectures  on Climate Change and Oceanography that following week and of course I agreed. I spent the next couple of days polishing off my lecture slides and preparing what I was going to say and do for the presentation. P.s. How exciting, me lecturing!!! Anyways the presentations were a hit and the students all enjoyed themselves... well at least I would like to believe that they did! They all giggled at my idea that taking care of the planet needs to be as cool as the new Lady Gaga song. Yes Lady Gaga is cool especially in the Philippines! Regardless to say I am happy they are done and that I just have a couple of more things to complete before I board that plane back to Canada. This internship has flown by and its hard to believe I have less than 2 months left here in Palawan!! Insane!