#club100||Family Travel Blog: Wandering the Islands with our two little explorer

One way of giving our kids relaxation is we find time to travel whenever possible during school summer vacation. To make sure we have a space to stay and for the safety of my two sons, we had to book a room months before our scheduled date of travel and arrange the itinerary before going to the spot.

Here are our few family travel moments,

_{Chocolate Hills in Bohol}

Bohol is one of the islands of the Visayas Region here in the Philippines. From our place, we need to travel by ship or by fast craft. We woke up early that time so we could get in the place right away. After we arrived on the Island we immediately took a Van for rent to bring us to the place.

The view was breathtaking, those so-called "Chocolate hills" look interesting that make you wonder how it is being made. Can you imagine a thousand hills formation? That time, my son kept on asking me, " Papa where is the chocolate?" Tsak! It made me silent for a while. Then, I just made a low-key answer, "son, those hills look like chocolate in a distance when its grass turned brown during summer. Just the look, but not real chocolate."

_{Bukilat Cave in Camotes Island}

Camotes Islands is one of the most visited tourist spots in Cebu City. It has limited means of transportation, so better book a package tour that includes a car service to avoid the hassle. It was the first time my kids saw a cave. At first, they were afraid of going down inside, then after seeing that a few tourists were swimming, it made them curious and they wanted to try to swim as well. It's a good thing that we brought them an extra t-shirt. The staff told us that we have to be careful because during high tide the water of this cave will also rise. My two sons enjoyed swimming there a lot, I was having a hard time stopping them from what they were doing.

_{Olanggo Island Wildlife Sanctuary}

_{San Vicente Marine Sanctuary Olanggo Island}

I wanted our son to get closer to nature, they had been wanting to see wild birds. Also, after watching the movie "Finding Nemo" again and again, they had been telling me they wanted to see it personally. Looking at their eyes, you could tell how curious they were about this fish-like Nemo. So, my wife and I decided to bring them to Olanggo Island. Together we visited a certain place well protected from onlookers, the Olanggo Birds' Sanctuary. A sanctuary for migratory birds. There they saw different kinds of wild birds. Though we were not lucky to get closer, at least they had seen real birds and heard them sing.

Then we went to the San Vicente Marine Sanctuary, where they had seen different kinds of colorful small fishes, somewhat like Nemo. I hope that experience answered their curiosities. Going there is very difficult because I needed to carry my little son while walking on a long wooden bridge. It paid the effort, especially watching your kids enjoy swimming while seeing those schools of colorful little fishes.

_{Pandanon Island Bohol}

The main asset of this place is the fine white sand and crystal clear water. The water is not so deep and the waves are not too big, just safe for family hangouts. There are also cottages where you could place the foods you brought and also a very soothing place to rest. We went there by motorboat, which we booked earlier. Our kids took so much pleasure while taking a bath as it was low tide at that time and there was nothing to worry about their safety. It even left them sunburned, but it's all worth it as long as they enjoyed their summer vacation.

Honestly, it's really expensive to travel and it's difficult if you have little kids, they need your attention at all times. But we wanted our kids to enjoy their school vacation at the same time learn something firsthand. Hopefully, as they grow up they will bring back those travel memories and reminisce how they enjoyed their childhood with the family.

Your travel buddy,
@juichi