Chocolate Hills

Bohol is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region. Its capital is Tagbilaran City. It is the 10th largest island in the country, located in the heart of the Visayas. To the west of Bohol is Cebu, to the northeast is the island of Leyte and to the south, across the Bohol Sea is Mindanao. Besides the tarsier (see my previous post), Bohol is also famous for the Chocolate Hills.

The best viewpoint for the Chocolate Hills is located at this tourist spot. You have to climb 210 steps to the top.

Once you reach the top you're greeted by this sign explaining what the Chocolate Hills actually are and how they were formed.

The Chocolate Hills are composed of around 1,268 perfectly cone-shaped hills of about the same size, spread over an area of more than 50 square kilometres. They are covered in green grass that turns brown during the dry season, hence the name.

There are a number of geological proposals regarding the formation of the hills. These include simple limestone weathering, sub-oceanic volcanism, the uplift of the seafloor and a more recent theory which maintains that as an ancient active volcano self-destructed, it spewed huge blocks of stone which were then covered with limestone and later thrust forth from the ocean bed.

Geologists have actually long debated about the formation of the hills, resulting in various ways the origin of the Chocolate Hills are stated or explained. The one written on the bronze plaque we saw eariler states that they are eroded formations of a type of marine limestone that sits on top of hardened clay.

The plaque reads:

“The unique land form known as the Chocolate Hills of Bohol was formed ages ago by the uplift of coral deposits and the action of rain water and erosion.”

Whatever the origin might be...

...the Chocolate Hills are an amazing site.

Aimee agrees!