Dec 27: Bohol Tour
Our second day in Bohol was probably the most activity-filled day in our trip back to the Philippines. There was a lot of driving, a lot of sightseeing and some diving.
The Open Water Dive. Since we had a limited time to get the scuba diving certification, our instructor suggested we go on an open water dive before our Bohol tour. We woke up early to get at least one dive in. As we were setting up our gear, I was really scared, but I didn't want to tell Luis otherwise. We got in the boat and headed out to deeper waters. When the boat stopped, our instructor demonstrated how to exit the boat with all our gear on, i.e. sit on the edge of the boat with your back towards the water and just drop in! He motioned to Luis to try the same thing and Luis did it perfectly. When he motioned to me, I just cried out of fear!
But instead of leaving me behind, our instructor was really understanding and asked the boat to go into shallower waters. He and Luis swam and followed the boat. Then they made me get in the water and put all my gear in there. Then we went underwater and I was diving! We probably reached 10-15 feet underwater. And we saw all sorts of marine life -- a bunch of Nemo's, sea anemones, and different colored starfishes. Before I knew it, it was time to come up.
Day Trip. We cleaned up and prepared for our Bohol tour. A day trip of Bohol apparently involved a car and a driver / tour guide. Our driver was Pitoy. He grew up in Bohol and was very knowledgeable about the entire Bohol province. He knew all the little tourist places and tried hard to pack it all in the day, despite the fact that we started late, because we went for a dive in the morning.
Sandugo. Our first destination was the monument of the Sandugo, the blood compact performed on Bohol between the Spanish explorer, Miguel López de Legazpi and the chieftain of Bohol, Datu Sikatuna, in 1565 to seal their friendship, as part of tribal tradition. But probably lost in translation was the fact that Legazpi wasn't out for friendship but rule of the islands. Of course, it was only revealed much later when more Spaniards arrived.
Baclayon Church. Our second destination was Baclayon Church, considered to be one of the oldest churches in the Philippines. The old rectory was transformed into a museum, and a school is beside the church. We had the opportunity to walk around the museum and visit the church, where a wedding was about to take place in the afternoon. The church is an amazing feat of construction, since the Philippines is not exactly a wealthy source of building materials for giant stone buildings or statues, like Angkor Wat. We had a lot of trees, weak adobe, and in Bohol, there was a lot of coral. But the Spaniards required their big, elaborate churches, so they used what they can and had around 200 natives cut coral, and pile them together to form coral stones. To cement them together, they used the whites from a million eggs! That's what the church is constructed from and that's how it still stands today. I'm sure it's had several repair jobs since, though.
Lunch on Loboc River. All tours in Bohol always include lunch on the Loboc River. It may not be the same river restaurant, but the concept is similar. We went on the Rio Verde Floating Restaurant, which according to my parents is different from the one they were on. The lunch was not bad and had a good mix of Filipino dishes. I don't remember the different foods we had, but many were seafood dishes and of course, the usual pork. Our river cruise explored the mangroves of Loboc River. Since the mangroves could get monotonous and boring, the cruise provided some live entertainment, with a guy singing contemporary 70s and 80s songs and playing the guitar.
Before turning back, the boat made a short stop so we could visit the Ati Tribe. The Ati Tribe is an ethnic tribe, related to the Aetas of Zambales. What was explained to me was that they were displaced from another island in Visayas and came to Bohol to find livelihood. They started out with asking for farmland from the governor, which they were given, but they still had a hard time providing enough food and medicine for everyone in the tribe. So to help out, the governor asked them to perform some of their tribal dances at an event. Unexpectedly, they became a big tourist hit! So now, they perform their dances for all the tourists who go on the Rio Verde cruise. It seemed odd visiting them and taking pictures, so I didn't have much. It seemed like an invasion of their privacy. And it felt weird asking them to "perform", such as cracking a coconut with their bare hands or having them shoot their bows and arrows. I did take a short video of their dance, since they looked like they enjoyed doing it. But I made sure I left a little something in their tip box, to help them with their medicines.
