Safely. For those who asked, the mud slide in Leyte was hundreds of miles away on another of the 7,107 islands that comprise the Philippines.

Now the real work begins. The sorting, retouching, color-correcting, uploading and the really difficult part – the search for the right words. Here we go…

While visiting Bohol, we took a tour which included a face-to-face with the one of the world’s smallest primates – the Philippine Tarsier. These cute google-eyed creatures have eyes that outweigh their brains. One Filipina said that Tarsiers scared her because their eyes are always on “high-beam”.

From there the four of us took a trip up the Loboc River on a boat designed to hold 40 or more people. We were served an excellent meal while two Filipinas waved pompons to keep flies from our food. This was one of the most unique experiences any of us had on this trip.

The day trip also included a stop at the bizarre and picturesque Chocolate Hills. The ancient mounds are much larger than I thought they’d be.

Back in Tagbilaran, the noisy streets are clogged with deisel Jeepney’s and two-stroke tricycles. It’s noisy, the air is unfit to breathe, tourists make easy targets for the dozens of begging children. It’s a bit much to take. One thing that caught my eye was the religious slogan on the back of every single tricycle. It turns out that these are actually required by Bohol law. Drivers must paint a slogan on their tricycle in order to receive a license.

Another surprise was that the children will pose with the familiar two-finger salute seen in other countries in the region. Funny!