Travel-Trotter

The day after Maddy’s birthday we set off from Oslob to the dive resort of Polaris on the island of Cabilao just off the coast of Bohol in the Philippines.  We hired a driver from the place we stayed in Oslob and drove about an hour and a half north to Argao where we were to meet the boat that took us to the island.

It took a few tries to find the right place where the Polaris boat docked but we finally found it.  We grabbed some lunch and waited for the boat to depart.  They were about to shove off when our friends Sharon and Scott showed up looking very tired.  They had told us about this resort so we were glad to see them, we had arranged to meet up when we were all in Koh Lanta, Thailand.  We found out from them that they had been up most the night flying to Cebu with sick kids and then got up early to get their daughter’s fever check for Dengue.  They were in Koh Lanta with us so they have a healthy appreciation for Dengue as well, but all was negative and all they needed was a couple nights rest.

We got to the resort and it was amazing; gorgeous palm trees, turquoise waters, a pool and a nice area for the kids to run wild.  It was a great spot to relax and unwind for a bit.  They also had great diving just off the coast, some of the best coral wall diving, I’ve ever done.

They advertise lots of micro sea-life, not too much big stuff is left in the waters, due to over fishing.  So we got lots of pictures of the smallest most interesting crabs and shrimp you have ever seen.

 

 

We did see a few turtles and we heard that some other friends that joined us later (Charlotte and Jasper) saw a whale shark during their dive, So jealous.  We ate at the resort restaurant for most of our meals and the kids enjoyed the food, chicken fingers and spaghetti mostly.  I’m sure the kitchen enjoyed all the special request from the kids.  Day in the life I guess.

We were there for 10 days and it was really gorgeous weather the whole time, the sunsets were incredible almost every night.  We did venture out and go on a tour on the neighboring island of Bohol to visit the Chocolate Hills that was recommended by my friend Jen Dyen.  The hills were a mostly green (they look brown during the dry season) but other than that they were beautiful.  They are a limestone formation that eroding in a very interesting way.

We visited a butterfly museum, a hanging bridge and a tarsier sanctuary.  The kids loved visiting the tarsiers, they are really tiny nocturnal primates that have huge eyes.  There were only a few for us to see on the path in the preserve but we were able to see 6 of them.  They were so tiny and cute, one even woke up to show us his eyes.

They rest of the time we enjoyed swimming, school, scuba and sunsets at Polaris.  It was a perfect spot for the kids to run free and collect hermit crabs, have treasure hunt or play chess (on the huge chess board).  We were certainly sad to leave the island and our friends there but Hong Kong awaits.  So long to southeast Asia, only one month left on our journey.