The Seas and Beaches of Bohol, Philippines

We woke up early in the morning to head to the sea.  I must say, sunrises are as equally stunning as sunsets.

When we got there, a lot of boats were already heading out, all of them with the same itinerary as ours-- dolphin watching.

It's quite hard to catch a shot of these marine mammals because you don't know where and when they'll jump out of the water.  Here's one of the lucky shots I made.  This dolphin was also way too close to our boat.  Most of them are at least about 10 meters away.

As most of you know, there are so many good beaches in the Philippine archipelago.  But there are only a few protected reefs like this one above.  It's a snorkeling area maintained and funded, I believe, by the local government.

The Snake Island, named obviously after its shape.  It's not strictly an island; it looks more like a very wide sandbar leading to an island.

The parking lot.

Knee-deep water and grainy, white sand.  See how clean the water is?

Local kids enjoying a swim and doing flips off of the bamboo pontoons of the bangkas.

I don't know how this tire got here, but it made a good element for composition.

Land-tripping in Breathtaking Bohol, Philippines

My first outdoor escape with my D90!

Crispy Squid with ketchup-mayo sauce.

This devil that is called "Happy Horse".  Some drinkers believe that this special bottle (1 in every case) contains a more potent mix than the normal Red Horse beer.

The Chocolate Hills of Bohol.  These 1,200+ cone-shaped hills across 50 square kms are green for most of the year, but turns brown during the dry season.  Best viewed from a plane, the mounds look like little mole hills.  There's a viewing deck in the town of Carmen where the Chocolate Hills seem to surround you.

This two-kilometer road surrounded by mahogany trees is the man-made Bohol Forest.  It can be found at the border of Loboc an Bilar towns.  The road is lined with thousands of mahogany trees whose trunks seem to shoot straight upward from the ground and disappear into the thick leaves.  

The Philippine Tarsier.  

Inside the Baclayon Church, or the Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Baclayon is one of the oldest in the Philippines.  The main structure was built from coral stones from the sea, cut and piled over each other.  To get there, you may take a bus or jeepney from Tagbilaran heading to Baclayon.  Some tricycle drivers will also be willing to drive you there.

A few feet beside the monument of the Bloodpact (Sandugo), you will find a dodgy set of stairs leading to a small mangrove forest.  

I was a bit disappointed, not because there was a lack of sceneries to capture, but because I didn't have the tools and/or skills I needed to be able to capture them the way I wanted to. Yeah. It just goes to show that marami pa ako kakaining bigas. :|

My biggest disappointment was when I compiled all my HDR attempts (using the auto-bracketing function), I barely noticed the difference. That's one thing I'd consult the books for. Can't learn from experience if you can't even create the experience.


All in all the trip was worth it!

Stefano

my brother was playing with our nephew, so i decided to take the rare opportunity that we were all at home and out of our rooms and captured the moment. i only snapped a few, though.

lesson learned: natural light is good light. you just have to adjust the right settings on the camera. this was shot around the last light of the afternoon. just when the sun almost disappears into the house-laden horizon.