Bohol

Bohol is another of the islands of the Philippines, probably best known for its beaches and watersports. Across 2 causeways from Bohol is Panglao Island, considered one of the best diving locations in the world. I didn't do any diving, but a bit of snorkeling with sea turtles, along with tropical fish and the coral was good.
Rather than take up space with pictures of tropical beaches, I decided to show some of the other sights on the island. The Yoda lookalike in the 1st picture is a sleeping tarsier, one of the worlds smallest primates. He's not much bigger than the size of my fist. They are indigenous here.
Unfortunately I didn't get to swim with the dolphins in the 2nd picture like I did in the Maldives (see other posts). These guys were jumping out of the water but I didn't catch any pictures of them airborne.
The 3rd picture is an important historical statue commemorating the "blood compact" between the local king and the Spanish in 1565.
The 4th picture is probably the best known site on Bohol that isn't a beach. These are the Chocolate Hills, named for their chocolate brown color in the dry season, not because they might resemble certain iconic chocolates from a certain company in Pennsylvania.
The 5th picture is in Hinagdanan Cave. It is a small cavern with an underground lake open for swimming. There are some formations, but the focus here is on getting wet.
The 6th picture is the Loboc River where a luncheon cruise with an excellent buffet, tours the river. The 7th picture is the so called man made forest. Most of the trees you see are mahogany. It was started on the 1950s as a reforestation project. The trees were planted, hence the name.
The last 2 pictures are historic churches on the island. The 8th picture is the church of Our Lady of the Assumption in Dauis on Panglao Island, dating to 1617. It is an unusual mix of Byzantine and Romanesque architecture. The last picture is the church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, dating to 1595. This church built was by the Jesuits as you can tell from the decoration. It is one of the oldest coral stone church buildings anywhere and the 1st church in Bohol.Read more