Update 14
Climbed into a van with 8 other tourist today and took off to discover more about this island, Bohol. An hour & a half later, chatting the whole time with the others, we arrived at the Chocolate Hills: hundreds of perfectly shaped mounds the color of...did you guess a milk-chocolate brown?? Yup. We climbed to the top via stairs to get a panoramic view of these "only found on Bohol" land formations. Originally under the sea then thrusted up, the thick coral crust has been eroded and as the coral decays, it turns brown. Next we stopped at the Tasier Restoration Preserve and got to see the cutest, littlest primate in the world. The tasier is just the size of your thumb when born and only grows to 6 inch living 15-20 yrs. Their huge orangish eyes are fixed so like an owl, they can turn 180 degree either way. The Lobac River cruise was next. A gourmet buffet of lots of local foods was served as we floated down the recently flooded river where women were washing clothes, kids were splashing, men were fishing & life went on as we floated by. Elsi had originally planned for us to stay on this river...but the resort had been damaged by the flood & an earthquake in Oct 2013. The boat docked up to a stage and we were treated to a performance featuring several local dances & songs. We cracked up as later, a small band on the boat sang, "Country Road" by John Denver...it seems the only songs we hear are old 60-70's American songs. Our took a quick walk through a beautiful garden & also saw a huge python--a local couple caught it 15 yrs ago & has been making a living exhibiting it ever since. Clever. As we headed back these on the smooth roads, here are some things we spotted: open sided churches, schools with doors & windows wide open where uniformed kids sat, water buffalo in the many rice fields, basketball courts in every tiny village, gas price about $3 per gallon and countless clotheslines & motorcycles It was almost 5 pm when we returned to the beach...by then we'd acquired several new friends...one has a brother living in Dexter!! (John Mertz' brother Tom lives on McGuiness Rd) .We quickly changed & headed to the beach...meeting up with a couple new friends!
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