One of my big hopes in making recurring trips to the Philippines with my family would be the ability to discover other parts of the country I haven’t been to yet. I’ve mostly gone back to the same spots over and over, which is what you do when your family lives in those spots, of course, but there is simply so much to the country.
As a nature lover, some of the most intriguing things to do seemed to be located on the island of Bohol. Whale sharks. Diving. Tarsier reserves. Mahogany forests. Caves. And the Chocolate Hills of course. It seemed to offer a lot of adventure relative to its size.
What does ecotourism look like in the motherland?
I’ve often had a harder time appreciating places that pander more towards the experience of tourists than the quality of life for people that live there, but Bohol was a force for good in challenging those assumptions. I learned to see the interdependence that those things can have, and of course, really appreciated the time I got to spend surrounded by nature.
My kids keep asking to come back here! This video offers an idea of why.