Bohol - Happy Hills & Tiny Tarsiers
This less well known island of the Philippines is home to some of its more interesting unusual sights.
As part of my trip through the Philippines (see also my blog about Palawan), I didn’t really have Bohol and its surrounding areas on the list of regions to visit. It was only through a rather spontaneous decision to fly to Cebu and continue from there that this island appeared on my radar. And what a lucky decision it was, given that its landscapes turned out to be one of my favorite photographic sceneries. Although I stayed in Cebu city on the namesake island, I didn’t venture out beyond having some traditional Lechon - I was more interested in exploring the nearby fishing islands I had spotted during the descent from the plane, and visit its neighboring Bohol. Indeed, after an initial day trip, I returned to Bohol a second time for three days to explore more of what it has to offer.
The Chocolate Hills
The primary reason I did so were these hills - and their name only played a small part, I promise. This landscape is geological formation consisting of over 1200 hills spread over an area of more than 50 square kilometers made of limestone covered in grass, which turns brown in the dry season, giving them their cocoa-related appearance (and name).
The reason I came back for the second time was to explore more of the rather large island, and the huge area covered with the whimsical hills during better weather conditions. My drone had to fly overtime during these few days.
The hills have been subject of a few local legends, with popular stories suggesting that the hills are the result of a battle between two giants who hurled boulders at each other over the flat landscape, or the solidified tears of a heartbroken giant who wept over the loss of his beloved.
Tarsiers suffer from loss of habitat and pet trade, as they don’t do well in captivity - their lifespan shortens drastically.
Their eyes are disproportionately sized with the largest eye-to-body weight ratio of all mammals. They are fixed in its skull and cannot move in their sockets, instead the tarsier rotates its head up to 180° to look around.
Tarsiers are shy and nocturnal and spend their days hiding in darker areas under leaves or hollows of tree trunks. Indigenous tribes leave the Philippine tarsiers in the wild because they fear that these animals could bring bad luck - maybe humans should consider this as well and let them chill, like the one on the left here.
There are a few more interesting sights to be found around Bohol, such as its themed public transport buses, and the ship-shaped restaurant. It is also home to a number of beautiful caves - I visited the small Hinagdanan Cave on neighboring Panglao island, where you are even allowed to go for a swim. River cruises and the Bamboo forests are other popular sights.
The Cebu Strait with its channels is home to a number of islands and their fishing villages, which I had initially discovered during the approach to Mactan-Cebu airport. Can’t resist a nice aerial photo of interesting human settlements, so I rented a small boat one early morning with an itinerary based on promising Apple Maps screenshots...
My favorite of the villages here was Nasingin island in the municipality of Getafe, owing to its unique shape and position south of a mangrove forest, planted as part of the National Greening Program since 2013.
Because it essentially doesn’t have any actual land as part of its boundaries - just 0.04 km2 - it is one of the most densely populated towns in the world, given that it is home to over 2000 people.
Need Wi-Fi? Buy a voucher at this vending machines - but the kids were happy nonetheless!
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Pacific Island Wonders - Palau
Prepare to see some of the most intense blue and green colours your eyes have ever feasted on in this post! The unknown Republic of Palau in the Pacific about 700km eastwards from the coast of the Philippines is truly home to some of the most beautiful island formations I’ve ever seen…
Prepare to see some of the most intense blue and green colours your eyes have ever feasted on in this post! The unknown Republic of Palau in the Pacific about 700km eastwards from the coast of the Philippines is truly home to some of the most beautiful island formations I’ve ever seen, but it also has an interesting colonial history and a few obscure sights - read on!
Start here - a short clip of some of the most beautiful locations of the Rock Islands in the southern lagoon of the country , starting with the nature reserve of Ngerukewid… more on that below!
What I came for
My hero shot, and what I wanted to document during this trip: The incredible islands of Ngerukewid are definitely one of the most beautiful island formations I’ve ever seen and have been declared a nature reserve as far back as 1956, owing to their amazing biodiversity.
The southern lagoon is full of amazing places, often best seen from the air. Virtually unpopulated, the whole 42 sqkm site was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012.
Underwater Wonders
Of course, an ocean paradise like this offers a whole different view when looking underwater - which admittedly wasn’t such a big focus for me on this trip (I have yet to do my PADI, but on the other hand I finally got an underwater camera case - these photos are shot on iPhone though). Nevertheless, some snorkeling is always on the cards.
Blacktip reef sharks frequent some of the beach areas in the rock lagoon, allowing you to swim among them. A school of fish found some shelter below our boat, letting me capture these photos.
Lunch spot
This wreck was just a few meters from a small beach where we had our lunch that day - with the backdrop of this beautiful tree slowly shedding some of its orange leaves, creating a beautiful kaleidoscope of colours.
