From Lover’s Cave we continue north along the east coast shore with the major next stop planned being a series of caves called Jikarahem. But right before we pass through a small village and notice something interesting in the harbor so we stop for a short while to take photos. What caught our eyes were a number of Tatara boats, the traditional boats of the indigenous Tao people. They are quite beautiful really even though we would be scared to set off in the ocean on them after all the back and forth rocking even on the large ferry.
And then we arrive at the Jikarahem caves. It is a series of caves actually with some of them private but a couple are open to tourists. There is no official parking, you park inside the cave which is something quite special.
And then you enter and explore. Somehow no island tour stopped during our exploration but it is also a relatively short cave. It is really high but not that deep, however it has one additional wrinkle. It actually loops around and exits via another exit which has crosses and a coffee stand, a weird mix really. So the two caves we thought we were going to explore were actually just one looping 180 degree back to where we started.
And then we continue north and then west following the coastal road with some beautiful views of the wild coastline. We even see one more Pacific Reef Heron who does Kung Fu on the beach like an extra in Kung Fu Panda.
And then about five hours after we started, most of them spent hiking and exploring, we are back at the starting point, the major harbor where all the ferries arrive. From here it is a short drive to our accomodation where we can finally check in before snorkeling later in the day.
