After a very short and sweet plane ride out of Manila, we arrived on the island of Bohol, smack dab in the middle of the Visayas. Just before landing, we were able to catch a stunning aerial view of the famed “chocolate hills”; Bohol’s prime tourist destination. Upon landing, we jumped aboard a tricycle headed for Panglao Island, our desired location. After a long and bumpy ride, we made it to Alona Beach, a beautiful strip of white sand surrounded by crystal clear water. After deciding on our accommodation at the “Walk-Inn Haven”, we were on the beach enjoying a day of relaxation, sun and swimming.
Our next day at the beach was as uneventful as the first, which was just the way we wanted it to be. We spent the day soaking up the sun, splashing around in the water and eating some delicious food. The best part of the day for both of us was swimming in the “bathtub” ocean while a sun shower pelted down upon us… incredible!
We decided to get a little active the next day, and woke up bright and early (6 am!) and headed out on a wooden long boat with our boatmen Len and Paulo. The first stop on the trip was in the middle of the ocean where we searched the seas for dolphins. We were lucky enough to be able to catch a glimpse at these awesome creatures, more than once. After playing cat and mouse with these amazing creatures for about an hour, we went to Balicasag Island, and spent the rest of the morning snorkelling their world renowned reef. We were able to see some pretty incredible underwater critters, including starfish, clownfish (nemo), anemones and even a barracuda! We then dined, or rather breakfasted, on fresh calamari caught that morning. It was some of the best calamari we’d ever tasted! Even though we were stuffed, we made our way to the Virgin Island, and the “ocean highway”, an enormous stretch of sandbar that leads from the Island to the middle of the ocean. We played around in there until the sun became too unbearable. We then slowly made our way back to Alona beach where we, once again, spent the rest of the day relaxing on the beach.
We decided that the next day would be a day of adventure, so we rose again bright and early and caught our first “jeepney” ride back to Bohol. For those interested, a jeepney is an old US military jeep or random car parts converted into a sort of taxi/bus. They are usually filled to the brim with people (ours had 31 people inside) and run to your location for about P25 (about 60 cents Canadian). We rode our jeepney for about an hour, before we had to get off and hop on another one. we rode the second one for about half an hour, and then jumped on the back of two motorcycles which dropped us off at our final location.
We arrived at the Tarsier Visitors Center in the town of Corella, and were guided into the forest to view the world’s smallest primate. We saw five in total, and were really impressed with their small size, and enormous eyes. The creatures themselves are no larger than your average North American pear. Once we finished our viewing, we headed back to Panglao the way we came. We arrived back at Alona Beach with just enough time to get in a swim and catch a glimpse of the Filipino movie that they were shooting on the beach. We spent the night eating and drinking with David and Ant, two guys from the U.K who were having the trip of a lifetime.
The next morning we were up and packed, ready to head to our next destination. However, we were able to get one last soak in the water before we had to head out! From there it would be just a Supercat Ferry to our next stop… Sunny Cebu!