Bohol, Philippines
Much of what you can do/experience as a tourist in the Philippines consists of “day trips,” or excursions that come as a package deal. We experienced this on Palawan with our island hopping tour and the trip to Puerto Princesa Subterranean River; again it was the case on Bohol.
The island is most famous for 2 things. First it is home to tarsiers, a very small and very unique primate. Second, Bohol contains a unique geographical formation known as the Chocolate Hills. We traveled to the island to see these sights; but were quickly informed the best way to do so is to join a “Countryside Tour” of the island. So, that’s what we did!
Butterfly House
After an early morning pickup (we joined a group tour in a van, but you can pay extra for a private driver) the first stop is a “butterfly house” close to the island’s main town of Tagbilaran. This was underwhelming for us – first off there is a butterfly house right in my hometown, but secondly the place had a bit of a “private zoo” vibe with several more animals in small cages. We walked through here more quickly than the rest of our tour group:
Man Made Forest
The stops got better from there. Next up was the “man made forest,” a stretch of mahogany trees in the middle of an otherwise natural forest environment. Apparently these were planted as part of a farming venture about 75 years ago, and subsequently abandoned. Now, it makes for a nice photo opportunity from the side of the road:
Chocolate Hills
Next was one of the tour’s main events: the Chocolate Hills. After a slightly annoying stop where we endured a sales pitch to take an ATV tour around the hills, we were taken to a viewpoint and allowed to walk around. It rained a bit during this time, but held off long enough to get some good pictures of this amazing and unique landscape:
Tarsiers!
Right after the Chocolate Hills was another main attraction – a visit to the local Tarsier sanctuary. We pulled into a parking lot filled with other tour vans, paid for our tickets, and went through. We stopped to look at the information and pose with a mascot:
And saw several tarsiers hanging out among the trees walking through the sanctuary!
Visitors weren’t allowed off of a marked path, but there was a guy offering to take close-up pictures for 50 pesos (about $1USD) – we took him up on the offer, definitely worth it:
Floating Restaurant
After the Tarsiers was a stop for lunch – but not just anyplace, a buffet meal on a floating restaurant. After paying and boarding the boat/dining room, we fought our way through the organized chaos of the buffet line (this was not a private meal) to eat while enjoying a leisurely cruise through mangrove forests. There was also a man playing an out of tune guitar singing some classic rock hits (Sweet Caroline, Take Me Home Country Roads, Etc. Etc. Etc.):
Baclayon Church
After lunch we made a quick stop at Baclayon Church – a Catholic Church originally built under Spanish Colonization in the 16th century, still standing and in operation currently. We wandered around the church grounds to take photos – this was picturesque, and an unexpected gem along the day’s tour route. A place like this really drives it home that the legacy of Spanish Colonialism still impacts life in the Philippines to this day:
The Blood Compact
Last up on the tour route was a stop at “The Blood Compact,” which is much less dramatic than it sounds. Basically, this is a statue – erected to commemorate the first agreement between Spanish colonizers and native Filipinos way back in 1565. The treaty was signed in blood by the signatories, hence the name. The statue depicts the treaty being signed, and overlooks the bay:
After our stop at the blood compact we were driven back to our hotel. All in all the tour took about 7-8 hours – including the various entrance fees, lunch, and the van rental, it cost about 4000 pesos (~$70 USD) for the both of us for the day. While there were some underwhelming stops (and we would have preferred to avoid the butterfly house altogether), all-in-all this tour is worth it just to have a driver take you to see the Chocolate Hills and get up close with Tarsiers. We also made some cool stops that we probably would have skipped if we were on our own. Definitely a Filipino highlight!
