Wonders of Bohol

July 5, 2012. After our adventures on Panglao and Balacasag Islands, including getting lost trying to walk from the beach to the hotel, our day had just begun. We hired a guide for the day to take us to the great tourist spots around the island of Bohol.

Loboc River.  Traveling east from Tagbiliran City, the Loboc River was our first stop. The Loboc River is in the southern part of Bohol Island, just north of the town of Loay. Loboc is a quaint tourist town, and our driver pointed out the centuries-old buildings and churches along the way. The Loboc river cruise on the floating restaurant was highly recommended, so we took the advice.  Our second lunch was a buffet of grandeur delicacies and live entertainment, while we floated on the wide green river between Loboc and Busay Falls to the north. Suddenly, a dock came into view, and on the dock sat a long line of pink-costumed men and ladies singing and playing ukuleles. As the boat sidled up against the dock, we were serenaded with traditional songs, and some of us disembarked to join the minstrels. I haven’t played much ukulele, if ever, but when one was handed to me, I watched, I imitated, and I jammed on a tune or two. Then our floating restaurant/dance party brought us back to our waiting driver in Loboc. We were ready for our next attraction.

Tarsier Sanctuary. I am not big on zoos, but I am big on recovery of threatened and endangered species, even if that means keeping them in captivity for safety and propagation. The Philippine tarsier is the smallest primate in the world. It looks like a monkey and is roughly the size of a tiny bat. Its body is small enough to fit snug in the palm of someone’s hand, while its large brown eyes are the dominating feature of its little face. It exists only in a few of the Philippine Islands and is in danger of extinction. The Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary, near the town of Corella on the west side of Bohol Island, is run by the Philippine Tarsier Foundation, a non-profit organization established for the conservation of the tarsier and its habitat. We visited the netted enclosure and took a small self-guided tour, with park personnel available to point out the 10 resident tarsiers resting in the trees. They are so small, they would have otherwise been impossible to spot. A nocturnal species, most of them were asleep, but we could see them well enough. Since we were trying to cover all of Bohol and its ancillary islands in one day, we did not take the time to hike the more wild side of the sanctuary. It’s on my bucket list.  

Chocolate Hills. The Chocolate Hills National Monument is something that is not to be missed. We were driving north through the center of the island on the Loay interior road towards the town of Carmen, passing through typical island scenery filled with green foliage, small towns with open-walled stores, motorcycles zipping around, and old men walking oxen along the road or leading them through the soggy fields as they tilled the soil by dragging heavy wooden plows. Then suddenly, as if we were in a Dr. Seuss illustration, hundreds of treeless conical shaped hills surrounded us, dusted with different shades of low-lying grasses, brown dust, and rock. A fog hung over the Chocolate Hills as if to accentuate their drama. Our driver took us up one of the hills, and dropped us to finish ascending its height up a long flight of limestone-rock stairs. We reached the top, rang the bell, and took in the view of our hill’s surrounding brethren, limestone formations that had once heaved up from the sea and then were carefully molded by thousands of years of rain, wind, and flowing water, resting on a bed of greenery. For miles we passed by these hills that accentuate the center of the island and then thin out as they get closer to the southern shore.

Mabini. After a long day of touring, our driver was kind enough to give us a lift to the far eastern side of Bohol and off the beaten path, to bring us to the municipality of Mabini. Mabini is about 5 or more miles off of the main highway that circles the island, and sits on the northern tip of a small delta of wetlands, bays, and river-like channels that are connected to a larger bay of the Bohol Sea. Farming, fishing, and agriculture are the town’s mainstay, and open-air stores line the main street. We were honored guests of the Mayor, and were offered accommodation in her guest house, complete with running water, flush toilet, air-conditioning, and internet. Meals of home-cooked local cuisine – mostly rice, pork, chicken, fish, seafood, eggs, and always some novel treat – were offered to us in the tiled outdoor kitchen. Our hosts were warm, kind, and gracious. A night out with our new family at the bring-your-own-tequila karaoke bar topped off a very delightful first evening in Mabini. In the days that followed, we were immersed in the culture of planning, organizing, and executing the logistics of a wedding. Completing the wedding “tasks” involved visiting with numerous relatives of the bride; taking rides on the back of motorcycles to the neighboring towns; making a whole slew of awesome friends; and sitting under the shade of coconut trees, sipping fresh coconut juice while harvesting the fruit. All of the food was fresh, and the heat-of-the-day siestas were restful. Music blasted festively from various homes, and people walked or biked on the streets, always friendly and social to one another—a welcomed contrast to our American society of closed-in vehicles driving into closed-in garages, and formal invitations or events required to just hang out with others. The week culminated into a beautiful wedding at City Hall. The happily betrothed couple accompanied us back to Tagbiliran City, to start the first leg of our journey home and spend our final evening on Bohol riding in trikes and partying in one of the nightlife spots in the city. And of course my husband the foodie had to try the balut.