BOHOL TOUR: Loboc Man-made Forest and Chocolate Hills

In my previous blog post, I shared about the start of our day tour in Bohol where we visited the Bohol Bee Farm and the Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary.

Here, I’ll be sharing about the second half of our trip. :)

 

MAN-MADE FORESTĀ 

Before going to the chocolate hills, we passed by a zigzag road covered with beautiful, towering Mahogany trees. According to our driver, these trees were planted many years ago for the purpose of rebuilding forests in the land. They needed to do so because the people of Bohol used to clear lands before by slashing and burning trees.

Now, the trees have grown tall and have occupied a stretch of two kilometers. There are no parking areas nearby, so if you’re bringing your car or a motorbike and you want to have your pictures taken in the middle of the road (which is commonly done by most tourists), then be sure to quickly park at the side of the road and carefully document the experience. It was fun and thrilling to alternately stand in the middle of the road and sprint a second after the picture is taken. Haha!

 

CHOCOLATE HILLS

Finally, our last stop for the day: one of the places that I’ve read about in our history books back in gradeschool. The lovely chocolate hills! Okay, so they weren’t brown when we visited because of the recent rainy weather. But, it was still an amazing moment to finally see them with my own eyes. It reminded me of God’s greatness! Only He can create such beautiful sceneries.

In order for us to have a nice view of the hills, we needed to pay an entrance fee of Php 50 and climb 214 steps on a steep stairway. We weren’t prepared for that, but we just laughed along the way, as we did our best to catch our breath and reach the top. Unfortunately, because we needed to catch our ferry ride at 6 pm, we weren’t able to ride the ATVs near the chocolate hills anymore. If I can still squeeze this in our itinerary next time, I would love to ride one!

 

 

So, there you have it! The Bohol Bee Farm, the Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary, Man-made Forest in Loboc, and the Chocolate Hills. Four stops in seven hours! Not bad, I guess. Haha. If you’re planning to do a daytrip in Bohol, I would strongly suggest that you join a group tour or rent your own car/driver. Most of the tourist spots can’t be accessed by public transportation. Also, taking uber or taxi rides will be very difficult too since one destination is far from another, ranging from 30 minutes to an hour and a half.

On our way back to the port at Tagbilaran, we thanked our driver for his assistance and we took time to rest before our 2-hour ferry ride to Cebu. I highly recommend our driver, kuya Joseph. If you want to hire him for your tour in Bohol, let me know so I can give his contact number to you.

It was a tiring trip because we didn’t have much sleep the night before. But, being able to tour around Bohol was such a refreshing treat for my friend and I. I can’t wait to go back and experiences the beaches next time!

Daghang salamat, Bohol! (Thank you very much, Bohol!)

*Go Pro photos c/o Zee*

BOHOL TOUR: Bee Farm and Tarsier Sanctuary

“I’m glad we went to Bohol.” This was what Zee and I told each other when we were on our way back to Cebu. By God’s grace, He protected us from harm and He provided what we needed during our day trip in the beautiful province of Bohol. Whew!

We stayed in Cebu last weekend, but since Bohol was just a 2-hour ferry ride away, we decided to drop by for a day. We were only able to visit the tourist spots in the countryside. Next time, we’ll be back for the beaches!

Our total cost per person for a day trip in Bohol’s countryside is Php 2,960. (Of course, this cost will go down if you’ll be traveling in bigger groups.)

BREAKDOWN IN PESO:

1,125 – Rental fee for a car and driver (personalized tour)
900 – Roundtrip for a ferry ride (1 non-airconditioned and 1 airconditioned)
45 – Terminal fees for the port (roundtrip)
60- Fee for the 30-minute tour at the Bee Farm
450- Lunch with shake or dessert at the Bohol Bee Farm’s restaurant
60 – Entrance Fee for the tour at the Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary
50 – Entrance Fee for the Chocolate Hills

Our driver for the trip, kuya Joseph, was awesome! He prepare a printed sign for us and he welcomed us at the port. He also made us feel relaxed and comfortable during the whole trip. Moreover, he exerted effort in taking our pictures and even stopping the car every now and then so we could take photos of the signs and sceneries. He also did his best to carefully drive fast, so we could squeeze in as much activities as possible.

