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Not only are monkeys and deer seen regularly, giant monitors inhabit the jungle as well.
We watched in fascination as a monitor joined us at the dining hall, bringing with him a
breakfast of his own. The struggling object in his mouth was a frog. There was no escape,
and ever so slowly, the frog succumbed to being the monitor’s early morning snack. Simultaneously,
the shy ‘White Crown’ monkeys are eating berries in a near-by tree; the braver
Long-tailed Macaques have made away with the remnants of someone’s fruit plate; other
monkeys are chattering and playing along the pathway;
and the calls of the various birds fill the treetops. EVERY direction that you turn, the jungle
is pulsating with life.
Not to be outdone by the cacophony of the forest, the technicolor reef illuminates with
infinite species of its own. To walk across the reef is to walk through fields of seaweeds,
starfish, slugs, sea-cucumbers, urchins, sea-snakes, giant worms, angel-fish, and more
variations of coral than I can list. Great spearing and snorkeling can be had and it’s not
uncommon for Spanish mackerel or Tuna to end up as ‘melt in your mouth’ sashimi or as
a perfectly prepared meal. Resident Dugongs are often seen in the line-up as well. There
was one day however when there were no Dugongs in sight; the day that the Killer Whale
showed up.
Possibly the same Killer Whale that has been spotted at ‘Ulus’, this majestic creature decided
that it was time for a surf trip of his own and appeared in Java. Charging the best waves
to the hoots and cheers of everyone in the water; it was absolutely surreal! Giant dorsal-fin
vibrating up a storm, more speed than you can imagine; this Orca was having the time of
his life. You could almost hear him hooting himself as he whizzed by. He clearly loved the
sensation of surfing powerful waves, almost as much as we loved watching him. Although
I’m sure that Killer Whales have the ability to be dangerous to humans (especially when
they’re kept in captivity, isolated from their pod, and have their young calf taken from them),
this orca was out to play and posed no threat of any kind. This was a ‘one-day wonder’ and
no further sightings of the surfing whale have been made here again; yet.
“EVERY
direction
that you turn,
the jungle is
pulsating
with life.”
Photo Howard Patrick
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SMORGASBOARDER | SUMMER 2016