Cherished Travel

Bohol Bee Farm In Viewfinder

Posted on February 25th, 2007 by seaciel.
Categories: My Philippines, Bohol.

Welcoming the Visitors!	Busy as honeybees	Relaxing and refreshing
Ronnel, the beefarm guide	Ronnel sharing the secrets of the bee colony	Bee Lecture
Mickey Mouse Plant	Seaside	One of their livelihood projects

0 comments.

Bohol Bee Farm

Posted on February 19th, 2007 by seaciel.
Categories: My Philippines, Bohol.

I have tasted the Chocolate Hills in Bohol many times, almost every year for everytime we go to my mother’s hometown it was always included in our itinerary.

But this year, there was a changed.
Last January, the family took a time off to Bohol and went to places that we’ve never visited before. One of them is a farm.

When my mother learned the story of fellow Boholana Ms. Vicky Wallace and her Bohol Bee Farm from the Unbound Magazine, she included the farm in our itinerary.

We almost didn’t make it to the farm because we got lost in finding the queen bee. With the help of the young bees, (some local gradeschool students) we were able to find our destination.

At the receiving area, there were couple of hammocks, chair and tables and bamboo-made sofa where you can make yourself comfortable. The area also holds the farm’s shop where you can buy locally and nature-made products.

After paying for the tour fee of P20.00, we were greeted by their smiling face tour guide Ronnel. He started the tour by giving some information about organic farming. The bee farm has its own restaurant that serves varieties of organic delights.

Here’s Comes The Buzz

This was my second time visiting a bee farm. The first was in Malacca, Malaysia, but this second visit was more enjoyable and I learned more about the bees. Thanks to Ronnel who enthusiastically shared to us the lives of the bees.

When Ronnel was telling us how difficult to find the queen bee from 50,000 bees.
God whispered to the queen bee to appear.
That very moment Ronnel spotted her highness .

We were delighted.

The tour was ended on a cliff overlooking the sea.
Its breath taking view and the cool breeze was trully refreshing and relaxing.
After taking a few shots, we ordered vegetable and seafood pizza, basil and lemon grass tea. Healthy and yummy for my tummy.

More Than a Tourist Destination

Owner Vicky Wallace has dreams and goals for her workers and the community. She is helping them improve their lives by teaching them different livelihood activities and sending her workers’ children to school.

Farmers are encouraged to practise organic farming, to give the people a healthy option and a better environment.

Thus, I recommend Bohol Bee Farm to everyone who will visit Bohol.
Like the Chocolate Hills, I am looking forward to taste again and again the
sweet blessings that Bohol Bee Farm offers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bohol Bee Farm address:
Dao, Dauis, Panglao Island, Bohol
Phone:
+6338.5022288
+63917.3041491
www.boholbeefarm.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

0 comments.

I Found Nemo at Balicasag Island

Posted on January 30th, 2007 by seaciel.
Categories: My Philippines, Bohol.

I found Nemo,
and I’ve got no evidence.

I feel sorry.
But I was glad to see the infamous clownfish.
In person, not a computer animation.

It started with skepticism, when I overheard that Nemo can be found swimming the shallow waters of Balicasag.
Shallow waters?
From what I know, you need to dive deeper beneath the ocean to see where they live.

Shallow waters. Shallow skepticism.

But curiosity prevails.
That leads me and my family to the shallows where we can find Nemo.

As we were sailing the horizon,
I noticed the boat captain, Mang Veto, taking waters out from the boat to the sea using a tabo (tub)

Curiosity.
Skeptism.
Will this boat reach Balicasag?

No fear. Dolphins are here.
The outrigger motor boat cuts through a school of dolphins.
Our boat captain saw them first.
we whistled in the air to call the dolphins.
From afar I saw them jumping, spinning, playing around.
wohooohs and woaaahs.
We felt like kids again.

And then off to find Nemo.

From not so far away, there stand a lighthouse in a tiny island called Balicasag.
The boat stopped where it supposed to stop, at the shallow waters.

I gazed at the waters to see my reflection.
There was none.

Transparency is what I can see,
Lots of moving living things in the crystal clear water.

Are you there Nemo?
No answer.

I slowly descended to the clear waters with my blue snorkelling gear on and a neon orange-like MMDA traffic enforcer’s vest.

I plunged and started to cross the threshold of what it seems to be a 3rd dimension.

Mesmerized with what I saw, I forgot about Nemo.

Corals of diffent kinds, of various shapes and colors.
It’s like I was inside a big aquarium mingling with schools of fish.
I was delighted that I was not the only one wearing a neon color.
There were fishes on their neon blue, green and yellow scales that glowed in the water.
Others were fashioned with spots and stripes.
There’s Patrick the starfish (not pink but blue resting beside a spongebob-like corals.

Then I heard a woohoo sound. It was my brother expressing his amazement.
He later told me to go over the cliff, a deeper area. He said it felt like he was flying with the large fishes under him.

I went on with my minglings expressing my own wohooo and praising the Creator of poseidon.

Then I saw him, Nemo.

I stared at him as he moves around the corals.
Then he stopped, “I smell something fishy…”
He sensed that someone’s watching over him.

