Philippines - Cave Swimming and visit to Bohol Bee Farm Resort

Thursday, 20th December 2018 -
Sadly this would be our last full day in Panglao Island.

Our usual driver/tour guide Reynaldo was meant to pick us up after breakfast and take us to a waterfall and then to some caves in the north of the island. 
During the night I was woken up by the sound of heavy rain, and in the morning the rain continued.
Karina called Reynaldo and arranged that he would still pick us up, but we would only go to the  caves. 
Isabelle wasn't feeling well with a bit of a cold and stayed in the Resort to sleep.
We "borrowed" umbrellas and towels from the resort and boarded the van.










Hinagdanan Cave (Ladder cave) was discovered accidentally many years ago, when the owner of the area was clearing the land for farming and found 2 holes.    He threw a stone and heard a splash, then he built a ladder to get into the cave, hence the name. 

We paid 50 Pisos (Aud 1,30) and a further 75 (Aud 2,00) for swimming and were allocated a very funny guide who offered to take photos of our group and even showed me how to adjust my camera settings to take photos in the dark cave.

The whole family, minus Isabelle

The 100mt long cave has many stalactites and stalagmites and is lit by sunlight from holes above on the ground and is accessed via steep steps with a rope railing.

The holes above the lagoon, from where light enters the cave

There are no changing facilities in the cave, so for those of us who didn't have our bathing suits on we went behind some rocks, and with someone holding a towel around us we changed.
The large lagoon with transparent water was quite inviting but we didn't wander far from the edges.
We swam for about 20 minutes or so, then changed back into our clothes and went back above to browse the little markets where we bought a couple of souvenir

t-shirts.

Swimming in the cave lagoon

On the return trip the driver was keen on showing us the Bohol Bee Farm Resort where we could get a coffee and visit the bee farm.  Apparently because of the rain we couldn't visit the bee farm as bees get aggressive with rain.

The resort pool, the Ice-cream kiosk and bottle lamp shade

We stayed a while and had a drink while listening to a piano player singing old songs. Reynaldo (driver) was even given lunch for bringing in customers.

In the complex we visited the Bee Shop where they sold honey, creams, and other local crafts. They had a bakery on site too, an ice-cream kiosk, a restaurant and even a well cared for vegetable and herb garden.

The piano player sang while we had our drinks

The sitting area and piano player, the restaurant with views of the sea and the wet deck leading to the beach

The herb and veggie garden and other small cosy seating areas around the Resort

This would be a nice spot to sit and watch the sea if it was a sunny day (deck by the restaurant)

I thought the toilets re-purposed as plant pots in the garden were funny.

We decided not to have lunch at the Bohol Bee Resort, so when we got back to the Panglao Bluewater Resort around 2pm we headed straight to the Restaurant Cabana.

It was still raining and the little birds that inhabited the thatched roof were flying from the pool to the empty tables picking on the leftovers.

We had to eat just under the eaves as the staff were setting the tables for another wedding later in the afternoon. 

With the cool weather and a breeze it wasn't too comfortable but we enjoyed a prawn curry  (3 or 4 big prawns only, but it was enough) and later had a slice or two of  Karina and Thomas Carrot wedding cake that had been stored in the kitchen's cool room. 
The serving staff was also given a slice, as they were always so friendly, and there was plenty of cake left over ...
We all realized how lucky we were with the weather on the wedding day just the day before, perfectly sunny and warm.

Preparations for another (big) wedding and 2 staff members carry the wedding cake

Prawn curry and Karina and Thomas wedding cake from the day before

After lunch we went to our room to get our bags ready for our departure the following day.

Later Karina, Thomas, Jose and Benoir played cards by the bar while I read one of the books Karina had lent me - "Blink - the power of thinking without thinking" by Canadian writer Malcolm Gladwell. Brilliant book by the way!

We had our usual Happy-Hour cocktail at 7pm, then caught 3 tricycles to the village to have dinner at the Bohol Bee Farm Restaurant at Alona Beach (a branch of the one we visited in the morning), where we had already eaten 2 days before. 

We had enjoyed the food and they were on board with Isabelle's gluten allergy so it was an easy choice.

They had this tiny cat who took a shine to me, I think they know the weakest link...cat lady of course! Compared to my huge cats, all Filipino cats I saw were really tiny. 

Alona Beachfront restaurants, the tiny cat at the Bee Farm restaurant and Thomas drew a K&T loveheart in the sand

And this would be our last night at the resort with wonderful staff who made sure guests enjoyed their stay and had a relaxing time. A fabulous 5 days with great adventures, a visit to the whale sharks, my daughter's wedding, hours sitting by the two beautiful pools, family time...

The infinity pool at dusk

The following morning we would be leaving the resort and flying to the Island of Mactan, across from the island of Cebu. Another adventure on a tiny Cessna Caravan plane.  I'll tell you all about it in the next post...