Alona Gain, Naturally 

Well, it’s fair to say that after our gratifyingly varied journey through the Philippines we’ve definitely arrived in the holiday market tourist bit. Down at the bottom of the island of Bohol lies the small island of Panglao, and down at the bottom of Panglao lies the village of Alona, where it’s impossible to walk any distance without enjoying exchanges with tour operators, tat jewellery sellers, hair braiders, boat owners and boys selling fresh mango. Nobody’s pushy but everybody wants business and there seems to be plenty to go around.

It looks like Alona is booming too. Construction sites are a major feature, whether a new chunky hotel, spaces between bars being filled with…well, more bars…or ramshackle buildings receiving makeovers to bring them into a more lucrative era. Things are moving at a pace and the sounds of welders, hammers and excavators are almost as commonplace as the sound of music from the bars. Somebody somewhere is seizing an opportunity. Was that Chinese or Japanese writing we spotted?

(By the way, we reckon there is some sort of Law in Asia that states that every band playing live in any venue anywhere, must by decree play “Zombie” at least once during every set. Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore…and now Philippines. What is it about THAT song?!)

Of course, the presence of tourism and tour operators means there’s plenty to do here, so we naturally take advantage and join in, and there are without doubt some very rewarding experiences in the mix. Leading the way is our visit to the tarsier sanctuary, where this tiny and endangered species is being carefully and sensitively nurtured in a natural environment.

The second smallest primate on Earth, these little tree dwelling creatures only grow to a maximum of 15 centimetres, head and body length, but with disproportionately extended hind legs and tail. Tarsiers move little during the day, hunting their insect prey by night. With eyes which are fixed and immobile and larger in size than their brain, they carry a permanently startled look as if caught in a moment of fear, using instead of eye movement the ability to turn the head through 180 degrees in each direction. They’re also very cute. 

The Bohol sanctuary is both ethically sound and uniquely successful in both the study and the conservation of this unusual little animal. 

Away from the land and on a boat trip to the remote circular island of Balicasag, a school of dolphins give a commendable display of acrobatics, although we’re a little bit uncertain about the manner in which the flotilla of tourist laden boats pursue them through the waves. Our boat captain informs us that the reason it was necessary to set sail at 6:30am is that the dolphins have departed for elsewhere by mid morning – well, we can probably work out why.

Just off the shore of Balicasag, the coral reef teems with fish and turtles, giving thrills to snorkellers and PADI divers alike, and even to non-snorkelling me armed with mask and held breath. Huge shoals of colourful fish light up the underwater world – not quite as spectacular as Lake Malawi but pretty damned wonderful all the same.

Back across the road bridge from Panglao and towards the centre of Bohol lies another set of strange hills, created by the same tectonic movement as the Green Hills of Quitinday which we visited a couple of weeks ago – but these don’t carry the title “green”. These are in fact the Chocolate Hills of Bohol, from which you can guess the normal colour. During the dry season, the hills’ covering of plants and grasses dies off to leave these strangely shaped, individually isolated mounds an inviting shade of milk chocolate brown. The late end to the rain this year means that unfortunately we catch them still mostly green – it would be good to see them living up to their name but they’re a pretty spectacular sight regardless.

Talking of the rain, we are yet to see anything approaching a wholly cloudless day and each day continues to have a shower or two, variable in magnitude. Our last afternoon here produces the heaviest and most persistent of those and empties the beaches as manic swimwear-clad figures quickly gather up belongings and head for the shelter of the coconut palms in a comically choreographed routine.

Alona is, as we’ve said, very much a holiday destination, but it does it well and we have enjoyed our time here. For now at least the resort vibe is at a more than acceptable level, and the beachfront restaurants beneath the palms are relaxing places to enjoy an evening meal by the gently breaking waves. It would be interesting to see how it’s been affected by the extra development in a couple of years time. 

Time to move on again now, another island beckons, with maybe a hint of adventure along the way. It’s a seven stage journey from Alona to Boracay, some with very real time dependency, so punctuality will be of the essence. It’ll be another early start as we put the pieces of our one-day travel jigsaw together. 

FOOTNOTE: By a string of coincidences we were able to meet up with Sarah (Travel with me) and Chris in Alona. Only in December over a London beer did we discover that we each had plans to visit the Philippines – if that wasn’t coincidence enough, the fact that we ended up without any further consultation in the same town on the same island on the same day…..

FOOTNOTE #2: Anyone remember the 1970s clearly enough to get the pun in the title of this post?