More evidence of the fierce battles that took place here in form of a sunken transport ship, and cannons that were abandoned in small limestone caves on the lagoon entrances. The largest battle that took place here was the US - Japan encounters on Peleliu, which reshaped the geography of the island significantly.
Back on Land
Palau does have more to offer than its oceanic beauty - the country consists of over 300 islands, while its population of less than 20,000 (!) lives spread out on just a few of them. Koror is the largest city and used to be the capital until 2006, when it was replaced by Ngerulmud on the largest island of Babeldaob in a somewhat odd government plan - more on that below.
While the last few hundred years of the country have been shaped by Spanish, German, Japanese, and then US colonialism and influences, traces of the native population go back much further than that, and some of it is preserved around the main island of Babeldaob. The most significant evidence dates back over 2000 years ago in form of the Stone Monoliths of Ngarchelong, a collection of stones in the north of the island, not far from the shoreline.
Airai is also home to the oldest Bai ai in Palau, which is still maintained and in use by the local villages, seen on the left here. The right one is located at (interesting) Belau National Museum (Belau is the historic name of the country). Although the Bai is a meeting place for men, Palau’s culture is highly dominated by matrilineal tendencies, evident in practices such as inheritance.
Although there remains a traditional government structure that still influences the country's affairs through its federation of clans, Palau today has a federal government structure that takes the form of a democratic republic. It’s an independent country, but still holds close ties to the US, which provides funding and military support in exchange for its own military rights. The US dollar is the country’s currency and English is widely spoken, although there are still Palauan and other official traditional languages, even Japanese remains an official language in one of the districts.
On the way to Airai lies this abandoned World War II Japanese Communications Center. While there’s a small signboard outside (and an entrance fee to be paid), it is more suitable for an abandoned places exploration than a tourist attraction, offering a few cannons and not much in terms of narrative, but a good chance of getting buried under a crumbling ceiling.
Capital Strangeness
While Koror is the commercial centre (and deserves to be called a city), Palau’s capital Ngerulmud is anything but that - in fact, it is the least-populous capital city of a sovereign nation in the world. Arguably, not one person actually lives in the city boundaries, although the surrounding state is home to a total of just over 300 people. It was created on the basis of the constitution established in 1979, which called for a capital to be established on the main island to avoid concentration of power in Koror. That took way longer than outlined in the constitution, and finally was completed in 2006 at a cost of $45m, through the help of a $20m loan by the Taiwanese government. Brace yourself for what these funds were used for, keeping in mind that the whole country has a population of less than 20,000…
The parliament is called Olbiil Era Kelulau, which means “House of Whispered Decisions.” It derives from the aforementioned Bais, where the traditional chiefs met to discuss critical topics. During those meetings, no communication that is louder than a whisper is permitted, instead quiet messages are used to negotiate on important topics. Smart approach, although I don’t know if congress functions the same.
The building is in fact not made of massive stone and concrete - it’s publicly accessible and you can walk around in many of the buildings, where I noticed a lot of hollow walls and pillars. It’s also not really suitable for the local tropical climate, mould and ventilation issues have been plaguing it since opening.
Palau’s environmental governance is extremely strong, it created the world’s first shark sanctuary, and makes visitors sign a “pledge” into the passport stamp upon arrival, vowing to protect the environment during their time in the country. It shows - the beaches and rock island areas are one of the least polluted ocean patches I’ve ever seen. Some top down photos from my flight, showcasing the incredible green and blue hues that make up most of the landscape in the country.
A different kind of galaxy
The turquoise waters above show another one of Palau’s attractions: the so-called Milky Way lagoon. It’s a shallow lagoon where limestone mud has settled on the ground, which can be retrieved with a small dive. The locals use this paste for skincare.
More images of the underwater world, taken on iPhone while snorkeling among some of the reefs in the rock lagoon during a kayak trip.
One of the many limestone caves that get carved into the rock formations.
Also came across this incredibly tiny jellyfish, the species of which I cannot determine, with an even tinier fish companion.
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Palawan - Gem of the Philippines
Earlier this year I spent a few weeks in the Philippines, exploring Manila, Siargao, Cebu, Bohol, and what was once voted the most beautiful island in the world: Palawan.
Earlier this year I spent a few weeks in the Philippines, exploring Manila, Siargao, Cebu, Bohol, and what was once voted the most beautiful island in the world: Palawan. This large island is home to around 1m people and lies on the very western border of the country.
Start with this short clip for an overview of some of the amazing spots around Palawan!
