Crocs and Orangutans…more fun in Kuching

One of the biggest questions I get here at home is “So, do you guys just hang out in the water all day and drink beer?” (or some version of that).  The answer this year is “No, we’re up a muddy river with crocodiles and when we’re in blue water there are box jellies….but yes, we do drink beer.”  For all those people who don’t believe me (the non swimming part, no the beer part), I thought it would be fun to post this for you…

Remember when I came back to the states last year and Jake and Andy came across this little fellow in Palau?

This year I come back to the states and they come across this little fellow swimming in the marina…

That's about 10 feet long if you were wondering.  Not even Andy will go swimming with that thing.

Since I’ve been home, Jake and Andy have been holding down the Savannah fort doing school, fixing things and trying not to melt away from all the heat.  They did manage to fit some fun in there, though.  They’ve bought some remote control helicopters and have spent hours and hours flying those things around.  They spent a day going to the cat museum (Kuching means cat so the city is full of everything cats), although I don’t think Jake was too impressed.  And just the other day, they went to see the orangutans at the nearby rehabilitation center.  According to Ranger Rick (yes, Ranger Rick is a legitimate source, especially when I have one in my hand right now.), most of these little guys were taken from their moms when they were babies and sold as pets and now people don’t want them anymore.  Others were displaced as the rainforest gets cut down all over Borneo.  Many have been released back out into the wild and this time of year is apparently fruiting season.  This means those animals don’t need to come back to the center for feeding.  So when Andy and Jake went, they mostly saw babies that were still in captivity.  They also saw sun bears and porcupines.  Guess what impressed Jake the most?  Porcupines.  Yep, porcupines.

Me, my adorable niece (see a resemblance?), brother, dad,
sister-in-law, and growing way to fast nephew.  Oh,
and dog, Wrigley.

Here in the states, my dad has been getting better and my trip is winding down.  We celebrated dad’s 71 birthday, I’ve gotten to visit a few college friends and I’ve loaded up my suitcase with all those things we thought we weren’t going to get this year (new clothes, videos, cups, cool birthday gifts for Jake, etc.).

I’m glad to be heading home next week, although sorry to leave my family here.  Andy saved the cave trip for me so a week after I get back we’ll be heading to the Mulu caves for a little R&R (don’t roll your eyes at me…I’ll have you know we work hard and are all in need of a vacation – I’m pretty sure I’m typing this with a straight face.).

Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes for dad…keep ‘em up, he has a long row to hoe.

Calauit Game Reserve and Wildlife National Park

We anchored in a beautiful little spot right in front of the Calauit Wildlife Reserve.  This has been on our radar for quite some time.  Jake loves all things Safari and when we heard there was a safari park with African animals in it, we had to go.  So after sailing for 3 days from Puerto Galera, we finally made it.

It was so cool!  It's not a very big place when you think "Safari," but it was plenty big for this easily entertained family.  The park was an effort started by Ferdinand Marcos back in 1976 to supposedly help save African wildlife (although some stories say it was more to entertain his son's hunting habit??).  Animals from Africa were shipped here and put on this reserve to live alongside many species endemic to Palawan as well.

Calauit Deer

We opted for the guided jeep tour and were pleasantly surprised with how knowledgeable our guide was.  Roland (or Robin?  Andy and I disagree on the name), was our guide and he started working at the park in 1977...if it happened, he knew about it.  We were able to not only see the giraffes roaming around, but feed them and pet them as well.  There were 40 head of zebras - different herds all over the park.  ...Over 800 head of Calauit deer - tiny little deer found only in Palawan.  We saw many other things...antelope, wild boar, porcupines, monkeys, pythons, crocodiles, turtles...not all roaming wild (thank goodness), but all healthy and looking relatively happy.  We learned a lot in the few hours we were there.  There's a lot of arguing going on about who owns this land and what it should be used for.  There are some indigenous folks who believe it's theirs to do what they please (like hunting) and then there are the people who run the reserve who believe in conservation and protecting the animals.  Who knows the right thing to do...It's never black and white when it comes to these kinds of things.  I'm just glad we got to experience it while we were here.

I won't go on and on....I'll just get to the pictures...

We spent A LOT of time with the giraffes...

Those things are strong!  He kept surprising me!

He dressed for the occasion..."safari hat...check!",
"water bag....check!", "flipflops...check!"

We noticed that everything is smaller here in the Philippines....
even the porcupines.

Have you ever read about (or tasted) that coffee that comes
from an animal that eats the beans, then poops them out
(and those beans are collected for the coffee)?  This is that animal.

He's holding a turtle and inspecting the shell
to determine if it's male or female...one of the things
he learned on this little field trip.

Baby fresh water crocodiles

Baby Crocodile hissing at his handler.

