Bohol is the tenth largest island in the Philippines and located in the Visayas, the group of islands in the center of the Philippines. Bohol has three main attractions: the mahogany forest, the world’s smallest primate, and a geological phenomenon called the Chocolate Hills.
The Chocolate Hills are a mystery, both in legend and in science. Folklore has it that the hills were made when two giants threw stones and fistfuls of sand at each other in a fight. Days later and exhausted, they forgot their feud, became friends and left the island, as well as the mess they made. Geologists debate over several scientific explanations that include theories of coral formations weathered from thousands of years, tidal movement, and the breakdown of upper limestone layers followed by an erosion process resulting in cone-shaped remnants.
Whatever the history, the 1,268 hills in Bohol are amazing to see. Completely uniform in size and shape, they differ only in height. Standing anywhere from 100-150 feet high, the mounds are covered in grass, but during the dry season, they turn brown and transform into seemingly endless rows of the famous Hershey’s kisses.
Viewing the hills is free at the original government owned and operated observation station called the Chocolate Hills Complex. Climb the 214 steps to the top of the viewing deck to be rewarded with a 360-degree panorama of this magnificent landscape and national treasure of the Philippines. If you can time it right, the Chocolate Hills are an especially alluring sight at sunrise and sunset, but will astound you at any time of the day.