Now or Never

Compared to other countries we’ve visited thus far we came to the Philippines without much of a plan. After traveling four weeks straight with family, which obviously takes a lot of pre-planning and coordination, we were ready to just wing it. Also, because much of the Philippines has been having a rainy “dry season” courtesy of it being a La Niña year, we wanted to stay flexible.

We first flew to the capital, Manila, and after a 24-hour layover arrived on the tiny island of Siargao in the southeast part of country. Siargao is known for being the surf capital of the Philippines and is incredibly lush with the highest concentration of palm trees we’ve ever seen. Another fun fact – Siargao’s dry/rainy season is opposite from the rest of the Philippines so, unbeknownst to us, we happened to be there during the rainiest month of the year…whoops. Ultimately we still managed to get some sunshine and explore the many highlights of the island by motorbike – surfing, beaches, and great food/bbq, all coupled with some unmatched Filipino hospitality.

After six nights in Siargao, we flew to Cebu City (on the island of Cebu) to catch a two hour ferry out to the island of Bohol, famous for its unique topography, tarsiers (world’s smallest primates), and scuba diving. When we arrived we lucked out with just enough sunny weather to enjoy some clear skies at Alona Beach, the tourism center of Bohol, before the clouds rolled in. Over the following days we stayed super active starting with a dive trip to a marine sanctuary called Balicasag Island, abut 30 minutes off shore of Bohol. While visibility was only so/so because of the weather, we both agree Balicasag has some of the best underwater wildlife we’ve seen. Beyond diving, a popular thing to do is to take a “country tour” into the interior of the island, so we hired a private car for cheap through our hotel to take us to all the top spots. While there was a lot to see, the two definite highlights were the Chocolate Hills (grass-covered ancient limestone mounds full of coral and marine fossils that turn a brown or “chocolate” color during the dry season) and the tarsier sanctuary – those things are so damn cute.

To round out our time in the Philippines, from Bohol we took another ferry to the nearby island of Siquijor (pronounced SEEK-EEE-HOR) and this time were welcomed by torrential rain that did not let up for about 36 hours. We used the downtime as an excuse to catch up on New Zealand travel planning and of course rewatch the Lord of the Rings trilogy in the process. Once the rain let up we rented another motorbike and jammed up the coast, riding through villages and stopping at nearby beaches. Our journey around the island was capped off by a visit to Cambugahay Falls, basically a rope swing playground in the middle of the jungle. The water level was extremely high which made for some fun jumps into the pools below the falls. A side benefit of all the rain.

From Siquijor we journeyed back to Cebu City to spend a night at an airport hotel before flying to Singapore and then onward to Melbourne, Australia. Southern Hemisphere and long summer days, we’re coming for you!