On the way to El Nido
I arrived from Cebu, landing at the airport of Puerta Princesa, which is also the capital and largest city on the island. The plan was to go north towards El Nido, the most well-known area. On the way, a visit to the island’s famous underground river was on the cards - which was cancelled by the coast guard due to high waves. This is not uncommon, keep it in mind and allow enough time to try again - which I managed to do, more on that later. Instead, we stopped in Barton Bay, on the western coast, for a small boat excursion, and got to witness an interesting local event: Racing homemade speed boats.
Port Barton is also home to a small sandbank that frequently sees starfish washed on shore, making for some picturesque scenes, especially if - like me - you’re patient enough to await the right moment with no boats and people around.
Palawan's landscape is famous for the almost 1800 islands scattered along the coast of the 450km long main island.
The private custom tours paid off (and were super well organized), because we reached many of the best spots around Bacuit Bay, such as the Big Lagoon and its beaches pictured above, before any other boats.
Shimizu Island
Another of the beautiful limestone cliff islands with their white sandy beaches. Who wouldn't want to set up their umbrella here?
The scale of the limestone formations here is truly amazing, spot the kayak in the second shot!
Another place I was able to enjoy by myself was the Hidden Beach (again part of the creative naming scheme...) on the east side of Matinloc island.
The inside of the cave river becomes completely dark once you go a few hundred meters beyond the entrance, with only the light of the boat captain shining onto the amazing limestone formations. It’s over 8km long, although only the first few kilometers are navigable by boat. The cave network itself reaches even further at 24km length.
Sicily - Island of Etna
Another beautiful wedding gave me the opportunity to visit Sicily, exploring Catania, hiking Mount Etna, and wandering through Acireale. Unfortunately three days are definitely not enough for the largest island in the Mediterranean, nevertheless you get a taste for the life across the Strait of Messina.
Another beautiful wedding gave me the opportunity to visit Sicily, exploring Catania, hiking Mount Etna, and wandering through Acireale. Unfortunately three days are definitely not enough for the largest island in the Mediterranean, nevertheless you get a taste for the life across the Strait of Messina.
Malta - The Intriguing Island
On the way back to Dubai from a wedding in Puglia, I took the chance to stop over on the island of Malta. The small nation in the Mediterranean Sea features rich history, amazing nature, cute cityscapes and more things to see and do than I had expected. Having walked over 50km in just over 3 days, I took a few hundred photos, a short selection is below.
On the way back to Dubai from a wedding in Puglia, I took the chance to stop over on the island of Malta. The small nation in the Mediterranean Sea features rich history, amazing nature, cute cityscapes and more things to see and do than I had expected. Having walked over 50km in just over 3 days, I took a few hundred photos, a short selection is below.
Sir Bani Yas Island - Greening the Desert
Bani Yas Island has always been on my UAE To Do List. The island is about a 3,5 hour drive and 30min boat ride from Dubai and lies off the coast of Abu Dhabi in the western region. It’s the largest natural island in the UAE. Its rich history, incredible flora and fauna and the story of how it evolved into a major conservation project truly makes it a globally unique destination.
Bani Yas Island has always been on my UAE To Do List. The island is about a 3,5 hour drive and 30min boat ride from Dubai and lies off the coast of Abu Dhabi in the western region. It’s the largest natural island in the UAE. Its rich history, incredible flora and fauna and the story of how it evolved into a major conservation project truly makes it a globally unique destination.
Seychelles - Island Beauty
After my first visit to the Seychelles in 2010, it was time go back for another trip to the Indian Ocean archipelago, this time staying on Praslin island and visiting La Digue, after having seen Mahe and the capital Victoria during my last visit.
After my first visit to the Seychelles in 2010, it was time go back for another trip to the Indian Ocean archipelago, this time staying on Praslin island and visiting La Digue, after having seen Mahe and the capital Victoria during my last visit.
The iPhone X and the Maldives Underwater World
A week of relaxing in the Maldives with some snorkeling and the iPhone X resulted in the shots below - took the phone under water without a case, around 1-2m deep.
A week of relaxing in the Maldives with some snorkeling and the iPhone X resulted in the shots below - took the phone under water without a case, around 1-2m deep. These photos were taken at Jumeirah Vittaveli.
Zanzibar - Island Bliss
The last trip for 2016 took me to Tanzania, more specifically the islands of Zanzibar. This beautiful archipelago just off the east cost of Africa offers a unique mix of Swahili roots, island lifestyle, arabic influences and a rich, albeit troubled history.
The last trip for 2016 took me to Tanzania, more specifically the islands of Zanzibar. This beautiful archipelago just off the east cost of Africa offers a unique mix of Swahili roots, island lifestyle, arabic influences and a rich, albeit troubled history.