Bohol Foodtrip Part 1 ~ Loboc River Cruise, Chocolate Hills, Tarsier

Bohol Foodtrip Part 1 - Loboc River Cruise, Chocolate Hills, Tarsier. The first part of the Family Bohol foodtrip consit of a day tour to Chocolate Hills and other historical places along the road. The tour also includes a visit to a Tarsier Conservation Park and some small zoo with large pythons and a Butterfly Sanctuary. The tour is highlighted by a Loboc River Cruise Lunch Buffet on board The Pawikan one of the floating restaurants that sail along the Loboc River.

Sikatuna and Legaspi Blood Compact Site Marker

Baclayon Church

This is a food blog so most of the subject matter of our Bohol-Cebu Foodtrip series will be related to the food that we had. Some photos with very brief descriptions of places, animals and activities are however included to educate our readers. Should you be interested with specifics of the places visited and similarly collecting information then you could visit our Travel Blog, Overseas Pinoy Travels where similar entries will be posted.

Chocolate Hills

Tagbiliran to Carmen for a top of the world view of the Chocolate Hills. From Tagbiliran Airport straight we travel to Carmen where one of the Viewing Decks of the Chocolate Hills is located. It takes us almost 2 hours to reach the site. We have to climb an endless stairs to reach the top of the viewing deck. The hills are all green at this time of the year.

Bilar Man Made Forest

After a breathtaking view of the Chocolate Hills we are now headed back down Tagbilran to Luboc Tarsier Conservation Park, but there are two places we have to visit first on the itinerary along the way a Butterfly Sanctuary and a quick stop at a mountain road to get a close look at a Manmade Forest which we have passed by earlier.

Loboc Tarsier Conservation Park

The Loboc Tarsier Conservation Park is relatively new. There are a lot of constructions still going on, however there's a section where several tarsiers are on display on a natural habitat setting (without the cage). The area is separated from the main conservation area with nets. Patches of concrete are laid along the pathways for easier navigation on the steep mountain sides.

Butterfly Sanctuary in Bilar

As I mentioned earlier the buffet lunch at Pawikan Floating Restaurant on our Loboc River Cruise was the highlight of this part of the tour. A River Cruise at the Loboc River is one of the must do when you visit Bohol . There are 2 choices the original route which starts from the Loboc Tourism Complex and a lesser known and newer route which starts at the foot of Loay Bridge called Rio Verde Cruise. We opted for the Rio Verde which according to our guide the food is better and route is more natural with undisturbed river banks compared to the now very commercialised original route and again as per our guide they have received a lot of complain about the quality of food being served o the older route.

Loay Loboc River Cruise Buffet Lunch on board Pawikan

After the Loboc River Cruise we continue to travel towards Tagbiliran. We made a short stop on a couple of small zoo that offer firsthand interaction with large pythons and some lizards. Then proceeded to Sevilla Town to cross a couple of bamboo bridge that traversed the Sipatan river. Our last stop was the Hinagdanan Cave at Panglao before proceeding to our hotel the Dimalunan Beach Resort.

Sevilla Bamboo Hanging Bridge

Hinagdanan Cave

See related post;

Bohol Foodtrip Part 2 - White Beach, Dolphin Watching, Snorkeling
Bohol Foodtrip Part 3 - What’s the buzz? Dinner at Bohol Bee Farm