Tags: Natural Wonders
By Anna Valmero
PENABLANCA, CAGAYAN – The town of Peñablanca is home to about 300 caves with characteristic limestone formations, making it the capital for caving adventure in the country.
The town’s name literally translates to “white rock”, a reference to the limestone rocks and walls found inside the caves. The range of caves offers easy, educational and technical caving for adventure seekers.
The Callao Caves, for one, have been documented by the National Museum of the Philippines. Callao’s beautiful geological living formations make it the “sixth most popular cave” in the country.
It recently grabbed the news after anthropologist Armand Salvador Mijares found bones of the Callao Man, believed to be 67,000 years old and the earliest remains unearthed in Southeast Asia. It was excavated together with the remains of native brown deer (Cervus Mariannus), the Philippine warty pig (Sus Philippensis), and an unknown, possibly extinct bovid.
Callao has seven chambers with massive limestone formations, skylights and a chapel. Each chamber has natural domes where light passes through. It can be reached by crossing the river or from main road.
Another beautiful cave that is open to the public is the Sierra Cave, which can be used for educational purposes due to its aged formations.
Spelunkers dubbed the Sierra cave as “a wonder to behold” for its stalactites and stalagmites that can be seen in its narrow tunnels. Flowstones and columns of lime stones can also be seen inside the cave. One has to crawl to exit the cave.
The San Carlos and the Odessa caves require expert skills in caving. These caves require someone with a strong body, quick mind and enough will power to grope in darkness and to swim in deep, cold bodies of water inside. This makes San Carlos caves among the toughest caves in the country.
Odessa cave is a vertical cave so one must have expertise in using proper vertical caving equipment. This cave is recorded as the third longest cave in the Philippines at 12.6 kilometers, of which only about 798 meters had been explored and mapped.
Aside from these caves, there are several other caves that are known to the public, explored and documented to include the “Bat” cave- the home of thousands of bats, Carabao cave- believed to be home of wild Carabaos, Abbenditan cave, Tumbali Cave, Roc Cave, Pagulayan cave, and several others.
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Attractions Beaches and Water Activities Churches and place of worship Churches and Places of Worship Environment Festivals and Fiestas Historical Places Hotels and Resorts Indigenous Culture Malls Museums Natural Wonders Parks and Recreations Travel Concerns and Advisories Travel Tales and Tips Vacation Zoos and Animal Sanctuaries
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