Famous for its Chocolate Hills, pristine white beaches, and cute little tarsiers, Bohol is that one island every visitor must experience in the Philippines. This island has so much to offer one can easily enjoy himself for a week. So even if I was just there last year, I was more than glad to come back and show Mario the wonders of this little known treasure. Great way to end the year!
28-Dec-2010 to 31-Dec-2010
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Couldn't check in to our room yet when we arrived so we hired a car with a driver and headed to Bohol Bee Farm for lunch.
The restaurant sits on a cliff overlooking the sea, giving you very nice views and fresh breeze . Food was fantastic and best of all, they're organic. I call these bliss in a blue marlin dish and superb spare ribs. Yes, they were THAT good and that honey mustard sauce is just heavenly. Those flowers on the salad, by the way, aren't decorative garnishings but are meant to be eaten. No kidding! Oh and I couldn't get enough of the Cab-Cab dipped in mango spread. I swear I could just sit there and eat all day. Yummeh!
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We did a tour of their farm and saw how they grow their own ingredients orgranically.
It won't be called a Bee Farm for nothing. It's interesting to note that they've become so popular that they couldn't fulfill the demand on their own so they have to import honey as well. Oh and I must wear that silly hat.
Can you spot the queen bee? Clue: it's bigger than the rest. :-)
Okay, another clue: she has a green dot of paint on her!
Okay, another clue: she has a green dot of paint on her!
Had a taste of their famous malungay ice cream. You read that right. It's really malungay, and they put it on a cassave cone. It's the weirdest and most unlikely ice cream flavor I've ever seen so I definitely must try. Needlesss to say, my curiosity and audacity paid off. It was deliciousss! You gotta eat it quickly though because it melts fast for having no additives nor preservatives.
Back in the hotel to enjoy the beach. Fine powdery white sand is always a pleasant treat.
Time for an afternoon swim. Water was so warm and clear and so calm it was like swimming in a super giant pool, but better. :-)
The quintessential Filipino fishing boat. They are all white here in Bohol.
Waiting for sunet.
Isn't that lovely?
Blood Compact Shrine. It's not really where Miguel Lopez de Legaspi and Datu Sikatuna exactly made the blood compact but it's a monument to depict the first treaty of friendship between Spaniards and Filipinos. The real event happened on a ship in 1565.
Baclayon Church. It's one of the oldest churches in the Philippines built in 1595 by the first Spanish missionaries called doctrineros.
Here's what's inside. Did you know that some 200 native forced laborers constructed the church from coral stones, which they took from the sea, cut into square blocks, and piled on to each other and that they used a million egg whites as to cement them together? Poor chicken!
Loboc River Cruise. Lunch buffet aboard an open-air floating restaurant that takes you down the scenic Loboc river while feasting on native dishes and getting entertained by local musicians.
Ati tribe people that migrated to Bohol and are now making a living off tips from having pictures taken with silly tourists like us.
Coconut obsession. Just saying.
Tarsier encounter. It's dubbed as the world's smallest primate. It really has large round eyes but it's a nocturnal species so this one looks very sleepy. Did you know that tarsiers are very suicidal? They kill themselves when they get too stressed and what's interesting is the manner that they do it. They hold their breath till they suffocate to death! So it is prohibited to touch them.
It's this teeny tiny. It can literally fit inside your hand. It's so freaking cute I could crush it out of gigil.
From tiny primates to humongous moths at the butterfly sanctuary.
A trip to Bohol would not be complete without witnessing the famous Chocolate Hills. There's more than 1,700 hills spread over an area of 50 square kilometers. Many of which are already covered by trees so it's not very obvious. There's a few legends about how these hills came to being. From feuding giants throwing rocks at each other to the dried tears of a heart broken-giant. All I can say is: My humps, my humps, my humps!
Had to wake up early the next day to go dolphin and whale watching. The fishermen used to hunt them but they have now abandoned this practice and have become spotters and guides for tourists.
Snorkeling off Balicasag Island. Motorized boats are not allowed here to protect the corals so you have to transfer to a smaller boat where a boatman can paddle for you to the snorkeling spot.
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Virgin Island. Uninhabited small island with a long stretch of beautiful sand bar.
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Sleeping, eating, and getting lazy at Bohol Beach Club.
The next day was just another day to chill then flew back to Manila for the crazy New Year's celebration.
Couldn't end this year any better. :-)