Nemo looked up and recognized his own color, neon orange.
He saw me.
We stared at each other.
For how many seconds? I don’t know.
He moved again, in his funny ways.
Then he stopped and stared back at me again.
I was thrilled.

I found Nemo,
and I’ve got no evidence.

What I have was those moments we stared at each other
that was etched in the brain-like corals beneath the waters of Balicasag.

6 comments.

Balicasag Island, Bohol, Philippines

Posted on January 26th, 2007 by Temujin.
Categories: My Philippines, Bohol.

Five forty in the morning, we were at the Dumaloan Beach Panglao Island. The sky was just beginning to show hints of light while we were waiting for our boat ride.

After mistaking a few boats as our own and a few communications with our contact, our boat finally arrived.

We quickly boarded. We took a few pictures of ourselves on the boat and Dumaloan beach as we went further away from it.

Dolphins
Our boatman took us first to the Dolphin watching area. The site was a good thirty minutes away from Panglao Island. I was not able to take any picture of the dolphins because they moved very fast. One instant they would be jumping out of the water doing their acrobatic stunts. But before I could press the camera button they would already be back in the water.

They swam so fast. It would take considerable effort to spot them. One second you could see their fin above the water. Next second they were gone.

I realized that if you really want to watch the dolphins in their natural habitat, you have to dedicate considerable time for this purpose alone.

When the dolphins have disappeared and there was no hint that they would appear again, we decided to head towards our original destination – Balicasag Island.

Balicasag Island

Earlier, I saw Balicasag Island’s Lighthouse as a white speck on the horizon. I mistook it for a white sailboat.

When you are at open sea, you’re view is unobstructed for miles around. You could clearly see hints of the Islands from a distance. They appear near but yet it would still take time to reach them.

We arrived at Balicasag Island forty five minutes later.

The Wonders of Balicasag
We stopped near the shore.

We wore our snorkeling gears. We took a dip in the cold waters.

I realized that the island have a short beach. It was still white sand like all the beaches in Panglao but it was a very short beach compared to the others.

But the real wonders of Balicasag lies beneath the waters.

As I plunged my head to peer underneath the water, I was instantly amazed. It felt like I entered another world. It felt like I entered the world of fishes.

The area near the shore of Balicasag was rich in corals.

I saw different kinds of fishes: Blue, green, yellow, and striped. I even saw a few clown fish (made famous by the Finding Nemo Movie from Disney and Pixar) living in their natural habitat just like in the movie.

I saw different kinds of seaweeds and corals shaped like the human brain, pancreas and intestines.

You can spend an entire day on the waters near Balicasag Island but it would not be enough to grasp the beauty and wonders you can see underneath the waters.

My only regret is that I was not able to bring any underwater camera.

That would definitely be first on my list when I come back.

2 comments.

MidFlight Crisis

Posted on July 31st, 2006 by Temujin.
Categories: My Philippines, Bohol.

The sun was shining perfectly in Bohol when we left. We wanted to extend our vacation for typhoon Glenda was raging in Manila.There would be nothing to do but stay at home when we get there. As always, I uttered a short prayer before we took off. This was something that I have gotten used to whenever I board a plane.

When you are up there and the plane is shaking from turbulence, you can not help but realize how fragile your life is. You’re really at the mercy of nature. Yes, I never really like flying. But it is always a wonderful experience, especially when you are looking out the window and you can see the sights below.

The sky was clear when we left Bohol but it was becoming more cloudy and turbulent as we near Manila.

It’s been a really long time since I last prayed. I mean a real prayer. A prayer that doesn’t start with you talking to the Lord and ends with your mind wandering somewhere else.

This is a real prayer. I was really talking to the Lord asking for safety.

It’s funny when everything is well with our life God seems to fade in the background. But when we sense trouble, that is the time that he is more real to us.

I thought, maybe, people who seem to forget God should ride the plane more often and it should be during turbulent weather.

A voice crackled in the speaker. It was the captain telling us how many minutes before we reach Manila. He also informed us that we would be experiencing mid turbulence because of typhoon Glenda.

This is it. We were almost home. But like adding insult to injury the voice crackled on the speaker again. He said that we would have to wait thirty more minutes before we could land. There was air traffic because one of the runways was closed and the traffic controller placed us on queue. We were number five.

The plane had to circle the outskirts of Batangas and Manila all the while shaking every few minutes.

The flight from Bohol to Manila takes only about an hour and ten minutes. Adding another 30 minutes before we could land was no small matter. One minute I would see the Makati Skyline below and another minute I was looking at Taal Volcano.
Finally, the captain asked the cabin crews to prepare for landing.

When we were at 30,000 feet I thought that the weather was fine already in Manila. As the plane descended I realized the it was still stormy.

Dark clouds engulfed us as we descended. I could see the right wing jerking. There was a moment when the plane jerked so strongly that I thought it could spin out of control. I found my self gripping my seat tightly.

But it was only for a brief moment and soon the plane was on land. It taxied from Ninoy Aquino International Airport to the Manila Domestic Airport.

It is amazing how small incidents like this could make a person really think about his life.

0 comments.