⌛ A Weekend Trip To Bohol

I'm still new to Dumaguete myself but I'm also exploring the neighbouring islands one by one with my partner. We decided to visit the island of Bohol and did so recently. The trip over on Saturday by Superferry / Cebu Ferries from Dumaguete to Tagbilaran was actually a reconnaissance for a longer trip which we will make to Manila in the New Year. We returned on the Tuesday morning Ocean Jet service. Both were prompt, efficient and everything which we expected from them - as well as good value for money paid.


We were well treated at this centrally located, smaller hotel, which catered to our every needin a prompt and friendly fashion.

Tagbilaran is a bit different than Dumaguete in its motorcycle derived transportation support. The local "tricycle" there made my larger than normal frame quickly long for the Dumaguete "pedicab". Nevertheless we opted to hire one of these for the days which followed and we don't mind giving a plug to "Anton" at cell #09182439130. This very quiet and polite young man even brought two pillows from home, which made our voyages of discovery easier to endure.

I 'm pretty lazy, but I wanted to get a quick something together to post here about our late (Sat - Tues) weekend trip to the neighbouring island of Bohol. It was a splendid experience. I'm using links to other people's videos posted to YOUTUBE to give you an idea of what our eyes saw and our ears heard. The following are the high points of a very memorable day.

Let me set the stage at Luboc, where each of the following takes place:

Loboc, Bohol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Now, permit me to present to you the Philippine Tarsier, one of the world's smallest primates:

Philippine Tarsier - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Near the town of Luboc, along the river of the same name, there is a Department of the Environment and Natural Resources endorsed (?) facility where the Tarsiers may be approached and photographed but not handled. Photos to follow eventually. During the day we also saw Philippines monkeys, sleeping and suspended bats, Philippine Eagles, a huge python - reported to be the largest in captivity in the Philippines & etc, etc. The Tarsiers were the high point for me.

The Chocolate Hills deserve a special mention. This is an outstanding natural occurrence, not fully explained by science. It is well presented and available for a nominal admission. It is a popular site with Filipinos themselves and foreigners were remarkably few in number at least when we visited. Here they are, explained:

Chocolate Hills - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I was impressed with the approach to the hills from the seacoast. They did not suddenly appear but rather emerged from the surrounding tropical landscape. I had always wanted to see plantations of rice. My first experience of this was amongst the Chocolate Hills. For me, their uniqueness was enhanced by their appearance from small flatlands, flooded and planted in rice. Here they are from a YOUTUBE selection:

YouTube - The Chocolate Hills in Carmen Bohol Philippines

This is a fairly good presentation, unfortunately without sound. Many others are available by searching within YOUTUBE for +"chocolate hills"

I'm torn between the hills and the river as to the day's highlight. Since the latter included eating, it has to have the edge. This is one of the videos which I found by performing the search +"loboc river cruise" on YOUTUBE itself:

YouTube - bohol

I hope that this one invokes for you. There are others. I had hoped to find a web page for the company offering the cruise, which also has that name. I had no luck. It has one or two competitors offering the same service. The tab for lunch, a cruise and entertainment throughout came to about $ 7.00 Canadian per person. We were extremely pleased.