Wednesday, May 30, 2012

6 Ways to get "WOWED" in Bohol

"God's little paradise" --  Never a misnomer. Just plain truth.

The line prefectly befits the bounty and natural charm of Bohol - an island in the Southeast of Cebu. The feeling was plainly "luck" for me to get the chance to travel with my second family in my college years - The NORSUnian Weekly Publication writers - despite budgetary and professional reasons. But nothing stopped me when I gave a nod to the plan. The 3-point plan was simple: experience adventure with nature, thrill to the nerves, and... bond.

And adventure, we all had! We got wowed, and we know you will, too. So allow me to take you to the 6 places that will, without a single doubt, WOW you and take you to an everlasting travel fulfillment.

Travel needs ample preparation. So if you do, plan out the ways to get there first. If you're from Dumaguete, there are two Oceanjet trips you can choose from - morning and afternoon. Most commendable is the morning trip to avoid the hassle of looking for hotels at night - plus it simply is almost a bad idea to arrive at night. If you come from Cebu, daily trips from Cebu to Tagbilaran, also an option.

From the time you dock Tagbilaran Port (Tagbilaran is the only city in the province), astonishingly, a warm greeting of drivers will surely flock from the time you step out literally of the doors of their port. Drivers of a number of vans bring huge cards (which looks more similar to a resto menu) and where at least 8-10 of Bohol's top sites mostly are well-posted on cards (with travel rates included). Thumbs up to Tourism initiatives on this part.

Our team opted for a van. We had a van rented (roughly 1700Php all-in for a day-tour package). The driver will maneuver you to your best travel experience you will ever have with nature from that time on. So fasten your seatbelts, here we go.
XZOOTIC ZOO: From the port, the nearest is the Xzootic Zoo where life-size snakes can be found (that's what this place is visited mostly for). Harmless as they are, I felt jittery taking photos of them inside their cages. Phythons are all over the place. So be friendly and try to let them say "cheers". Amazingly, this place is a home to countless types of souvenirs you could bring home.

Aside from those, anyway, ostriches, iguanas, monkeys and a variety of animals can be found in the zoo premises as well. You'll not find them scary, you'll only find yourself amazed. I bet!

LOBOC FLOATING RESTOS: Okay, I overcame my fear of pythons there. Next stop will be a wide and seemingly endless river known to be the home of floating restaurants - Loboc River. If you are up for a nice and sumptuous seafood, then this native floating boats are paradises for you. They have shrimps usually served fresh when you arrive at 12 noon @ 400Php all-in.


(The view of another floating resto from the floating resto)



The boat will tour through the river and will dock on small cottages where a number of villagers greet you with their Rondalla and will sing usually folked songs to entertain. Village kids also sing and dance with tourist so by the time you head there, get those cameras ready. Dance on! After all, It's more fun in the Philippines! Second thumbs up for the admirable tourism initiative!

BUTTERFLY SANCTUARY. I'm a fan of environmentalism, but honestly, I am not very interested with butterflies. If you have a kid so indifferent to those floating mini-earthlings, go grab him and take a side-tour to Butterfly Sanctuary. With a P15 entrance fee, you get to learn interesting butterfly cycle/reproduction information from guides inside the butterfly exhibit, and they will take you after to the butterfly sanctuary itself. I did not seem to enjoy it honestly though, because the number of butterflies were not as much in number as expected. But nevertheless, I learned.

CHOCOLATE HILLS. The Choco Hills (no other term in dialect you could find) is the very attraction almost synonimous to "Bohol", you can never leave the place without it! It's the province's most well-renowned archeological marker. From Tagbilaran, the van driver will take you to Carmen, roughly an hour from the city. This will be the farthest destination, so most likely, the last stop of all.


From there, you go up to the hills with an entrance fee of 50Php. That amount will not hurt once you get up the 150+ steps to the hill since the place is more than marvelous; yet will surely make you sweat out more than expected too. But with patience and persistence comes beauty. The topmost part is a viewing deck, the best place to capture moments, with a life-size bell and a wishing well. If you ask me if I did, well, I didn't. Sorry.

You can check more of the history of this amazing place through: http://www.bohol.ph/.

TARSIER CONSERVATION SANTUARY. The world's smallest primate is here! Like the Choco Hills, you'll miss exactly 80-90% of your visit if you wouldn't see this small, cutesy creatures. The van will take you there, and an entrance fee of 60Php (if i'm not mistaken) will be your charge. Along it is a wonderfully made postcard for keepsake.

Once done, you can meet and greet the tarsiers. One rule: Never turn on the camera flashes. Tarsiers get scared when taking photos with flash, making them feel uneasy since they sleep during the day.

DANAO ADVENTURE PARK: Well, this was where the BEST HEIGHT-SCARE adventure of my life (by far) happened. Not for the fainthearted, let me remind you. The adventure is so extreme, you feel your spirit just got lifted somewhere to another dimension.

This adventure park is known for three things: The Zipline called as "SUISLIDE", the Cable Car (well, it looks more like cable tricycle), and the nerve-racking "The Plunge", a 200-meter bungee swing facility located in Danao, a 2-hour ride from Tagbilaran. The van cannot take you there because of it's distance from the city, so if you're planning, take Danao travel on 2nd day.

Here's a glimpse of the adventure we had. You can also check out through this link:

(video posting in progresss).



See more adventures on video on Youtube by typing in "Danao Adventure Park" on search box. Also visit Bohol Province's Official website here.

3 comments:

  1. Been there last Thursday and the place was trult amazing.

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  2. Yup, the place is very nice. Hope to go back there this July. Sana mapuntahan ko na Panglao Is and also to try Danao adventures.

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