The rest of our pictures from the Philippines...

Chocolate Hills

Hilltop Cottages

Near Laboc we stayed at the Hilltop Cottages- literally cottages on a hill! There were huge poinsettias growing beneath our balcony, and the owners of the place were friendly.

Laboc River Cruise

After the Tarsier centre, our motorcycle driver convinced us to see a few other tourist sights in Bohol, including a record-sized python, and a bamboo bridge.

Tarsiers!

The first thing we went to see in Bohol were the Philippine tarsiers (Tarsius syrichta) at the Tarsier Visitor Centre. There we were delighted to be led on a guided walk through part of the reserve, where we saw several of the adorable little primates! Although I really wanted to pet one (which was possible if you go see the caged ones at the tourist-oriented stall near our cottage), I could see that these animals were cared for on a much more humane and eco-friendly manner. Since these guys are an endangered species, we wanted to support a centre that worked towards conservation, research and awareness.

Cebu City

Late Sunday night we flew to Cebu city, the Philippines' second largest city located in the Visayas. We only stayed one night, (in a wonderful up-scale hotel that included the biggest buffet breakfast I have ever seen. We could have as much bacon, eggs, and sausages as we wanted, and also help ourselves to a wide variety of fresh baked pastries, muffins, and cinnamon roles, or make our own salads, try traditional Filipino breakfast, and top it off with yogurts and fresh tropical fruits). However, it was also on our first morning in the Philippines that the darker side of this county manifest itself in several palpable ways. One look out of our luxurious hotel room that morning displayed the vast chasm between the rich and the poor in this country. And even more disturbingly, we spotted a north American fellow enjoying his buffet breakfast with a young Filipino boy.