Location: Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Philippines

Sav: RUCUS AND CHAOS.

We woke up to the loudest and craziest sound of… a party? At 8 AM? We didn’t realize it wasn’t a party until we got upstairs and saw that there’s a school next door.

A legitimate school. I’m not sure how we didn’t notice it before but the giant building was clearly in disrepair. Barred up windows, half of which don’t have glass, and peeling paint dominated most of the wall we could see. The teachers in our families would be horrified.

We sat down to eat our breakfast on the front porch and listened incredulously. The highway road out front, combined with the loud school, plus a whole whack of roosters crowing? So much sound.

Despite the noise, we very much enjoyed our breakfast and coffees in the sun. I overheated almost immediately and had to change into cooler clothes and slather on some sunscreen before our big adventure day. 31 degrees and scorching sun? Yes please.

We rented a scooter! Don’t worry it was totally safe. At least that’s what I kept telling myself repeatedly over the first half an hour before I settled into it.

Max: Traffic on Bohol was much more manageable than on Cebu, and soon we were weaving in and out like pros (totally safe Mom)! Most of the vehicles on the road were either scooters or tricycles (motorbike taxis rigged with sketchy welded sidecars) but the occasional car blasted by us as well. I was surprised at how much road construction was underway, and often we had to slow down to share one lane with oncoming traffic. I was also shocked at how many awfully malnourished dogs we saw. I felt pretty helpless as we drove by, but all we could do was leave them be and keep going (I had a really hard time seeing that actually). Savanna navigated from the back and soon the industrial grit of the city was behind us. (S: I have no idea how I keep ending up in this position I’m notoriously terrible at navigating).

The scenery transitioned gradually to beautiful lush farmland (what a contrast) and we were blessed with a cool breeze, as opposed to the hot air we’d been feeling all day. Old fading bamboo houses sat in the middle of each tract of farmland, while newer concrete and ‘North American-esque’ houses clustered together on the more desirable pieces of land. Traffic died down and we enjoyed the winding road, stopping so we could pick up some sunglasses (‘Oakey’ brand), as I was getting really tired of squinting in the wind. The farmland suddenly gave way to an eerie forest, although I couldn’t quite pinpoint what was off about it. Savanna, having studied some forestry, pointed out that this was a man made forest and that all the trees had been planted at the exact same time, which is why they all looked completely identical and had a creepy fake vibe.

Sav: After a few wrong turns (whoops), we eventually made it to our first destination: the Bohol island Tarsier Sanctuary! We entered in total silence, after seeing at least a dozen signs shushing us. Very quietly we got a debriefing for how to conduct ourselves and then we were off! A guide took us on a short walk through a forest, weaving in and around muddy holes and clusters of bamboo shoots. She pointed out a few of the little fur balls for us to look at, and to my delight some of them were awake! For anyone that doesn’t know what a tarsier is, it’s basically a mix between a lemur and a monkey… but really it looks like a frankenanimal. It’s about the size of an apple, weighing only 0.25 lbs, it super fluffy brown fur puffs outwards, it’s spindly stick like fingers and toes grasp desperately to branches, and it has a rat like tail that is twice as long as it’s body. But the biggest thing is it’s eyes. Giant brown unmoving eyes. It can move its head 360 degrees because it can’t actually move its eyeballs at all, so it’s only ever looking straight ahead (weirdly cute and creepy at the same time). I was so beyond shocked at the size of the thing, since I had seen pictures before (never with a size reference) so I assumed they were regular monkey sized but no. LOOK.

JUST LOOK.

We tore ourselves away from the sanctuary and continued scootering on towards the Chocolate Hills, a weird geologic feature Bohol is famous for. About 1300 large identical conical hills are smack in the middle of the island. It turns out that a mix of coral deposits being uplifted, as well as acidic rain and erosion created them. We walked to the top of one and looked out over the horizon, seeing endless green hills that almost looked man-made! Lots of tourists milled about, and from the snippets of conversation I heard they were pretty confused as well. Initially we weren’t sure if we wanted to see them, since a few people had told us they were underwhelming, but I’m super glad we did! Not only were they interesting to see but the drive across the island was worth it all on its own.

Despite the constant shifting around to alleviate our sore tushes, we made it home just before sunset. The BBQ was just starting so we sat down at home and enjoyed fresh pork and chicken, with local spiced and stewed okra, carrots and jicama. Oh and also a Red Horse, of course, the local favourite beer.

I’m now writing from the café across the street with the amazing carrot cake, as we decided to return for some dessert, coffee and work after dinner. The comfy pink wingback chairs and good wifi were a draw just as much as the cake! My butt may be super sore, I’m covered in dirt and dust, I definitely drank a coffee way too late in the evening, but I’m so happy to be here.

Sav