Bohol Bee Farm

as you can see... shopping before touring!!!

BOHOL BEE FARM was the last stop in our day trip of island hopping itinerary. The concept of this farm is like a B & B ( bed and breakfast ). They grow their own organic produce and of course honey. At the entrance to the farm is the souvenir shop where you can buy chocolate spread, honey spread and even homemade ice cream (flavors like coconut, avocado, malunggay ( a local plant), durian, langka (native fruits) ). They have a farm tour every 30 minutes and all you have to do is pay a 30 peso fee ($.90) and wait for a guide.

The guide was a very lively fellow and he gave us each a BURI hat (woven from banana fibers)-- I think this is to distinguish us from the other people in the farm. We walked a few meters down the path to the honey bee area where he showed us the hive. "The bees are not dangerous at all..." he was saying as he put on his hat w/ net (huh???) I was wondering why he was putting on the net/hat and we were left with NO NET... 

Thankfully, the bees were very tame (I had reservations after watching too many national geographic shows on killer bees) and we all had a chance to take a hold of one "rack". Even my 7 year old daughter.

The whole concept of the bee farm is going natural and organic and you could really feel the atmosphere of being in a serene place. I really loved this bench

The concept of just sitting here and enjoying a good book really appealed to me. We were led to a local handicraft area where they manufacture bags and other souvenirs from local materials

The take fibers from plants and dye them with a natural dye before they weave them into mats. A local woman was weaving fibers from plants into a mat.  The mats are then made into hats, place mats, bags and other products which they can sell in the store or as packaging for the food.

They also had some art work for sale. It was amusing to see honey bee "inspired" art works

Walking further down, you'll pass by the Herb patch. The guide told us that Bohol's soil is very acidic, because of it being a volcanic island. So they have to plant all the vegetables in pots and not directly on the soil.

At the end of the trail, we were left to wander, a path directly led down to a cafe. The cafe itself was overlooking the sea. (the farm was directly situated on a cliff).

the path was actually coconut husks embedded in concrete!

Being adventurous foodies that we are. We sat down and ordered. Some of us saw a hammock and got to swing in it too. (how relaxing!)

The food was nice. It was not too expensive and we asked around regarding accomodations (they have guest rooms). I found the rates very reasonable. (some hotels overcharge you with the food)

What was nice was that they have a direct access to the sea from the cafe. (only open to checked in guests). They had a path going down and when I peeked, I saw some loungers where you can lay down with a good book.

It was late afternoon when we went and it was already low tide. I could see a lot of people walking on the dried up beach and picking shells (I think).

The place just oozed with relaxation...definitely a "TO DO" The next time I go to Bohol,   For more info on the farm, click HERE.

EYES and TEETH

After we had our lunch by a road side cafeteria called TRES HERMANAS (three madams) -- the highlight of which was a forgettable kilawing kalabaw which loosely translated, is... raw carabao meat cured in vinegar (like cheviche)....yes, i know, you are having swirling images of this dish in your head. But it didn't actually LOOK raw... the taste itself  was not bad but not good either.. I tell you something,  faced with no options, -- you eat was is presented. (the rice was undercooked too...). It was my kids' SURVIVOR MOMENT.... hahahaha.

Not deterred, we headed down to the much awaited tarsier reserve.


The reserve itself was very well maintained and you can roam around the grounds freely searching for the tarsier. Most of them are located in the trees and you can search by looking for ones with COVERS on them. (like houses) or in our case, we would go where there was a huge crowd.

Actually, when you get an idea what the "houses" look like, it's very easy to spot and the whole area housed about 10-15 of these houses so you don't need to crowd in one place.

Tarsiers are native to bohol and are the smallest primates. The most notable feature is their HUGE eyes which are the same size as their brain.

my preciiiooouuuuusss..... hehehe.... kindda gollum like eh?

huge eyes (above photos by my friend, Lilibeth Lam)

They so small you can fit one in your hand...

These little buggers are so cute you want to touch one (which is a NO NO)... they actually remind me of koalas... the way they crouch and cling to the branch. Both of them are nocturnal too...

Rules of the reserve : DO NOT TOUCH the tarsiers. NO FLASH photography (since they are nocturnal,  they have sensitive eyes)
The reserve do not charge a fee and just have a "donation" box. (I dropped 200 pesos( $5-) for our group)

Next stop was the hanging bridge.

The only thing you get is the excitement of crossing the bamboo bridge over the height of the river and having it swing. There are two bridges. One is for crossing to the other side and the other is for coming back.

It was pretty hard to take pictures while crossing because of the swinging. I was scared I might lose a grip and my camera would go BYE BYE to the river. It was a good 20 feet high and my sandals kept on getting stuck in between the slats of the bamboo. The boys had a lot of fun jiggling the bridge though. (yeah, ok, they had a lot of fun scaring the heck out of their 7 yr old sister)

Once you get to the other side, there is not much to see. There are few merchants selling local peanut cookies and some coconut sugar. 

Since my friend already had come before, she knew this man who can UNHUSK a coconut with his bare teeth lived there. I think he was featured in several TV programs in several countries already. (do something ODD and you're sure to get on TV). If you have ever seen a coconut, you would know how hard it is to open (most people open it with a machete) and unimaginable to even try doing it with your teeth. 

Looking at him reminded me of the henchmen you see on TV... one of the "bad" guys -- one of those who is always the kidnapper/hold upper or henchmen of some corrupt person. hahahaha

We haggled with him for his "fee"- from 200 pesos to 100 pesos ($5 to $2.5) for him to "perform"

See him do his jawdropping stuff (hear me shout in amazement in the background) in less than 20 seconds.!!!!!

Maybe I should try too...

he actually gripped the coconut with his TEETH

There was more to see in Bohol and we weren't finished yet...

