What's in Oslob's Town Plaza / Park?

Aside from the Immaculate Conception Parish Church, ruins and cuartel, Oslob's park also offers a great view of the sea.

As it was summer when we went there, the fire trees were abloom.

I love this shot of kids riding their bike.

I also chanced on this pigeon.

The place looked really clean and well-maintained.  No wonder most locals take pride of it and suggest that tourists take the time to visit their park.

Small Black Birds

I found these birds perched on the cuartel's columns.  They look a lot like the black birds I found in Sumilon.  Hmm.  If I were superstitious, I would wonder why I found black birds not just here but in Sumilon and in Tumalog Falls as well (a big, black one at that).    

Oslob's Cuartel

A couple of meters across Oslob's Immaculate Conception Parish Church is this cuartel that according to the signage was used as the Spanish armies' barracks in 1899.  

Hmm.  I wonder just how many soldiers were there back then as this looks so small.

I love the shot below.

Oslob's Ruins

I love this shot.  The ruins are just beside Oslob's Immaculate Conception Parish Church and used to be the rectory.  According to our driver, this was razed by the same fire that burned the church to the ground in 2008.  When the church was restored in 2010, the rectory was not included due to lack of funds although now they're working on it.

Oslob's Immaculate Conception Parish Church

From Tumalog Falls, we hurriedly freshened up and checked out of our accommodations so we can proceed with our tour.

Our next stop was Oslob's Immaculate Conception Parish Church.  According to its signage, the church was founded in 1830, was twice razed by fire (in 1955 and in 2008) and restored just this 2010.

It does look interesting.  Too bad we were not able to go inside.  

Big Black Bird

Aside from the interesting dandelion-like and passion fruit-like plants that I saw along the way from Tumalog Falls to our pick-up point, this big black bird perched on a tree also caught my attention.

As I was the first one to notice it and because they saw my photos of my bird-watching activity in Sumilon, Angel was kidding me that I had just become a certified bird watcher.  Ha ha.

Dandelion-like and Passion Fruit-like

After bathing on the basin of the breathtaking Tumalog Falls, we again met Ms. Agony when we walked back to our pick-up point.  This is necessary agony since the climb up and down the entrance to the falls area was so steep that vehicles are not allowed to traverse the road for safety purposes.   

Thankfully, there were interesting plants on the roadside that kept me going.

I don't know what this plant is called but it looked like a dandelion but of course it isn't so I will leave this unnamed.

My most interesting find was this vine that had red and greenish yellow fruits but I also did not know its name and was unsuccessful with my Google search.   The fruits are the same size as passion fruits but I am yet to find passion fruits in red.

Here's a closer shot of the red fruits.  I wonder if these are edible.

Then we finally reached the entrance where our habal-habal drivers were waiting for us.  As the walk or rather, trudge, was very tiring, I ended up buying some drinks for us and hopia in the stall right outside the entrance.

Please note that when we arrived here, my friends and I agreed on the time that the drivers would come back for us.  An ideal time to stay in Tumalog Falls would be at least an hour to a maximum of two.

After our refreshments, we're back on the road going to our accommodations so we could freshen up and head to Dalaguete for our next adventure.

Tumalog Waterfalls

Our next stop after our whale shark-watching activity was Tumalog Falls.  To get here, one has to ride a habal-habal (motorcycle), which are readily available as they are just parked right across the registration area for the whale shark-watching.  Cost is pegged at Php 120.00, two-way.  One habal-habal can accommodate a maximum of two persons.  

The falls is about ten to fifteen minutes from our accommodations and whale-shark watching area.  There's this signage to signify that one is already near it.  

We were dropped off at the entrance where we had to pay Php 20.00 per person.

And this is where the hard part begins.

According to my driver and our staff who hailed from Oslob, Tumalog Falls used to be inaccessible so the government carved a roadway out of the mountain.   The latter added that the road just got finished early this year.

Since it was a steep climb, it was very tiring but a view of the falls from where we were was what spurred me into going.

After about fifteen minutes of walking (trudging, more like), we finally reached the foot of the falls and my, was Tumalog Falls a breathtaking beauty!

It was by far the prettiest falls I've ever been to.

What made it prettiest is that the water is just so thin and shimmery it looked like showers of rain.

We were so lucky because when we arrived, there was only a couple present (One of the two caretakers said a group of rowdy Koreans just left.  Hurrah!)  so we had the place all to ourselves.

Here are more shots of this natural wonder.

I initially did not want to go on a dip but the shimmery waterfalls looked so inviting so I ended up swimming, enjoying the feel of the cold sheen of water.

I loved sitting on the nook and crannies of the rocky waterfalls' bottom while showering.   

I was also curious about the green thing-y so I came near it and discovered it was moss.

These bamboo grasses that provided the place with shade also caught my attention.

After swimming on its basin (the water's very cold, mind you!) for about thirty minutes, we decided to leave.  By then, another family had arrived and their kids and teens were a little noisy and playful for us to tolerate.

If you ever go to Oslob, I strongly recommend this place.  It is definitely worth the sweat and effort!

Pasalubong from Oslob

Filipinos are probably the most thoughtful people in the world because wherever they go, they make sure to bring back some pasalubong (keepsakes or memento) for their loved ones.

The usual T-shirts, key chains, jewelry and ref magnets are available for sale in Oslob.

I bought these whale shark ref magnets at 3 for Php 100.00

Aren't they cute?

Compared to this big wooden sculpture of a whale shark that kind of looked scary to me.  Ha ha! 

Breakfast in Oslob

We were so hungry after seeing and swimming with the whale sharks that we decided to eat in one of the stalls that we saw in the area's beachfront.

The choices were limited.  There were sunny-side-up eggs, tocino, pancit and porkchop.  

I ordered porkchop with rice at Php 60.00 and I must say it was a sulit (worth-it) meal.  Cheap, filling and yummy.

I also ordered a kilo of mango at Php 40.00 that I shared with my friends and Royal Tru-Orange in can at Php 35.00.  Quite cheap.  And this I think is one of the best things about going somewhere rustic because food and service prices are very affordable.

Oslob Facilities

As mentioned in a previous post, Oslob is a sleepy town and tourism has just picked up so the facilities are still quite basic.

After our whale-watching experience, we went back to our accommodations.  It was a good thing that we had our own room because I do not know if the changing rooms in the area are okay.  I was told they charge Php 5.00 for its use.

Aside from the changing rooms, there are also stalls that sell souvenirs and food.

As the stalls are made of makeshift tent, the place looks kind of messy.

Thankfully, they are building proper stalls on one side of the area so the beachfront will be cleared of such an eyesore.

Cottages are also available for rent at Php 600.00.

With all these, I suggest that when going to Oslob, expect to have fun swimming with or seeing the whale sharks but lower your standards when it comes to the available facilities.