Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Destination: Pangasinan Part 5- Bolinao


Besides the beaches of Bolinao, we also toured the other main attractions. Bolinao is also a base for marine research. People enjoy beaches but it also comes with responsibility in taking care of underwater habitat. University of the Philippines’ Marine Science Institute Bolinao Marine Laboratory is dedicated to this cause. We were shown around the compound by Research Assistant Tin Edullantes.  
Giant clam

We were shown the largest clam I’ve ever seen. Too bad I can’t get closer to touch it. They are also breeding sea cucumbers because they are near extinctions due to demand of buyers from Japanese restaurants.
Sea Cucumber

 In their building entrance, I noticed how they serious they are with their concern for marine research that during our visit; we noticed a scratch paper with a warning written:


This reminds me of the adventures of my fictional hero of the Clive Cussler paper backs novels that concerns marine research.
Bolinao Lighthouse

The next tourist attraction in Bolinao is their lighthouse that is the tallest in the country. It doesn’t work like it used to because the storm damaged its solar panels and the residence for its engineers. It is over a century old and was built by the Filipinos, Americans, and British in 1905.
Underground river cave

One of the alternatives beside the beaches is the underground cave with a river. We went to one of the known underground caves called Enchanted Cave operated by a family. There’s a stairs that leads down a lighted area. It was never measured how long the river extends but I was told a foreign explorer reached just below the parking area. The river is naturally clean probably because of the minerals the cave has.

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