Excursion on Bohol

It has rained during the night but this morning is beautiful and fresh. Cooler outside than in. 

Rain predicted. But idyllic at the moment as we have breakfast out on the terrace.

I have a private tour booked which is great as we can tweak the itinerary to suit which I do: no Python & Butterfly Garden for us and I ask for the visit to the tarsiers to be at the sanctuary at Corella.

So off to Corella we head with our driver Bernie. We leave early at 8 am as I’m keen to fit in what we can before it rains. We arrive at Corella just as it opens at 8:30 and there are already 2 or 3 cars there. By the time we leave, the carpark is more full.

Tarsiers are endemic to the Philippines and are TINY! They look like a monkey but aren’t; they are a carnivorous, nocturnal primate and are endangered. They are very shy and get highly stressed even with the sound of a camera click. At the Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary we are guided to the tarsiers - there are only 3 to be looked at as this sanctuary is very ethical about how to manage them - and the in-house guides assist with photography to minimise disturbance. They are very cute with their bulging eyes and bat-like ears.

So, to the much-hyped Chocolate Hills, a series of grassy hillocks that toast off to a chocolate brown colour in the hottest months. At this time of the year they have a lawn-like cover. Attractive. Lots of steps up to the viewpoint. 

Increasingly as the morning passed, more and more people arrived in cars, buses, motorbikes, tuk-tuks. Very glad we chose to start early today!

Next stop is a boat cruise on the Loboc River. We drive past rice paddies and through forested mountains in winding roads, which I have to say, for the most part are very good. 

We stop for a photo at a large mahogany forest between Bihar and Loboc areas. This is actually a government reforestation project.

We pass the OTHER tarsier conservation park enroute. Here, they bring the tarsiers to you to hold for photos. This is totally not in the spirit of the tarsier conservation efforts and of course the car park is PACKED.

This is one way to get around - if you dare!

Then to the river. We have elected to pass on the cruise that includes lunch and are pleased with our decision when we see these large boats blaring out loud music. We take a quiet, more traditional outrigger-style vessel - a private cruise along a section of the river. Very pleasant with the breeze in our faces, although we wonder several times if we’ll be swimming back when the driver has difficulty re-starting the motor each time he stops …

Second last stop: the Baclayon Church (1727), founded by the first Spanish missionaries and badly damaged in the 2013 earthquake, it has been repaired with the assistance of the Vatican, although not re-opened. 

Last stop was the Blood Compact Monument. In 1565, the Spanish conquistador and the Boholano chieftain shared a cup of each other’s blood as a peace treaty. Ugh. 

We finished up in the main city of Bohol: Tagbilaran. We needed an ATM and so it worked well for us as I’m not sure we’d have got to see the place otherwise. Nothing exciting: shops, businesses, banks, malls. Busy.

In any event, we can tick it off. It doesn’t interest us and we were pleased to call it a day. It had been a very good tour and it was 6 hours out-&-about so plenty enough; AND we beat the predicted rain!!

We enjoyed a late ‘lunch’ of spring rolls and what was left from our brown paper bag of goodies from the Bake Shop we had asked Bernie to stop at (less than a dollar for donuts and a bunch of cakes!!) - plus a cold drink, sitting on the terrace as fishing vessels come and go and ferries ply their trade between neighbouring islands.

We cool off with a swim in one of the two lovely pools - and relax! And another lovely sunset.