Friday. My friends and I arrived in Tagbilaran City via Weesam ferry, then a 30 minute to our resort,Bohol Driver's Club, where we stayed for the night.
Saturday. We hired a van to tour us around which cost us 1,500 pesos. On our way to Carmen, we stop by a stretch of mahogany forest in the border of Loboc and Bilar towns. The man-made forest stands out because of the uniformity in height of the big trees,the spread of its branches, thickness and design of leaves.
When you enter the forest, one will feel the abrupt change in temperature, especially during summer or hot season. It is hot outside the forested area, but once under the overhanging trees, one is refreshed by the cool breeze. This mountain area seldom sees the sun shine and most often than not, it rains here.
Next stop was Loboc River for the buffet lunch river cruise which cost 300 pesos each. The food served were the traditional Filipino food paired with a pair of musician and singer combo for entertatinment. It took one hour for the great view of the river. The cruise will pass thru and dock on another flaoting raft (balsa) with an orchestra of ukolele players and dancers singing local songs while tourists are enourage to join in the revelry.
Then we made our way back to the mainland to see the Chocolate Hills. It was majestic.The famed Chocolate Hills of Bohol are not only two but more than 1,268 cone-shaped hills. The hills are spread over an area of 50 square kilometers or more and vary in size from 30 meters to 120 meters in height.
The hills appear to be seemingly endless when viewed atop the hill in Carmen town. The viewing deck there gives you a 360° view of the hills “as far as the eyes can see”. The hills look chocolaty only during dry season when the grass withers and turns into brown and looks like giant chocolate kisses.
From the Chocolate Hills, our tour guide took us to the Butterflies Conservation Center,in the next town of Bilar. There's an entrance fee of 20 pesos each. We were amazed because there is a designated tour guide who explains everything there is to know about butterflies - the difference of the pattern, how to know which is male and which is female, and a lot more.
The Butterflies Conservation Center was the first butterfly livelihood program in Bohol. It’s purpose was to protect and strengthen the natural environment of the butterflies, through plant research, breeding and releasing.
According to the guide, there’s a butterfly enclosure where they keep the butterfly and some of them they release in order for them to breed in the wild. They also breed butterflies for export and selling - which then helps fund the center.
Then we headed to see the tarsiers,in one of a handful of tourism department approved homes that care for these primates,the world's smallest.
Our last stop was the Hanging Bridge. There's a 10.00 pesos entrance fee.It’s a bamboo bridge hanging above the Loboc River. It sways while you walk on the bridge and it seems that the bridge is moving against your steps.I got scared at first and I could feel my knees shaking.
At the other end of the bridge you’ll find a souvenir shop and the area of Buko King – the man who can remove the husks of a coconut in just seconds using his teeth! He was popular 3 or 4 years ago.
