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Philippine Adventures . . .

May 7, 2004

Bohol Philippines

Each visit to the Philippines is an adventure starting with the flight from the east coast until I return. It is about 25 hours total travel time from when I get on that plane in Virginia until I finally land on the island. I usually get a combined 1 hour sleep for the duration of the entire journey. Maybe in the back of my mind, I'm thinking "The Langoliers"

I land in Manila at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport very late and it is past midnight by the time I walk out of the airport. I then transfer to Philippine Airlines and wait for the first flight out around 5am to arrive in the province of Negros Occidental an hour later.

On this trip, we went to Bohol. We stayed at the Oasis Beach Resort own by Germans.

Oasis Resort. Alona Beach, Panglao, Bohol

They also own the SeaQuest Dive Center. It is located in Alona Beach where there is a wide selection of resorts to choose from. Upon our arrival to the resort, we were greeted with leis and tropical drinks. It was a nice little place with air-conditioned rooms and showers. The employees were very friendly and well versed in English.

We had a tour with our package. A cave was our first stop with your usual Stalactites and Stalagmites. It was not very deep. Not too much to write about here.

Next stop was The Church of the Immaculate Conception in Baclayon. It is one of the oldest churches in the Philippines established by Spanish Jesuit missionaries.

"Blood Compact"

A museum next to the church contains treasures from the 16th century.

We then moved on to the Blood Compact site. A Spaniard Miguel Lopez de Legazpi convinced the two chiefs of Bohol, Datu Sikatuna of Bool and Datu Sigala of Loboc, that he and his men were not Portuguese and had come in peace. This led to the treaty between Legazpi and Sikatuna where they sealed a peace agreement with their blood in March of 1565.

Moving along, we checked out the Boa Constrictor caged for display. Now that, I could have done without. I was fortunate to not be there during feeding time.

The Loboc River Cruise was where we had lunch. The ferry had a little boat in the back for the pilot. They were driving blind so if there happened to be a small boat that drifted onto the path, the servers would run to move them.

"tar·si·er" - small nocturnal primates with large eyes and delicate grasping fingers and toes ending in pads that live in trees. They can be found in various islands of Southeast Asia.

Sometimes though, one happens to get run over. The boats of course, not the servers. Personally speaking, the menu was pretty basic. They did offer coconut milk straight out of the coconut shell. The highlight of the cruise was the Busay Waterfall. Again, a not so impressive view.

After the lunch, we passed a hanging bridge over the Loboc River. It hangs approximately 20 meters or 66 feet from the water. The other end leads to a village.

We continued out tour to the Tarsier habitat. Tarsiers are small nocturnal primates with large eyes and delicate grasping fingers and toes ending in pads that live in trees. They can be found in various islands of Southeast Asia.

Our last stop was the Chocolate Hills. They are composed of around 1,268 perfectly cone-shaped hills of about the same size, spread over an area of more than 50 square kilometers. The hills are covered in green grass that turns brown during the dry season.

"Bee Farm"

As our Bohol trip came to an end, we stopped at a Bee Farm on our way to the pier. They had honey and honey products for sale.

We decided to pay a short visit to our farm as we drove back to Bacolod. The Hacienda Antipolo, located in Himamaylan City has been with the Limsiaco family for ages. The house was rebuilt after WWII. The original one was burnt down by the Japanese. It has been neglected for years so it is just used for a day visit. The main produce is Sugarcane. Also found at the farm are Carabao Mango trees and Santol trees. Far in the back is a river with fish farms. Fishermen on their pam boats are frequently spotted passing through there.

The Bohol trip was great with the white sanded beaches and the bluest water. Hopefully I can go back someday and maybe try some scuba diving. Dolphin watching would be great too