Just an inch taller....

Now we're anchored in a gorgeous cove about 20 miles south of the reserve...beautiful hotels, sunsets, protected moorings...absolutely gorgeous.

One view from the restaurant at the hotel that owns the mooring we're
on (and where we'll be enjoying our afternoon today).

Another view...

My view... :)

And finally, a few random pics we've taken in the last few days....

We barely touched anything in our freezer after
this catch!

A very large pod of dolphins we saw while underway.  We
saw a leatherback turtle too! unfortunately we were so
excited we didn't get a picture of it.

Close Encounters with the Dolphins

I realize we’ve had a lot of posts lately about Jake, but everything seems to have revolved around him lately - I guess that's a good thing.  Just when you think he’s done it all…  Jake was invited by his friend Charlie and his family to go swim with the dolphins last week.  The dolphins we’re talking about were rescued from Japan (where they were to be slaughtered) and are kept in a fairly large, enclosed part of the lagoon/bay here.  They have trainers and are used as a form of tourism to help heighten awareness of the ocean environment.  They offer a series of encounters with the dolphins to involve both petting and swimming with them.  It’s a win-win for both the dolphins and Palauans.

I wasn’t sure Jake could be impressed by anything these days but he came back with the biggest smile on his face I have seen in a while.  They not only swam with the dolphins but they were able to hold on to their fin and take a ride as well!  AND I WASN’T THERE TO SEE IT!  Jake assures me that he will take me back to get my turn.  We were really grateful to our friends Chuck and Ivy for providing this opportunity for him.  His last day for a while with Charlie and Carla was well spent!  

Jake, Chuck, Charlie, Carla and Ivy

Jake and Chuck up close with the dolphins.

Really?  It will be hard to top this one with the little guy.

My time with the dolphins is going to have to wait a while…Jake wants to spend the rest of the summer with his grandparents and cousins in Oklahoma.  He spends so much time with us, I think this will be a great experience for him (and his grandparents!).  So, in order to fund that little adventure (among other things), I have decided to try to find a short term contract in the States.   It’s looking good for me, so we’re flying out next week and heading home!  Andy will pick Jake up in September while I stay on and finish my contract.  I’m excited, nervous, and a bit depressed all at the same time.  We just spent 5 months apart from Andy last year and now I’ve signed up to do it again.  Only this time, I’ll be apart from Jake as well…something that has never happened for more than two weeks at a time.  So, wish me luck, say a prayer and cross your fingers…

Visiting the Crocodiles

Crocodile warming up in the sun.

We've done a good bit more exploring and are really enjoying this small town.  Yesterday we took a panga tour through the estuary to see the crocodiles.  It was quite a long tour for a very reasonable price.  There's not really an equivalent in the US that I can think of.  There would be too many safety rules!  We saw all kinds of wildlife on the boat ride and once at the end of the estuary, we were let off to see the crocodile reserve where they're trying to breed more crocodiles.  We were able to see several male crocodiles trying to attract the females for mating.  That was quite interesting.  The slowly circle the females (and I do mean slow).  Then they slap the water with their jaws a couple of times and go under the water making all sorts of bubbles...kind of looked like a hot tub.  As funny as it was to watch, I have to say it didn't appear very productive.  Crocodiles definitely have the slowest mating dance I've ever seen.  We learned another thing about crocodiles I didn't know...they sit around with their mouths open all day and I asked the guide why they do that.  He said since they're cold blooded animals, they need to warm up and that's how they do it.  Evidently, the heat is absorbed quicker through the mouth.  Cool, huh?

They had other animals from the area too. The biggest surprise to me was the jaguar.  I had no idea they were wild around here.  We saw some deer and some pig like animal as well.

Iguanas sunning in the trees

Piggy sniffing at Andy's camera through the fence.

Fishermen out early on the estuary.

The keep Talapia at the reserve as well.

Some new friends of ours, Josh and Emily, went with us on the tour.

Another San Blas delight is the smoked fish.  Right around the area where you catch the panga tour is a street lined with restaurants smoking fish on their outdoor grills.  It's impossible to go by and not get something to eat.  Andy and I shared a plate of smoked mullet.  Yep.  Mullet.  We ate it.  We've been making fun of mullet the whole time we've been in the sea.  It was right up there with carp on my list of fish I would never be hungry enough to eat.  But I'll tell you, this fish was delicious.  They filleted it open and then put butter, garlic, and some sort of tomato mayonaise on top.  I think we'll go back in a few days and try the dorado.

Fish stands in front of the local market.  They sell anything from Talapia to Shark...whatever is fresh that day.

We're just going to be lazy today.  Jake has walked a marathon this week and he says his legs need to rest. :)