The end of an era

This last week was a mid term break at the British School, so we took the opportunity to take one last little holiday as a family of four before our newest addition joins us. We headed down to Bohol, an island in the southern part of the Visayas – the central province of the Philippines – any further south, we’d be in Mindanao!

It was a beautiful place to spend a few days and we really enjoyed the chance to kick back as a family. Zoe and Emily had a great time playing in the sand, mostly in the morning before the sun got too hot and in the afternoon. They even ran around at night once we’d finished dinner while their parents drank in the atmosphere.

Popular with European tourists, the place had a nice ambience, not so much a party scene as a place to chill out. One if the highlights for me was snorkeling out off the beach to where the reef dropped away, just floating over many colourful fish and beautiful coral formations.

One afternoon we hired a car and driver and went for a drive to the Chocolate Hills, a series of brownish hillocks that stretch away to the horizon in central Bohol. Apparently there are 1268 of them, although Emily didn’t quite get up to that number in her efforts to count them. What was for sure was many many steps to get to the top of the viewing hill.

On the way, we stopped off to have a look at the endangered Tarsier a tiny monkey with eyes that are very large for the size of its face. Zoe wanted to go live with them before we got there, but she wasn’t so sure on getting aquainted – I think she got freaked out when one turned its head around nearly 360 degrees!

We also went on a small trip up the Loboc river. One one side, the residents have to walk out (3 hrs) or use river craft for access. At the falls that were our destination, a classic Filipino scene emerged round the coconut palms. A floating café of sorts, with all manner of young Filipinos lounging around with oversized Spanish guitars, just waiting to entertain tourists hankering after even more ambience!

All in all, it was a special few days. Joanna and I were mulling it over as we finished our last meal at one of the beachside restaurants on Thursday evening – this is the last holiday of the two plus two family that we have grown accustomed to. Soon we will be five… which will take just that little bit more organization to handle. We are looking forward to the new dynamic, but we will look back at these days fondly.