BOHOL, 17th December 2003

Our first views of Bohol were a long time before our arrival as we followed the coast to the place where we would land. We got a people carrier style taxi that took us to a small secluded beach resort with simple but pleasant accommodation next to a beautiful white sandy beach and sea that would be bright blue if the rain ever stopped.

Actually, it had already been raining for the past 3 days. You may have heard of the landslides that it triggered on some nearby islands killing about 200 people. Or maybe you didn't; we're a long way away.

The rain continued and the mosquitoes sheltered from it in our porch, waiting to enter our room if we opened the door. I can’t remember what we did most of that day. We had arrived in the morning. Maybe we slept for a while. The resort’s reception area was covered and included a restaurant/bar so some of the time we had lunch in there watching the beach and sea. Later we went out despite the rain and walked along the beach and in the sea investigating the wildlife that included lots of starfish. There were several different types and ranged in size from very small to more than 20cm across. A few were even a very unnatural blue colour. Even here in the tropics the rain felt a bit cold but the sea was warmer and it was OK if we kept moving.

In the evening we had a couple of drinks and some more food and chatted; especially Donna and Marielle catching up on gossip since they had last met. Tired due to almost no sleep the night before, we went to bed a bit early and slept well, ready for an earlyish start for a tour of the island.

I'll say something of geography now. Bohol and Cebu are large islands, Cebu much larger tha Bohol , in the Visayas region. It is in the south of the Philippines but not as far south as the big island of Mindanao in the extreme south. We were about one hours flight south of Manila , so I would estimate about 800km. Cebu is also the name of the capital city of the island. Our flight landd here and we had travelled over sea to Tagbilaran, the capital of Bohol . Our resort was actually on a smaller island,Panglau, connected by bridge to Bohol . The white sand beaches in this area are because the sand is made from ground coral, I think. There are coral reefs near to the coast but better ones off the small island called Balicasig (or similar) about 8km away by boat.

Bohol 's most famous landmark is the Chocolate Hills. These are more than a thousand strangely similar hills. All gently rounded and similar height. They are usually green with grass or trees but they get their name "Chocolate" from the brown colour that they go when the grass dies off in the dry season. It was early dry season when we were there but you would not have guessed it.

Other attractions include some impressive old Spanish churches, the scenery in general and the tarsier sanctuary. The sea provides further attraction with good diving and snorkelling off the reefs and of course relaxing on the white sand beaches. There is also the possibility for whale and dolphin watching but they are not as plentiful as they once were.

In the morning it was still raining but not so heavy. We had breakfast and then the vehicle came to pick us up for our tour.

Over the bridge, across the shallow, mangrove fringed waters onto the main island. We headed east along the south coast towards the Chocolate Hills. Inland there was some flooding fields were underwater and trees protruded from lakes. Sometimes the road was also swallowed but we could get through the shallow water. That was until we reached Loboc near to the main river that had badly burst its banks. Here people stood around looking at where the road was deep under water.
We had to turn back. There was an alternative route but a long one round the north side of the island. We decided to take it. Passing back through the small floods a problem occurred with the vehicle that the driver didn’t tell us about but would haunt us later – the alternator stopped working.

We stopped at a big 16 th Century Spanish church but it was closed so we only saw the outside. Then we went to a monument on the coast where an invading Spanish leader had made a peace treaty with the local leader that involved drinking a cup of each other’s blood. Back through Tagbilaran and onto the road to the north we travelled a couple of hours before finally reaching the edge of the chocolate hills. They were impressive and weird. There are several theories about how they were formed, the least likely being that they were the tears of a giant that fell to earth. Anyway, they looked unnatural and unrealistic. All the more impressive as they are very real.

After a while we got to the Chocolate Hills Visitors Centre that is built on one of the hills. We had food here and went to the top to view the surrounding hills, armed with borrowed umbrellas. It looked good but a pity that the rain and mist and low cloud meant that we only saw the closest hills. When we had eaten and bought some souvenirs we started the return journey. Still only the driver was aware of any problem. We first went to see the man-made forest but the driver didn’t seem keen. As we started the journey back and the light dimmed we gradually became aware that he wasn’t using lights. He tried to make some phone calls and took what seemed to be some wrong turns, stopping and getting out of the car and looking at it from outside. He was obviously agitated but said nothing.

We didn’t realise for a while that he had turned back to the visitor centre. Just before we got back there Donna asked why he wasn’t using the lights. Now he told us. The alternator had stopped working earlier and now the battery was flat and he couldn’t use the lights. For safety he had returned to the only accommodation in the area. We would have to spend the night there. This also explained why people had to push us to start earlier and why he didn’t turn off the engine in the forest.

The Centre had a guesthouse and we got a room for the 3 of us leaving the driver to get one for himself. It was OK but simple. However, water was dripping from the ceiling so we asked for another. This one only had water running down the inside of the wall so we took it.

We chatted for a while, ate some snacks and ordered some tea and a beer that was brought by room service. Soon after this the electricity was cut off and we were plunged into almost total darkness. In a room in a rural area with any moon or stars blocked by the thick cloud there was almost no source of light. A knock on the door and someone brought us some candles. Very welcome. Before long there was little to do but sleep. We were tired anyway. We took some pictures of our predicament first.

Donna advised me to barricade the door so nobody could break in without us knowing - we were a long way from the law. The lights came back after an hour or two.

During the night, the rain got very heavy but by morning it had stopped.

I stepped out onto the balcony and saw the view that the darkness had hidden. The wet green rounded hills, coconut palms and bananas, rice in the valleys between looked serene, surreal and tropical. It was cool and comfortable, still cloudy but the rain had stopped. Birds sang and flew.

We left very early and drove via the manmade forest and Loboc where the tarsier sanctuary was. This involved driving through water about two feet deep. The only other people crossing were on boats. We made it with only a little steam and a bit of water seeping in the doors. Most of the journey back was unproblematic until nearly the end when, not suprisingly conidering the aqueous activities, the engine stalled and wouldn’t restart. This time the driver called a colleague and we transferred to another vehicle for the last part of the journey. We went via a market to buy some fish and shells to have cooked for our lunch. We were still in time for breakfast when we got back.

After breakfast and showers we arranged a boat to take us on a trip. Now the sun was breaking through and things were looking better. Also, we paid someone in the kitchen to cook the things that we had bought in the market. We went across to Balicasig Island and moored a little over 100m from the shore. Now we could do some swimming and snorkeling.

Below the boat the water was deep. Looking down the bottom was not visible despite very good clarity. I don’t know how deep but it had to be over 20m. A few metres inland and it was shallow enough to stand in many places. This was the edge of the coral reef. Coral of many colours and shapes and fish with numerous patterns and colours. And again the big blue starfish. We spent maybe an hour swimming around and admiring the submarine view before deciding it was lunchtime.

We then went ashore and took with us the fish and shells that had been cooked for us. We found a table to eat at near to a small shop and they were kind enough to let us use it. I walked to here without shoes but it was a bit rocky so I wish I’d worn them. Women were trying to sell us jewelry, mainly pearls or shell sculptures.

Eating lunch there were some very undernourished looking dogs hanging around. There were some adults and a litter of puppies. All had skin problems too where fur was coming off. I gave them a few scraps but nothing substantial – mostly fish skin.

Back on the boat we sailed back to our start point. When there we walked on the beach and later ate and drank in the restaurant. The next day we would leave.