My first Sunday here, and Kevin offered to take me on a Road Trip with Nadia and Viana. I suppose similar to a lot of us, they have not really explored their own little island, thinking ‘oh, we can do that someday’. So, i think they were excited to be going.
First we stopped at the Mall to pick up a map :) This ‘Mall’, is HUGE, with literally EVERYTHING you need to buy; times 2. The checkout lines were very long and slow…. i would not do well there.
Then we were off on our Road Trip.
Lots of traffic, lots of motor bikes and ‘tricycles’ that are like taxis. It’s way more crazy than i am interested in exploring. i would definitely not want to drive here, even though they do drive on the ‘right’ like us.
I have not had an opportunity to ride in a tricycle yet :)
they are usually quite nicely painted;
We traveled about an hour along the southern coast, following the sea, through small towns, and then up winding roads, through a beautiful dark forest with very tall straight trees to our first stop, the Tarsier Sanctuary.
Meet the little Tarsier !
I’ve never heard of a Tarsier, so research was needed. This is what i learned :
--one of the smallest known primates; but not a monkey
--about the size of a human fist
--in the family of lemurs
--prefer to remain upright
--a narrow bald tail, twice as long as body, used for balance
--eyes are enormous; larger than brain case and it’s stomach
--largest eye-to-body size ratio of all mammals
--eyes are fixed in its skull; they cannot turn in their sockets
--like an owl, head moves in a 180 degree arc
--name is derived from its elongated "tarsus" or ankle bone
--which allows it to leap 3 meters from tree to tree
--lower limbs twice the length of its trunk
--middle finger is elongated
--long digits have rounded pads, can grip almost any surface
--movements are similar to a frog
--thumb is not truly opposable, but the first toe is
--membranous ears are mobile, constantly moving, hearing all movements
--nocturnal, insect eating — don’t offer them a banana :)
--are arboreal, living in and around tree trunks and roots
--live in groups of more than one male and one female
--female has multiple sets of breasts, but the only functional set is at the pectoralis
--the other breasts are used as anchor points for the newborn tarsiers
--gestation of about 6 months
--only one young is born at a time
--babies are born well-advanced state of development, fur & eyes open
--move about after 2 days, at 19 days move around like adults
--females are the care givers, no male parental care observed
--after two years, young tarsiers become sexually mature
--12-20 year life expectancy
Kinda creepy-cute, huh?
Categorized as a "lower risk, conservation dependent”; it could qualify as vulnerable-endangered within 5 years, if the present protection programs are stopped. Catching and selling them as stuffed tarsiers has stopped; thankfully! But destruction of habitat; by years of both legal and illegal logging, slash-and-burn agriculture have greatly reduced their forests, and reduced the tarsier population to a dangerously small size.
The Tersier Sanctuary had no fences nor nets to keep them from leaving. However, i assume they do feed them to keep them close by and cooperative for their tourist trade; and their own protection. I was impressed by their care and organization. There were lots of people around pointing out the little ones and reminding people not to get too close and not to use a flash.
Probably more than you wanted to know; but i thought it was very interesting; so i kept going :)
i don't know why they put those smiles-grimaces on their faces ... but i had to follow
From the Tersier Sanctuary, we went to the ButterFly House; by request of Viana. She wouldn’t go into the see Tarsiers, but was all excited about this one.
Not much new info here for an experienced butterfly-breeder like myself :) ....except that some of the butterflies have cross bread with another butterfly and had one side of their body different from the other. They had several examples on display. This is one of them. Strange.
They had nice gardens for the butterflies too. This was a huge flower, with 'garlic' in the name, although not related to garlic and did not smell like garlic ??
This large black and white butterfly is their longest living butterfly at 9 months; the rest are the usual 2-3 weeks like ours.
Our little Tour Guide, a girl, was really very very good at her job. It was a part time job for her, she is going to school, studying Forestry. She took us around to everything and explained it all. She was also very good at lining up people with butterflies in a glass case, and making it look like the people had wings on … and she asked me to jump for this one. Look Mom, i'm a ButterFly, and i can fly!
It was a fun stop !
Our next stop was Chocolate Hills.
There are +/- 1,776 grass-covered Hills, 100-390 feet tall, spread over an area of 20 square miles.
The Chocolate Hills are the country's third National Geological Monument and proposed for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
There are many theories about how they formed, and most of them are scientifically unsubstantiated. Even geologists have not reached consensus on how they where formed. The most commonly accepted theory is that they are the weathered formations of a kind of marine limestone on top of a impermeable layer of clay.
There is an observation hill with 214 steps; Viana, the 6yr old counted them :) The plaque at the site makes reference they were once coral reefs that erupted from the sea in a geologic shift; but there are no volcanic rocks anywhere in the area, making this claim unsupported by scientific research.
But, do not be dismayed, there are several legends which are much more believable :)
--2 giants hurling boulders at each other, then leaving their mess behind, forming the Hills....
more for the romantic ?
--a God fell in love with a simple mortal. When she died, his tears dried, forming the Hills...
or more sinister ? …
--a giant animal was eating all their crops. So the town piled rotten food where the animal couldn’t resist it. The animal ate it, got sick, and defecated, drying to form the Hills
They are covered with grass, which, at the end of the dry season, turns chocolate brown, hence their name. At other times, the hills are green, and the association may be a bit difficult to make. As you can see from my photos :)
We completed a circle to get home …. stopping into McDonalds for dinner ! i think there is one in that huge Mall, besides this one, but that is it on this island.
Note the red Priority Lane sign on the right ... it says Senior Citizens ... i'm using that 'card' a lot down here :)
a Fun Day !
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