Crocodile Sausage At The Palawan Crocodile Farm

On the way back from Estrella Falls, we were able to visit the crocodile farm in Puerto Princesa.  Though everyone calls it the Palawan crocodile farm, the official name for the park is the Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center.

Philippine Eagle at the Palawan Crocodile FarmThere are many more things to see at the Palawan crocodile farm other than just the crocodiles. A couple of stand outs on exhibit were the Philippine Eagle. Now I thought they called this the Snow Crested Eagle at the park but I can’t find that any place on the web.  Searching for the Philippine Eagles turned up two different looking eagles. They are similar though.  In any case it is an eagle and it is from the Philippines.

They had many other birds at the Palawan crocodile farm so it sounds like a place John should visit! (John is a regular reader of this blog and is a bird lover.) I took some pictures of Horned Bill but they didn’t come out well.  Too far off and I don’t have the camera necessary to make the fence in front of them disappear. It is a cool trick but with my cameras, you have to be really close and they often come out grainy if I can get it to work at all.

There was an extended unguided tour that visitors of the Palawan crocodile farm can enjoy. I wanted to take it but I was just too out of energy. I started down the path and remembered a long walk I took while at the Underground River and decided I didn’t want to do that again.

We also saw and interacted with a bear cat.  It was a very cool animal. It was extremely curious, he crawled up my arm and latched on to the camera Jessie had on her wrist.The keeper had to help retrieve it from the bear cat. He did so gently and he coaxed it by offering something else interesting to it. Might have been food but I don’t recall.

Huge Crocodile At The Palawan Crocodile Farm

Palawan Crocodile FarmAnd of course they had lots of crocodiles and alligators. I could not tell the difference. One might have a thinner muzzle. We were up close to some in the hatchery.  I so wanted to reach in and touch them. I also did without thinking about it. Then I remembered how they had advised we might loose a finger if we did.  They reminded us later too.

But Palawan crocodile farm had a very docile one with its mouth tapped shut that we were able to handle and get pictures of. Those will be included near the end of this article.

The Palawan crocodile farm had captured a large crocodile some years ago.  They said it was the largest salt water crocodile ever captured in the Philippines.  Any fan of the Crocodile Hunter knows that those are the baddest crocodiles around.  This one was sixteen feet long.

It died sometime after it was captured due to internal bleeding and stress from being in captivity.  Something else one might have learned from Steve Irwin. I don’t know but I suspect the internal bleeding was caused by the stress of captivity.  They have some large crocodiles now that are in enclosures that are likely to be to small for them.

The Palawan crocodile farm captured that crocodile because it bit a fisher lady in half. They used the word “accidentally” bit her in half. Maybe it was since it didn’t eat her too. Others have been attacked by crocodiles in Mindanao and never found or parts of them found. They will attack and eat you intentionally but probably prefer to stay away from humans.

Visitors can see just how hard it would be to spot them if you didn’t notice it.

You get to see them by walking on a bridge that goes over the main crocodile pens.  One had its mouth open

In all, I spent more than $1000 on the four nights in Palawan. That included a nicer hotel thanBeat Cat At the Palawan Crocodile Farm I usually stay at and two round trip tickets via Cebu Pacific Air.  Our two van rentals cost P4500 each or more than $100.  We could have saved $50 on the two trips combined by going with an agency but then I would have had to go on their schedule and our driver included lunch.  Lunch that I enjoyed very much too.  The driver cooked it for us.  This is by far the most expensive travel I’ve undertaken while in the Philippines.

I think the van driver had family or friends working at one of the tourist booths there. Or maybe he got a souvenir shops at the Palawan crocodile farm from what we bought.  He had some of the things from that shop in his van and he kind of steered me to that one.  Of course we needed pasalubong before we returned home.  We picked up a few things for the kids and for us too.  I got myself a rainmaker and a little carving of a guy holding a pot.  Jessie got a purse and probably something else. I wanted to get the kids some flutes but Jessie didn’t want too.  They make too much noise. I wish I had bought the flutes anyway. I think they were P15.

The Palawan crocodile farm is located right in Puerto Princesa.  Many van drivers and tour agencies offer a city tour for about P1300 and it will include the crocodile farm.  The next time I go to Palawan, I will do that and I will go island hopping and hopefully see both Snake Island and Starfish Island.

I was pretty exhausted by the time we found our way to the crocodile farm and it was extremely hot that day.  It is hotter in Palawan than in Cebu.  I asked Jessie if it was just me but she said “It is hotter.” It was our last full day in Palawan. I wish we had had one more so that I could have gone on the island hopping but I was also tired of spending money.

I have one more story to write about our visit to Palawan. Jessie and I went on a Mangrove Paddle Boat Tour while at the Underground River.  That is where I ended up on a walk that was too far for me. It won’t be too far for most of you.  That article will be coming up soon.

Oh and while at the Palawan crocodile farm I had the pleasure of eating some crocodile sausage. I just really wanted to say I had eaten crocodile. While writing this article, I began to crave it.  It was really good. Nope, it didn’t taste like chicken, it tasted like sausage.  Of course it was a bit over priced but one should expect that at a touristy place like the Palawan crocodile farm.

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