The capital of Palawan is Puerto Princesa. It is the urban capital of Palaway with one hundred twenty thousand people living there. It is the second largest city in the country. It is second to Davao. Puerto Princesa is a place where the environment is green and clean. The local government also enforced that the whole city should ban guns. The people living there and the guests to the place get a penalty just for throwing a litter or spitting. A fine of two hundred pesos is given to anyone who is caught by the authorities throwing their butt of cigarette on the streets. The main avenue of Puerto Princesa is Rizal Avenue. This narrow lane stretches out from the airport in the east up to the big cathedral in the western side.
Many people even tourists in the Philippines view Puerto Princesa as the stop over before going to the reefs of corals and coves that can be seen in the other parts of Palawan. However there are still many activities that people can do in this clean city. People can visit the city museum. It is open during Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Friday from nine in the morning until noon and from 2 pm until 5 pm in the afternoon. This is located at Rizal Street in the park which provides guests a concise description of Palawan’s past history and the culture of the region. You may also see some artifacts and paintings.
Guests can go to the Crocodile Farming Institute and see live Philippine crocodiles. This place is open from Monday until Saturday from ten in the morning until five in the afternoon. This can be found inside Barangay Irawan which is twelve kilometers away from the center of the Puerto Princesa. This is the place where some scientists do actual research with the crocodiles studying their biology and the way they live. The crocodiles are given proper nutrition.
You may also visit another kind of farm in Puerto Princesa. This is the big butterfly farm which is owned by Mr. Rowell Rodriguez. This place can be found on Bunk House Street on Santa Monica. You may see thousands of butterflies here some of which are indigenous to the region. People can see the stages of metamorphosis that the butterflies go through. You can see the change from being a tiny caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly.
Visitors should also not forget to visit the Iwahig Penal Colony. This is popular for being a prison minus the bars. The prisoners can act as if they just live in one village roaming around without being in a prison cell. Most of them cultivate rice and other crops. Some do fishing. You may identify the prisoners because of the badge and the shirt they are wearing. They go back to the halls when they are eating and when they retire to sleep. The guests can buy the items like handicraft products that are made by the Iwahig prisoners in their souvenir store.
Guests can also visit the center for Vietnamese refugees. The people here are refugees from Vietnam who have formed a real community which supported by U.N. The Vietnamese sell food and some of their handicrafts.
