callao cave cagayan

one of nature's greatest display of its magnificent are found inside large cavernous chambers and the Philippines has a good number of accessible caves and a great number of unexplored caves.
after our trip up North to the island of Palaui, we head back to the city of Tuguegarao the gateway to Callao Cave by van. located along the mountain range of Northern Sierra Madre and East of Tuguegarao.
the first cave that i've known ever since i was kid would be Callao Cave in Penablanca in the province of Cagayan. popular because of its accessibility even to those who've never ventured to any potholing activity.
though one requires to walk up 180steps before reaching the cave's main entrance, it is relatively easy since six out of the seven claimed chambers are basically in one connected cave channel. you will even be surprised that with just few steps the guide tells you that you've already crossed to another chamber.the second chamber has in it a chapel that made this cave famous to as early 1970. one needs to be there early morning to capture this chamber at its best. it is dependent on the sun rays which comes from the caves sinkholes. when we went there, this chamber was almost completely dark.
Callao Cave has gained another reputation after the discovery of a foot bone on a excavation done near the first chamber's entrance was proven by archaeologist to be about 67,000years old pushing back the long known Tabon man of being the oldest discovered human remains in the country.
this did not just brought a new record within the country but has also placed the Philippines in the sixth position worldwide to have found the oldest Homo sapien fossil (see updated list from Wikipedia here).
though the whole experience of caving here can be a bit boring, as most of the chambers are dark at most times, one can actually maximize their visit there by taking the river trip to the nearby Pianacanauan river to an area where the bats comes out of the forested area by late afternoon.
how to get there:
from Manila by bus: take a bus to Tuguegarao, the capital city of Cagayan province which is about 12-14hours. then rent a tricycle to the town center or gate arch of Penablanca.
from Manila by plane: take a flight to Tuguegarao which is just about an hour from Manila. then rent a tricycle to the town center or gate arch of Penablanca.

from Penablanca town, rent another tricycle that will bring you to the cave's tourist center (estimated period: 30-40minutes). eskapo recommends that you have the tricycle driver wait you and pay for the return as transportation is scarce in that area.

from the tourist center, pay the entrance fee of P20 and you'll be given a young kid to guide you to the 180steps stairway to the main cave entrance. the kid will give share some facts and infos about the cave. they will not demand you for payment and so any amount will do.

location:
island: Luzon
province: Cagayan
closest gateway: Tuguegarao city

escape factor:
accessibility: 3.5
mountain view: 3.0
cave structure: 4.0
caving experience: 3.5
historical value: 4.5

overall escape factor: 3.5

GPS location

17^ 37' 0" N

121^ 49' 33" E