BOHOL

THE SMALLEST MONKEY- TARSIER

Corella and Tarsier Visitors Centre

Corella (pronounced 'cor-ell-i-a') is an attractive, jungle fringed town with a big, garden of central square. There's nothing in particular to see , but its good place to get lost. Fiesta fever hits Corella on the fourth Saturday of April. The town is about 10km from Tagbilaran. Beyond the the town Corella, near the village of Sikatuna, in a barrio known as Canapnapan, is the Tarsier Visitor Centre.

The Tarsier (Tarsius syrichta) is the world's smallest primate. It has over sized, human-like hands and huge, imploring eyes. To be stared at by the Tarsier is to be personally accused of destroying every precious thing on the planet. And the tarsier should know.

The Tarsier Visitors Centre hopes to protect what's left of the tarsier population through captive breeding programs. The breeding areas are off-limits, but a small patch of forest beside the centre allows discrete ogling of several mature tarsiers. Peer hard into the foliage and you may just see a pair of eyes staring even harder back at you.

PANGLAO ISLAND

Diving is the most popular tourist pursuit in Panglao.

MAG-ASO WATERFALLS

LOBOC RIVER

DAUIS CHURCH

BLOOD COMPACT

BALICASAG ISLAND

About 6km south-west of Panglao, Balicasag is a magnificent diving spot. Low and flat, the island is ringed by a reef that drops away to impressive submarine cliffs as deep as 50m. Soft and hard corals can be found around the cliffs, as can trevally, barracuda, wrasse and the occasional whitetip shark. The reef has been declared as marine sanctuary..

CHOCOLATE HILLS

Opinion is divided over the deliciously named Chocolate Hills. One super-cynical traveller has suggested 'they were planted by the Philippine Government to ge some tourism going on Negros '. Others will tell you the hills are the most surreal natural wonders on Earth, and at sunrise on a clear morning, with the sound of the forest waking, we tend to agree with them.

Legend has it that these 1000 or so near-identical hills are the solidified teardrops of a lovelorn giant. Scientific explanations for this curious landscape are more mundane, with the boffins putting it down to volcanic activity on the ancient ocean-floor, submarine weathering, or both. In the dry season (december-May) the lawn-like vegetation roasts to a rich chocolate-brown.

PAMILACAN ISLAND

The tiny island of Pamilacan (the name apparently means 'mating place of manta rays') is about 23km east of Balicasag. High rated by divers, the island was once an ideal spot for whale and dolphin watching (between October and May). But once common species, including sperm whales and short-finned pilot whales, are now scarce, due to years of hunting.