So sorry that a post did not go out yesterday. Internet AND laptop problems kept me from doing anything on the computer until my friend R came and fixed everything this afternoon. He’s a very popular guy at the complex!
Critters that visited us on our vacation
We had the pleasure of seeing some wildlife on our vacation, even though we never left the resort. I’m talking about visitors to our yard or villa. I wish I had pictures of all but I don’t. They either weren’t cooperative, worthy, or I didn’t have my camera.
George has character
Post-makeover
GEORGE He’s not a critter, didn’t move (at least we never saw him), but he was always present and I loved him. The first morning after they cleaned our room and garden, I noticed that George had a pile of jasmine blooms behind him. The gardener put them there and I continued the offerings throughout the week. I also started putting unwanted shells around him and even offered up special ones that I had found. I didn’t want him to think that he was only worthy of cast-offs. I greeted him every morning and gathered the jasmine (they smelled heavenly). One day when we came back from breakfast the room had been cleaned and the gardener put flowers on both of his ears. He understood the affection that I had for him by seeing the shells and gathered flowers. It was sweet, no words were exchanged and we didn’t see each other do any of it, but he understood. I miss George our garden guardian.
Butterflyless bougainvillea
BUTTERFLIES, DRAGONFLIES, AND GIGUNDO BEES The butterflies were teasers. Kiersten and I love to take photos of them but I did not get a single pic of a Bali butterfly. They wold flutter around the flowers for a long time and as soon as I got my camera and approached, they flew down the cliff to the water. EVERY SINGLE TIME. By the end of the week I didn’t even care anymore. Unlike the Balinese, they were most unfriendly. Instead I included a photo of the butterflyless bougainvillea. It’s pretty and was all over the place.
BATS Bats don’t bother me in the least. They provide a great service and evidently they do the same thing in Bali. They came out as the sun was setting and darted all over eating mosquitoes and other insects. I will confess though that our bathroom was open to the outside near the thatched roof. I did occasionally wonder if I could hear them coming in at night. Doesn’t everyone’s mind play tricks on them like that? They are efficient because I did not have one mosquito bite and didn’t swat any bugs while we were out and about at night. They missed a great opportunity on Monday with the spider but I guess they were all tucked in by that point.
SPIDER One day Anders left the villa to get some snacks. Alright his real mission was to get some beer but he did come back with snacks too. As usual, I was left alone to deal with a huge spider. I’m not exaggerating when I say he was at least 3 inches long. He was in the laundry basket in the bathroom and when I reached in to get something he came charging at me. I had found bug spray in the closet but just couldn’t do it. He ran behind the toilet and even Anders had a difficult time flushing him out, pun intended. Fortunately Anders returned 5 minutes after my first sighting. I’m squirming just writing this, honestly. Anders will confirm the size of him, he knows how big it was and it was the biggest spider I’ve ever seen in person. He’s dead. D-E-A-D.
Are you lookin' at me? Are YOU lookin' at me?
BIRDS There were several that came every day. I kind of chuckled to myself when I saw morning doves. Yes, the kind you see in your backyard every day. They were exactly the same and made the same sound. There were cute little birds with green bellies but they darted around too fast to catch on camera. The bird shown in the photo was one of several that came every day. They sounded like robins but they sure didn’t look like them. He sat on that branch for 30 minutes while I took way too many photos of him. I swear he was watching the surfers.
FROG There were a few little tree frogs about the place. They are cute and I don’t mind them. Tree frogs always remind me of living in GA. One night before bed I walked into the bathroom and there was one sitting on the edge of the tub. Just staring at me like he belonged there. No ribbits, no movement, just staring. He watched me the whole time and I don’t know what happened to him but he was gone in the morning. He would have loved the spider but he was a day late and a dollar short.
Now it gets interesting.
LIZARD I’m not talking geckos but we did see them. I’m talking the biggest lizard ever. We were sitting on our deck chairs waiting for our room to be cleaned one morning after breakfast and heard a rustling in the shrubs behind us. Out darted a 3-foot long lizard. No kidding. He stopped by the pool, looked back at us, freaked out when he saw us because I guess we were supposed to be at breakfast, and continued on out the other side of the yard. I shrieked, I admit it. He didn’t scare me just startled me. He wasn’t like the spider, I never felt threatened by him. The whole episode lasted less than a minute and I’m so glad I saw it. I never would have gotten a picture though because he was moving so fast. The men cleaning the room wanted to know if it was a monkey. I guess they heard my girly shriek – not scream. No monkey just a giant iguana. We don’t have critters like that in PA.
Are you threatening me?
MONKEY The same day as the lizard incident, we had a monkey visit our yard.Fortunately because of the lizard incident we knew that it was a possibility. We were walking out the door to go to dinner but first I wanted a picture of me with George in the late afternoon sun. It’s the most flattering lighting you know and I wanted George to look his best. I didn’t get it. Just opposite us in the garden was a monkey. At first I thought it was a cat, no kidding. But then he hunched over andlooked threatening and I retreated to the door. He wasn’t going to steal my glasses or camera or bite me and send me to the hospital. When we realized he wasn’t so bad I was able to snap a few photos before he jumped on the wall and went to the neighbor’s yard to wreak havoc. It was so cool. I have never seen one of them outside a zoo. Fortunately both the lizard and monkey incident happened on our last day there. Otherwise I would have been a little leery to be in the pool, eatingdinner on the porch, or reading in the cabana at night.
"Hey monkey, why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer."
When you toss in the squid, octopus, shrimp, starfish that was blue and red and looked like a glove, large variety of fish, crabs (land and hermit), and mollusks that we saw in the ocean and on the beach, it was a very interesting zoological kind of vacation. Add in that we never left the place, I’d say it was pretty good. We didn’t need a 2 hour car ride to experience the wildlife of Bali. And yes, the spider was the scariest most threatening heebie-jeebiest one of all.
4PM – 83° Reminder: left click on the photos to see a larger version.
vikarenously 