Tagbilaran, Bohol In One Day Part Three: The Tarsier Conservation Area

Our last stop before going to Panglao Island was the Tarsier Conservation Area. 30 - 40 minutes away from Chocolate Hills, we checked out these nocturnal endangered mammals.

The keyword being nocturnal. As we walked through the area, we caught glimpses of sleeping tarsiers, unlike the wide eyed critters that we saw in Zoobic's (Subic, Philippines) Night Safari.

A minimal fee of 50 pesos/pax is charged for entrance fee. Your tickets to the place also double as postcards, that you can mail from the area.

By 4 PM, we were done with seeing our share of the tourist areas in Tagbilaran and was more than willing to check in, freshen up and rest from the day's activities.

At the entrance, don't forget to buy at bottle of mineral water for that short walk uphill and a pack of crunchy meal worms. They're a protein packed experience :)

Phil holds on to his pack of chichaworms and postcards/entrance tickets

Bohol has so much to offer and is always a great place to visit by your lonesome or with family and friends.

flying back to Manila

Do catch the rest of this one day adventure in the following links:


Tagbilaran, Bohol In One Day Part ONE: The Loboc River Cruise
Tagbilaran, Bohol In One Day Part TWO: The Chocolate Hills

From TMW, may all your wanderings be better than ours!

Tagbilaran, Bohol In One Day Part Two - The Chocolate Hills

Our next stop was the iconic Chocolate Hils. I have not been back here since we visited when I was 5 years old.

 having acrophobia sucks when you're off to see the view deck at The Chocolate Hills

The roads going there were under repair so it took us anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour to see the famous site.

FYI on the Chocolate Hills: Wikipedia lists it as re a geological formation in the Bohol province of the Philippines.[1] There are at least 1,260 hills but there may be as many as 1,776 hills spread over an area of more than 50 square kilometers (20 sq mi). They are covered in green grass that turns brown (like chocolate) during the dry season, hence the name.

I survived the open cable cars climbing The Great Wall of China, the Macau Tower's glass walls and floors at it's 58th floor and the longest escalator system in the world at  Ocean Park HK...but I couldn't make it up these stairs!

While at the Chocolate Hills, aside from walking up the flight of stairs leading to the view deck, you could also pick up various souvenirs and Bohol sweets like Peanut Kisses.

If you aren't strapped for time (and energy, like we were), you could also check out the Chocolate Hills Adventure Park near the area. Extreme sports are what this park features. Go ride or bike a zip line, walk on hanging bridges and many more.

On the way or coming from the Chocolate Hills, you could also make a quick stop as you pass through the Bilar Man Made forest -  2 km stretch of Mahogany trees that border the towns of Loboc and Bilar.

It is part of the The Rajah Sikatuna Protected Landscape. This is a protected landscape area of forested limestone hills, grasslands and natural springs. It is the largest remaining tract of natural forest in Bohol and one of the Philippines' top bird watching sites.

As a child, I remembered seeing a pool and a rainbow painted wall at the view deck of Chocolate Hills. It's all gone now. At least, the hills have remained standing despite the ravages of time, the throes of humanity and the different moods of Mother Nature.

Do check out the rest of this 3 part series:
Tagbilaran, Bohol In One Day Part One: Loboc River Cruise
Tagbilaran, Bohol In One Day Part Three: Tarsier Conservation Area

From TMW, may all your wanderings be better than ours!!!

Tagbilaran, Bohol In A Day Part 1 - Loboc River Cruise

If you're going there via plane, the only commercial airport in Bohol may be found in Tagbilaran City. Given that we absolutely love the sun and the sand, our family was naturally booked in Panglao Island, specifically along Alona Beach.

Panglao Island is a 20 to 30 minute drive from the airport. Since our hotel had a 2 pm check in time and we arrived at around 10 in the morning, we all decided to visit all the tourist spots we could in Tagbilaran, before we moved to another island.

the difference between the 2 meals is that the "high end" has crabs added into their menu

 

First on our stop was lunch. Lunch came in the form of having our meals while on a River Cruise ang the Loay River. We signed up for the Rio Verde Floating Restaurant's regular menu, as the boat for their "High End" lunch left at a much later time. Walk-in clients are welcome, but early birds get to be accommodated first in lining up for the cruise.

The meal in itself was so-so if not blah. yes, I could've used better adjectives, but this was the closest one I could come up with to sum up THAT dining experinece. Maybe it was because the food was lukewarm, or maybe because some of the dishes were stuff whose flavors I wasn't too familiar or too keen with, either way, I stuck it out with the crawfish.

fries fish fillet, crunchy crawfish and por bbq were probably the only tings I ate

Don't get me started on the ghastly entertainment. If I could've, I would've paid the cruise singer to hush up and have him play instrumental music only. I swear, I never have much luck with cruise performances, but then again, I digress.

(snicker) HI (snicker) END

The view however made up for the awful meal. The breeze was refreshing, the waters were turquoise, emerald and sea green while the surrounding cliffs and greenery was quite stunning.

Halfway through the journey, our boat pulled over to make a quick visit to the Ati Village.

Have your photos taken with tribesmen, their pet iguanas and the huts in the area - for a fee (or not, if you brought your won camera, and have no plans of contributing to the village funds).

one of the village people (no YMCA here though)

My boys, making new friends :)

You could also buy toy wooden bow and arrows for your little savages or just get a good stretch.

back to the boat, before the village people  burst into song :P

Before you know it, you're back on the boat, listening to ghastly renditions of 80s and 70s music.

off to our next destination

I must say, the experience was quite enjoyable, if not a great respite from the city's heat. A great way to see the sights and kill some time before checking in.  Quick tip : bring bug repellent when going on the river cruise. Before our boat went out to sail, there were pesky mosquitoes flying around.

Catch the rest of our journey in Tagbilaran, Bohol In A Day Part 2 - The Chocolate Hills
and  Tagbilaran, Bohol In A Day Part 3: The Tarsier Conservation Area

From TMW, may all your wanderings be better than ours!