Mahogany Forest. After lunch, we continued our tour, heading towards the highlight -- the Chocolate Hills. But on the way, we managed to stop by the Bohol Forest, a man-made mahogany forest. It is a two-kilometer protected stretch of beautiful, uniform mahogany trees. Our driver, Pitoy, explained the origins of the mahogany forest to a mandate made by Ferdinand Marcos when he was still president. He said that when he was a student, Marcos mandated the citizens of Bohol to plant mahogany trees, because it was a precious wood. He said that the number of mahogany trees a family needed to plant was proportional to the number of children in the family. So he explained that many of his elementary school teachers required their students in the class to plant trees for their families. I thought this was pretty hilarious! He continues that all the mahogany trees he ever planted has already been harvested. But luckily, this mahogany forest still stands today and is protected, like a sanctuary, from loggers.
Chocolate Hills. The Chocolate Hills is a famous tourist attraction in Bohol and is considered a national geological monument. It was formed ages ago by "the uplift of coral deposits and the action of rain water and erosion." It consists of around 1,700+ hills spread over 20 square miles. It is covered in green grass that turns brown during the dry season, hence its name.
To view the Chocolate Hills, they built an observation deck on one of the higher hills, allowing tourists to get a 360-degree panorama of the surrounding area. We had to drive up by car and climb 214 steps leading to the view deck. The 214 steps wasn't so much a problem as the height of the steps. They were so short, it was a pain to climb and it was too high to take 2 steps at a time. If they were a bit higher, it would have been better, but alas, there were also many old people getting to the deck as well, so I shouldn't really complain.
Once up there, it was just breath-taking!!! Not all hills were the same, but they were generally round. I had fun taking pictures of Merlin and Luis up there, since it was just such a unique, amazing sight.
Butterfly Farm. On the way back from Chocolate Hills, Pitoy suggested that we quickly stop by the Butterfly Farm, before visiting the tarsiers. We were hesitant, at first, but since we were already there and it was generally on the way, we went for it. We appreciated how he really wanted to pack our day with as much Bohol tourist attractions as possible. He knew someone from the farm, who gave us a quick tour of the farm. Our butterfly guide really knew his stuff and knew how to take and pose pictures. He caught live butterflies and placed them on my hair and then on Luis' ear for pictures. Then later, he posed the butterflies on our chest, like brooches, and took our picture. Despite how speedy, we went through the farm, the tour was pretty good. A whirlwind of a tour, but good.
The Tarsier. Apart from the Chocolate Hills, Bohol is famous for their abundant tarsier population. The Philippine tarsier is said to be one of the smallest primate. It is an endangered species and is endemic to the Philippines. They said that it can be found in other parts of Southeast Asia, but their largest concentration is found in Bohol. Tarsiers are nocturnal animals, with excellent night vision (and eyes larger than their brains!). They like to eat crickets and grasshoppers.
The Philippine Tarsier Foundation has created a sanctuary for tarsiers in Bohol, in an effort to preserve the Philippine tarsier. We didn't manage to get to the actual foundation, but found another location that keeps them. Not many locals agree that multiple tarsier enclosures outside of the foundation should be done, but money talks and many tourists like to see them.
Holding them is also discouraged, because they do get stressed, especially when there are many tourists handling them. But the location we went to allowed us to place the tarsier on our arms for a quick picture. Luis was "it", since I was too creeped out by its rodent-like appearance. They seemed to be well-fed, and we saw actually saw them feeding and jumping in their cages. They were fantastically speedy and not as delicate as we first thought.
Biggest Python in Captivity. From the smallest primate, Pitoy brought us to the largest python in captivity! At 23 feet and 600+ pounds, I doubt one tarsier would satisfy this python's appetite. Since the python's capture, many other pythons have been brought to the location, as a make-shift python sanctum. The feeding of the main star, Prony (named after its captor), has been documented in videos and photos. It used to be fed with dogs, since dogs just wander around and is "free" meat. But animal activists have since scolded from doing so, and encouraged them to feed it pigs instead. However, the python apparently is a picky eater. You can't feed it any kind of pig. It has to be a white pig, or it won't eat it.
At the time that we visited, the python was curled up and fast asleep. But if awake, tourists can enter its enclosure and get pictures with it. They were offering to open the cage and wake it up, so we could get our pictures taken. But I'd rather not be the cause of waking up the largest python in captivity. I didn't have enough of a tan at that time, it might misconstrue me for a pig!
More Studying. After the python, we returned to Oasis and headed straight for the dive center. We needed to meet up with Jomel to watch another video and receive our reading assignments. We had a dinner after of yummy, grilled lapu-lapu (grouper). Then we headed back to the room for more studying.
