Palawan, Philippines – Puerto Princesa City Tour Review (23 Pictures!)

When my cousin Archie, his girlfriend Carol, and myself first arrived at the city of Puerto Princesa, we were very excited to start exploring this city. We wanted to jump right in and start seeing what Palawan has to offer. Archie quickly booked the Puerto Princesa city tour with our hotel. The company that we ended up with is a company called “Explore Island”. They are same tour company we took for our trip to the Puerto Princesa Underground River.

One of the benefits of the Puerto Princesa city tour is that they start in the early afternoon. That means if you arrive early in Palawan, you can drop your stuff off in your accommodation and join the city tour right away.

Puerto Princesa City Tour Itinerary

• Palawan Massacre Memorial Site
• Butterfly Garden and Tribal Village
• Mitra’s Ranch
• Baker’s Hill
• Pasalubong Centre

Palawan Massacre Memorial Site

After our tour operator has picked us up, we were off to our first destination: the Palawan Massacre Memorial Site.

 

 

This first destination is quite grim. To prevent rescue from the advancing allied forces, the Japanese soldiers poured gasoline on the American POW who were in the bunkers and trenches and set them on fire.

 

Out of the 150 American soldiers, only 11 men escaped the slaughter.

I felt that the memorial park was very well done and maintained. They really did a good job commemorating the brave soldiers who fought in world war 2. The site is an excellent reminder the atrocities of war. More importantly, it teaches us to do whatever it takes to avoid something so horrible as war from happening again.

 

Butterfly Eco Garden and Tribal Village

 

Our next stop is my favourite of the five spots we visited: the Palawan Butterfly Eco Garden and Tribal Village! Full of interactive things you can learn about local Palawan wildlife and indigenous people, your inner nerd will rejoice.

On the first station, we were shown various different animals. From insects, lizards to wildlife that take up residence in the island of Palawan. Afterwards, we were given the opportunity to hold the following: a millipede, a gecko and a poisonous scorpion. I managed to hold the millipede and gecko but holding a poisonous scorpion was very much outside my comfort zone.

 

After checking out the animals, it was time to meet the Palawan indigenous people.  The presenter hosted a cultural exchange and also educated us on the life of the locals. Suffice to say, this was a great experience! We got to learn about the Palawan native’s music, hunting, and what sort of stuff they used on their everyday life. They even let us hold a snake! *Note to self: don’t mess with the Palawan natives because they can kill me in under a minute with their blow dart*

 

I was very happy to learn more about the Palawan indigenous and was more than happy to give them a donation to help with their livelihood.

Mitra’s Ranch

Next up, we went to Mitra’s ranch. Frankly, this place is a tourist trap. I don’t think many people were happy coming here to learn more about some rich politician who owns a nice ranch on top of the hill.

Regardless, we we took turns taking pictures while pretending to be big shot politicians.

 

Baker’s Hill

 

This place was just plain weird! I wasn’t sure what to make of it. There was definitely a lot of shops you can buy delicious baked goods. We tried a few dishes and found them to be quite tasty.

The rest of the place seems to be a park of some sort. But, it was so random it didn’t make sense to me. Anyways, maybe sometimes in life, things doesn’t have to make sense and you should just go with the flow. It was still a very nice park and giving us plenty of opportunity to take nice pictures of the area.

 

What is Shrek doing here???

Pasalubong Centre

In Tagalog, pasalubong means souvenir to buy for people back in your home city or country.

We were taken to a gift shop with many different goodies you can purchase to bring back as a souvenir. My cousin and his girlfriend really loved it! As for me, I’m not big into shopping but I can see this place being a good stop to get your souvenir shopping done.

The prices were pretty good and they do have some yummy snacks. I personally bought a postcard that I was going to send to Karen (but Carol accidentally brought it home with her).

 

Conclusion

Overall, I had a great time doing the Puerto Princesa city tour. There is certainly something for everyone whether you like shopping, learning or sight seeing. You just can’t lose. The cost of the city tour is P600 per person which translates to $17 CAD.

Enjoy your Puerto Princesa City Tour!

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