← All articles · Philippines · 19 March 2023

Bohol, Philippines: Tarsiers, the Chocolate Hills and a swim in a cave lagoon

Bohol in March 2023: drifting the green Loboc River, meeting a tarsier, quad bikes by the Chocolate Hills, a cave lagoon swim and Alona Beach shakes.

Three days on Bohol in March 2023, and the island kept topping itself: river, tarsier, hills, cave, beach. In that order, and each one a keeper.

Inga leaning on the carved wooden railing of a floating restaurant deck on the green Loboc River, jungle and palms rising behind — Lunch that moves: drifting the impossibly green Loboc River on a floating deck.

A tarsier with huge amber eyes gripping a branch in the foreground while Inga and Dileep stand on the walkway behind — A tarsier at the conservation area, one of the world's smallest primates, thoroughly unimpressed by its visitors.

Inga and Dileep sitting on green quad bikes on a dirt track near the Chocolate Hills, storm clouds massing overhead — Quad bikes by the Chocolate Hills, racing a very dramatic sky. The sky won.

Dileep in a white I love Bohol tarsier t-shirt standing at the stone entrance arch of Hinagdanan Cave in Dauis — Fully committed to the theme at Hinagdanan Cave. Yes, the shirt has a tarsier on it.

Selfie of Inga and Dileep swimming in the dark lagoon inside Hinagdanan Cave, stalactites hanging above the water — Then a swim in the cave lagoon under the stalactites. Cold, dark and completely unforgettable.

Inga and Dileep with fresh mango shakes at a beachfront table on Alona Beach, turquoise shallows and boats behind — Winding down on Alona Beach, Panglao. Mango shakes were consumed daily, for research.

The old churches

Bohol’s churches are built out of coral stone cut from the reef, some of them three hundred years old, and a lot of them had to be put back together after the 2013 earthquake. We went into Baclayon, the Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, and it’s the interior that gets you.

The silver and gilt retablo behind the altar of Baclayon church in Bohol, statues in niches and the altar draped in purple cloth for Lent — The retablo at Baclayon, dressed in purple. We were there in Lent.

The painted vaulted ceiling of Baclayon church showing biblical scenes in panels, with the Latin inscription to Mary running along the edge — Look up. The whole ceiling is painted, inscription and all.

A weathered grey coral stone church on Bohol with a tall bell tower and pointed spire, arched windows and moss growing on the stonework — Coral stone, cut from the reef and stacked. Three hundred years of weather on it.

A squat moss-covered coral stone bell tower on Bohol with a dark pyramid roof and small openings near the top — The belfry alongside it, solid as a fort and slowly going green.

Down the Loboc

Two bamboo-roofed floating restaurants moored on the green Loboc River in Bohol, jungle rising on the far bank — The floating restaurants at their moorings, waiting for the lunch run.

Finding a tarsier

You don’t spot them yourself. The guides know which branch each one sleeps on, and they walk you to it and then ask you to be quiet, because a stressed tarsier is a real problem for a tarsier.

Dileep standing in dense jungle at the Bohol tarsier sanctuary with a camera raised to his eye, aiming up into the branches — Ten minutes of this before anybody sees anything.

A tarsier clinging to a diagonal branch with both hands, huge dark eyes open, palm fronds around it — And there it is. About the size of your fist, with eyes bigger than its brain.

The hills, and the beach after

Dileep in a helmet sitting on a green and black quad bike on a dirt track with the rounded Chocolate Hills rising behind him — The hills go on behind you in every direction. There are over a thousand of them.

Inga and Dileep at a red railing on a viewpoint above the Chocolate Hills, green rounded hills and forest stretching to the horizon under a big sky — The viewpoint at Carmen, and a sky doing most of the work.

Inga and Dileep standing on a white sand beach on Panglao with clear turquoise shallows and a boat on the horizon behind them — Panglao at the end of it. Clear, warm, and empty enough at that hour.

We came over on the ferry from Cebu, and we would do the whole loop again tomorrow.