Chocolate Hills

_{Bohol, Philippines}

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The Chocolate Hills are typically a group of extraordinarily shaped hills found in the Central Visayas region, an island of Bohol, in the Philippines. This magnificent landscape is unique only to this small island. It is discovered that the famed hills are not only two or three, but there are more than 1,779 cone and dome-shaped hills, making a strange geological formation that has left many geologists baffling.

The hills are scattered over an area of fifty square kilometers or more. It is amazing to note that these unique hills are almost uniform in shape and their height varies between 30 and 120 meters high. They are only covered with coarse grass and during the dry season (that is time between February to May) the vegetation withers because of the extreme heat from the sun, turning the color from green to brown. As seen from far, the grass looks chocolaty due to withering, hence its name!

The Best Attraction of Bohol

Although many theories are explaining how the hills came into being, geologists have not reached consensus on one, but most of them accept the claim that they were formed from weathered dispositions of an aquatic limestone lying on top of an impermeable base of clay. Whatever their origin, the landscape is a bizarre scenery attracting people from across the world. Sometimes, it was considered as the ‘Eight Wonder of the World,’ but it has been declared as one of the philippine’s National Geological Monument in recognition of its scientific importance, special characteristics, uniqueness, and of course, its high scenic value. As such, it is among the protected areas of Bohol.

The Chocolate Hills are perhaps the most famous tourist/visitors attraction destination in Bohol. It is the Philippines’ 3rd National Geological Monument beside being featured as the best tourist destination in the list of Philippine Tourism Authority. Also, proposals to include these hills in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Site are currently being discussed, and new developments will be revealed soon.

How to Get There

It is pretty simple and straightforward as plenty of tourist guides based in Bohol, and other parts of the country are more than pleased to get you to the Chocolate Hills, either as a part-of-a-day tour or as a separate trip. Alternatively, you can get there on your own, of course from Tagbilaran. To do so, go to the Dao bus terminal, board a bus heading to Carmen, and ask the chauffeur to drop you at the Chocolate Hills, which is located four kilometers before you reach Carmen. If you get lost, you can always get help from the locals, who are indeed very friendly and hospitable people. The Chocolate Hills can be toured anytime of the year, but most people prefer visiting during the dry season to see the spectacular chocolate-colored grass. When visiting this destination, you need to understand that the hills cannot be scaled individually, and therefore, there is only a viewing deck from where you can enjoy the scenery around.

Conclusion

Experience the mysterious geological formation of Bohol’s chocolate hills. Looking at over 1,700 equally spread hills all with beautiful vegetation will make you believe that not even science can explicitly explain some of the ambiguities of nature.

Chocolate Hills

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