Next time, we’ll try to book an earlier flight so we can make it to the first ferry trip (6 am) to Bohol. Or, we could just fly straight to Bohol! Haha!

Nonetheless, we enjoyed our day tour in Bohol!

Here are some of the sights that we visited:

BOHOL BEE FARM

One word to describe my experience at Bohol’s Bee Farm? SURREAL. After our ferry ride from Cebu port to Tagbilaran port (Bohol), it was refreshing to stop over at the Bee Farm and Restaurant first. We got there at around 12 noon, just in time for lunch. The 30-minute tour around the farm was scheduled at 1 pm, so Zee and I decided to walk around, take photos, rest, and eat lunch at their restaurant while waiting.

I felt very much at home because of the environment! There was an area where organic plants were being grown and the place had a calm atmosphere. You could only hear the silent conversations, soft summer music, hustling of leaves, and the sound of the waves softly splashing on the shore. The dining area of the restaurant had the perfect view of the beach. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to see the beach on our trip to Bohol because I knew that we only had time for the countryside tourist spots. So, seeing the lovely view of the clear blue sky and sea really made my heart melt.

For lunch, Zee ordered spareribs while I ordered honey roasted chicken. Both dishes came with red rice and organic garden salad. We also had mango-based fruit shakes.

After our delicious lunch, we went back to the lobby to meet our tour guide. Our 30-minute tour started at the garden patch where our guide explained the different herbs and edible plants they were growing. We then proceeded to walk around the production areas for some of their palm tree products, homemade ice cream (with honey as its only sweetener), green tea made from Ashitaba leaves, cabcab honey chips, and cassava ice cream cones.

The last stop of our tour was the home of the bees. Our tour guide gave some facts about bees and casually joked about how he wanted us (his participants) to also get stung by a bee. I guess he was trying to make the experience fun and light? But, to our surprise, it did happen! I got stung by a bee!! That moment was definitely the highlight of my surreal experience in the farm.

 

Before leaving the place, Zee and I tried their homemade creamy avocado ice cream on their homemade cone. It certainly helped me calm down a bit after the incident. Haha!

Overall, the experience was great! I would love to try more dishes at their restaurant and more ice cream flavors next time.

PHILIPPINE TARSIER SANCTUARY

Our next stop was at the official sanctuary of tarsiers in Bohol. We met the “Tarsier Man” of Bohol, Carlito Pizarras. He was very instrumental in developing a conservation program for the tarsiers. Throughout the tour, we learned that the female tarsiers only produce one offspring every six months. Unfortunately, not all of those offsprings reach their maturity or survive. This is why the sanctuary helps create awareness about the dwindling number of tarsiers in the country.

We saw seven tarsiers clinging on to different trees and branches as we walked along the trails inside the sanctuary. Their curved bodies were only 4-5 inches long. One of the instructions that they gave us before the tour was to avoid making loud noises, touching the tarsiers, moving the branches, or taking photos using flashes.

Since tarsiers are noctural animals, they don’t want to be disturbed during day time. The tour guide even explained that when the tarsiers become stressed, they eventually commit suicide by not eating for days or jumping off of a tree. It is a sad reality. So, we did our best not to make them feel stressed while we were there.

They look so adorable! I hope they can still produce more offsprings!

This ends the first part of our day trip in Bohol. In my next blog post, I’ll be sharing about a childhood dream fulfilled! After decades of knowing about it, I finally saw one of the famous landmarks in our country!

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About Me

My name is Nicole Obligacion and I started this blog because I was inspired by Hebrews 10:24 and Hebrews 3:13. I love to eat, cook, bake, read the Bible, and encourage. :)

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