The Open Water Dive. Since we had a limited time to get the scuba diving certification, our instructor suggested we go on an open water dive before our Bohol tour. We woke up early to get at least one dive in. As we were setting up our gear, I was really scared, but I didn't want to tell Luis otherwise. We got in the boat and headed out to deeper waters. When the boat stopped, our instructor demonstrated how to exit the boat with all our gear on, i.e. sit on the edge of the boat with your back towards the water and just drop in! He motioned to Luis to try the same thing and Luis did it perfectly. When he motioned to me, I just cried out of fear!
But instead of leaving me behind, our instructor was really understanding and asked the boat to go into shallower waters. He and Luis swam and followed the boat. Then they made me get in the water and put all my gear in there. Then we went underwater and I was diving! We probably reached 10-15 feet underwater. And we saw all sorts of marine life -- a bunch of Nemo's, sea anemones, and different colored starfishes. Before I knew it, it was time to come up.
Day Trip. We cleaned up and prepared for our Bohol tour. A day trip of Bohol apparently involved a car and a driver / tour guide. Our driver was Pitoy. He grew up in Bohol and was very knowledgeable about the entire Bohol province. He knew all the little tourist places and tried hard to pack it all in the day, despite the fact that we started late, because we went for a dive in the morning.
Sandugo. Our first destination was the monument of the Sandugo, the blood compact performed on Bohol between the Spanish explorer, Miguel López de Legazpi and the chieftain of Bohol, Datu Sikatuna, in 1565 to seal their friendship, as part of tribal tradition. But probably lost in translation was the fact that Legazpi wasn't out for friendship but rule of the islands. Of course, it was only revealed much later when more Spaniards arrived.
Baclayon Church. Our second destination was Baclayon Church, considered to be one of the oldest churches in the Philippines. The old rectory was transformed into a museum, and a school is beside the church. We had the opportunity to walk around the museum and visit the church, where a wedding was about to take place in the afternoon. The church is an amazing feat of construction, since the Philippines is not exactly a wealthy source of building materials for giant stone buildings or statues, like Angkor Wat. We had a lot of trees, weak adobe, and in Bohol, there was a lot of coral. But the Spaniards required their big, elaborate churches, so they used what they can and had around 200 natives cut coral, and pile them together to form coral stones. To cement them together, they used the whites from a million eggs! That's what the church is constructed from and that's how it still stands today. I'm sure it's had several repair jobs since, though.
Lunch on Loboc River. All tours in Bohol always include lunch on the Loboc River. It may not be the same river restaurant, but the concept is similar. We went on the Rio Verde Floating Restaurant, which according to my parents is different from the one they were on. The lunch was not bad and had a good mix of Filipino dishes. I don't remember the different foods we had, but many were seafood dishes and of course, the usual pork. Our river cruise explored the mangroves of Loboc River. Since the mangroves could get monotonous and boring, the cruise provided some live entertainment, with a guy singing contemporary 70s and 80s songs and playing the guitar.
Before turning back, the boat made a short stop so we could visit the Ati Tribe. The Ati Tribe is an ethnic tribe, related to the Aetas of Zambales. What was explained to me was that they were displaced from another island in Visayas and came to Bohol to find livelihood. They started out with asking for farmland from the governor, which they were given, but they still had a hard time providing enough food and medicine for everyone in the tribe. So to help out, the governor asked them to perform some of their tribal dances at an event. Unexpectedly, they became a big tourist hit! So now, they perform their dances for all the tourists who go on the Rio Verde cruise. It seemed odd visiting them and taking pictures, so I didn't have much. It seemed like an invasion of their privacy. And it felt weird asking them to "perform", such as cracking a coconut with their bare hands or having them shoot their bows and arrows. I did take a short video of their dance, since they looked like they enjoyed doing it. But I made sure I left a little something in their tip box, to help them with their medicines.