But I have to tell that in the next blog. (LOL)

Of hills, houses and butterflies

The next day, we were scheduled to go on a city tour. We had hired a local van to bring us around (whole day hire with driver is about 2800 pesos  $65-) the van comfortably fitted 9-10 people.

First stop was the famous CHOCOLATE HILLS. these are about 1000 or more hills that dot the landscape. They call them chocolate hills because in the summer, the grass goes dry and brown and then they resemble chocolate. It was monsoon season when we went and the hills were VERY green.

On one hill, they made a structure on top like view deck. You have to CLIMB about 80 steps up the side of the hill to reach the top. (woe to those elderly... they don't have elevators nor escalators). You can take pictures and pose doing a "jumpshot". One of our companions did a jumpshot holding a broom and the picture turned out looking like she was flying over the hills on a broom-- sooo cool!

SHIP HAUS


Not very far from chocolate hills is the newly opened SHIP HAUS (yes, spelled that way). It is a house that is made to look like a ship. the story goes that the owner of the house is a captain of a ship and he built this house a a vacation home. It was so interesting that a lot of people stop by to take pictures of the house. The local government noticed and asked him to open the house to the public.

allll ... aboard!!!!

For a minimal fee, (10 pesos, $.25 cents) you can tour the house. They really went into the concept and dressed the staff in ship uniforms. Inside, you find a living room and a "mess hall" or dining room. When  you go up, they set up "cabins" or rooms. I was told they are open for overnight stays. The cost per room is 500 pesos (about $12-) a night. They have single bed and bunk beds. The decor of each room was very sparse (like a nice hostel) and no private bathroom. All rooms have to use a common bathroom (for the 500 pesos, what did you expect?) the rooms looked clean though.

On the third floor is the "sun deck" where they it up to look like a ship's deck (I guess you can take a picture on the mast doing a "I am king of the world" pose. They have a small "snack bar" where you can buy local delicacies and a souvenier shop.

There's not much to see here actually other than the novelty of the house built like a ship. We had a nicer time in the....

BUTTERFLY CONSERVATION CENTER

Travelling with kids means you have to keep them entertained. The visit to the Butterfly conservatory was really very educational and fun. The moment you step into the place, (a minimal fee is paid) and a guide will take you on a tour. It was pretty interesting to see the difference between a MOTH and a BUTTERFLY. Moths being dull and wolly than butterflies.

can you imagine that moth in your house???

They have a nice collection of sample  butterflies native to the area. The guide will show you the development of the butterfly from larva stage - pupa stage to finally becoming a butterfly.

They have this box where they exhibit LIVE butterfly cocoons... some are gold colored! They say the ones with the most colorful and beautiful cocoons come out ugly while the more plain ones are the  more beautiful ones.... (aint it so? beauty is only skin deep.... hahahaha)

gold cocoons!!!  cute caterpillar!!!

The guide took one of the cocoons and it was alive!!!--- you can see the small pupa moving while it was in our hands. The kids really loved this part.

The next part was when they took as to the butterfly garden and you can see all the butterflies flying around you...

The conservation center also has a cafe. We didn't take our lunch there (although I wished we had). I saw some nice rice toppings and some sizzling pork (we had to take our lunch somewhere else.... a canteen by the side of the road... ughhh....) So, if you ever reach the conservatory by lunch, I suggest you eat before leaving.

In the next blog, I'll tell  about the man with the iron teeth.

Loboc river- BOHOL

When presented with a long weekend holiday, what do people of this country do? They go to the beach!!!
Living in an island country has a lot of benefits. I honestly can say I haven't travelled around every part of this country and visited all the possible areas we can visit. (we have 7100 islands you know)

So, when the government announced a 4 day weekend, me and my friend planned a quick trip for our families (talk about itchy feet!). It was hard to book the other more popular destinations as the flights were booked quite fast. We finally decided on BOHOL. It is an area on the lower part of the Philippines- namely located in the group of Visayan islands. The main city is Tagbilaran (you take a 1 hour domestic flight from Manila) but we were housed on the Panglao island (where most of the resorts are located)-- it is a quick bridge ride away from the airport. There is a more remote island also called Balicasag- (where you need to take a boat)

view from the plane..

The first day of the trip, we arrived mid afternoon and decided to check in to our house rental (owned by a friend) Aside from touring a local church, we decided to go on the LOBOC RIVER NIGHT CRUISE that night. The area where the river cruise was located was very well maintained. It also had WIFI access (yes, really). They had souvenir shops and a local cafe.  (wow, this country is getting somewhere)

view from the dock. courtesy of my friend

As with all night cruises, they had dinner included and some form of entertainment. The dinner was buffet style with some local seafood. The dinner was ok but I guess there were a lot of people coming to the river cruise and the food ran out. (we were early and got our share first) One thing to remember though when travelling at night on a river is to bring INSECT REPELLENT. My friends were great fodder for the mosquitos. (hahahaha). There was also a "soloist" on the boat. (he was actually not that good and sang with a distinctive local accent)

fried crablet.. very tasty!

I was really impressed  the way the local government provided lighting throughout the river so you can see a little of the surroundings as the boat travelled. Near the end, there is  a dock where the locals set up a show. They play the guitars and the others dance. It is set up like a cultural show and you can get down and take pictures with them. At the end of the show, you can opt to drop donations for the community on the provided "drop box".

everyone had a guitar

the kids danced really good

this guy really went into the dancing!

the man with the biggest guitar I have ever seen

I don't have nice pictures of the river as It was too dark to take any good ones. However, I am looking forward to writing about our adventures the following day... where we got to see most of the sights in BOHOL. Here is a good video someone else took of the DAYTIME loboc river cruise