Exploring the Philippines: Bohol

A ferry took us from Cebu to Bohol. We had the opportunity to visit several land and ocean-based sites on this island.

(Sample of our daily itinerary)

We drove to the Chocolate Hills, a geological formation of nearly 1,300 conical hills spread over 20 square miles. These uniform shape and size hills (resembling giant chocolate Kisses when they are brown in the dry season) were formed by an uplift of coral deposits and then erosion by water and weathering over the centuries. They were green with only a few brown ones, even though we are in the dry season (it still rains every day!). We climbed up to a viewing deck in Carmen, with a nice elevated platform overlooking the valley. There were ATV tours, but they didn’t actually go through the hills.

(views of the Chocolate Hills)

We loved our visit to the Tarsier Sanctuary, a conservation area dedicated to protecting the Philippine tarsier (Tarsius syrichta), one of the world’s smallest primates and a critically endangered species. The animal has huge eyes relative to body size, long hind limbs for jumping and a very round head, making them well suited for arboreal life. No flash photography was allowed and we were kept at a distance, but still able to observe them in their natural habitat. They are naturally found in this region of the Philippines, but the sanctuary is in place due to conservation efforts for this near extinct species. We held a python and walked around the rest of the conservancy.

(Visit to the Tarsier Sanctuary)

A Loboc River cruise through the mangroves was our final tour. It is the longest river in Bohol. Our “floating restaurant” served us a meal while we floated along the river, visiting a local “village” of indigenous people (kitschy beyond imagining). All our tour guides spoke English but of course they love it if you speak Tagalog, the local language here and they’re eager to teach you.

We drove through the Man-Made forest, a dense mahogany reforestation effort next to the river.

(Mahogany reforestation project)

Our drive home allowed us to enjoy the sunset and dinner at the beautiful Ocean suites hotel, with 2 infinity pools (squared?), and a perfect sunset.

Up bright an early the next morning for a drive to the pier and an island hopping tour to see dolphins in their natural habitat around Balicasag and Virgin islands. It was amazing to see more than 30 boats all zipping around trying to find dolphins as they breached the waves. These highly social animals, were seen several times as the pods broke through the surface, diving and frolicking in the waves. They seemed to be putting on a show, but probably were just trying to escape all of the tourists, just like we were.

We then visited the Balicasag Island (marine sanctuary), where we went on a snorkeling excursion around the island, seeing the colorful coral reefs, tropical fish and sea turtles. There is an underwater all that drops off to about 150 feet, so the variety along this space was amazing. Always mesmerized by the schools of tiny fish around the coral. It was so relaxing as the were boated to the far side of the island, and then floated along with the current to the opposite end of the island. A truly enjoyable experience. We then lounged in the warm water of Virgin island (privately owned), where you can walk through the sandbar and enjoy the sea life just around your feet.