Mahogany Forest. After lunch, we continued our tour, heading towards the highlight -- the Chocolate Hills. But on the way, we managed to stop by the Bohol Forest, a man-made mahogany forest. It is a two-kilometer protected stretch of beautiful, uniform mahogany trees. Our driver, Pitoy, explained the origins of the mahogany forest to a mandate made by Ferdinand Marcos when he was still president. He said that when he was a student, Marcos mandated the citizens of Bohol to plant mahogany trees, because it was a precious wood. He said that the number of mahogany trees a family needed to plant was proportional to the number of children in the family. So he explained that many of his elementary school teachers required their students in the class to plant trees for their families. I thought this was pretty hilarious! He continues that all the mahogany trees he ever planted has already been harvested. But luckily, this mahogany forest still stands today and is protected, like a sanctuary, from loggers.
Chocolate Hills. The Chocolate Hills is a famous tourist attraction in Bohol and is considered a national geological monument. It was formed ages ago by "the uplift of coral deposits and the action of rain water and erosion." It consists of around 1,700+ hills spread over 20 square miles. It is covered in green grass that turns brown during the dry season, hence its name.
To view the Chocolate Hills, they built an observation deck on one of the higher hills, allowing tourists to get a 360-degree panorama of the surrounding area. We had to drive up by car and climb 214 steps leading to the view deck. The 214 steps wasn't so much a problem as the height of the steps. They were so short, it was a pain to climb and it was too high to take 2 steps at a time. If they were a bit higher, it would have been better, but alas, there were also many old people getting to the deck as well, so I shouldn't really complain.
Once up there, it was just breath-taking!!! Not all hills were the same, but they were generally round. I had fun taking pictures of Merlin and Luis up there, since it was just such a unique, amazing sight.
Butterfly Farm. On the way back from Chocolate Hills, Pitoy suggested that we quickly stop by the Butterfly Farm, before visiting the tarsiers. We were hesitant, at first, but since we were already there and it was generally on the way, we went for it. We appreciated how he really wanted to pack our day with as much Bohol tourist attractions as possible. He knew someone from the farm, who gave us a quick tour of the farm. Our butterfly guide really knew his stuff and knew how to take and pose pictures. He caught live butterflies and placed them on my hair and then on Luis' ear for pictures. Then later, he posed the butterflies on our chest, like brooches, and took our picture. Despite how speedy, we went through the farm, the tour was pretty good. A whirlwind of a tour, but good.
The Tarsier. Apart from the Chocolate Hills, Bohol is famous for their abundant tarsier population. The Philippine tarsier is said to be one of the smallest primate. It is an endangered species and is endemic to the Philippines. They said that it can be found in other parts of Southeast Asia, but their largest concentration is found in Bohol. Tarsiers are nocturnal animals, with excellent night vision (and eyes larger than their brains!). They like to eat crickets and grasshoppers.
The Philippine Tarsier Foundation has created a sanctuary for tarsiers in Bohol, in an effort to preserve the Philippine tarsier. We didn't manage to get to the actual foundation, but found another location that keeps them. Not many locals agree that multiple tarsier enclosures outside of the foundation should be done, but money talks and many tourists like to see them.
Holding them is also discouraged, because they do get stressed, especially when there are many tourists handling them. But the location we went to allowed us to place the tarsier on our arms for a quick picture. Luis was "it", since I was too creeped out by its rodent-like appearance. They seemed to be well-fed, and we saw actually saw them feeding and jumping in their cages. They were fantastically speedy and not as delicate as we first thought.
Biggest Python in Captivity. From the smallest primate, Pitoy brought us to the largest python in captivity! At 23 feet and 600+ pounds, I doubt one tarsier would satisfy this python's appetite. Since the python's capture, many other pythons have been brought to the location, as a make-shift python sanctum. The feeding of the main star, Prony (named after its captor), has been documented in videos and photos. It used to be fed with dogs, since dogs just wander around and is "free" meat. But animal activists have since scolded from doing so, and encouraged them to feed it pigs instead. However, the python apparently is a picky eater. You can't feed it any kind of pig. It has to be a white pig, or it won't eat it.
At the time that we visited, the python was curled up and fast asleep. But if awake, tourists can enter its enclosure and get pictures with it. They were offering to open the cage and wake it up, so we could get our pictures taken. But I'd rather not be the cause of waking up the largest python in captivity. I didn't have enough of a tan at that time, it might misconstrue me for a pig!
More Studying. After the python, we returned to Oasis and headed straight for the dive center. We needed to meet up with Jomel to watch another video and receive our reading assignments. We had a dinner after of yummy, grilled lapu-lapu (grouper). Then we headed back to the room for more studying.
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