Chocolate Hills in Bohol, Philippines

© Danita Delimont/Offset by Shutterstoc

Dry, with a chocolatey finish. Chocolate Hills

As the dry season begins in late November, the grass that covers these cone-shaped hills in the Bohol province of the Philippines begins to turn brown, giving them the appearance of large lumps of chocolate. Because of this, the Chocolate Hills have become a popular tourist attraction, complete with a specially built viewing complex in Carmen, a town about 30 miles from the regional capital of Tagbilaran.

So, how were these strange hills, covering an area of 20-square miles, formed? Legend has it that they are the wreckage from a battle between two giants, or possibly the tears of a heartbroken giant. But scientists say they are a type of limestone formation known as cockpit karst and were formed over the aeons through erosion and tectonic processes.