Bali Bird & Reptile Parks, and rice patties too!

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Trip Start Dec 30, 2007 Previous
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  Ubud, Indonesia
Friday, February 29, 2008

So today Made and Ketut (The Guest House's Official Driver) and I took off after brunch for a day out.  (I now have brunch everyday, I'm getting so lazy here in Ubud!) We headed up to Bali Bird Park and the Reptile park adjacent to it.  I've uploaded a few of the highlights here.  The bird park had lots of birds just loose, flying/walking around the grounds.  They were all fascinating to me, so many I'd never even heard of before (and I'm not even really a bird lover).  Most all of them were from the Southeast Asia area, so if you were a local visiting the park you probably wouldn't be that impressed, but I don't think too many locals visit there.  I was impressed.  Except for the bats, they had huge 2 foot tall bats hanging from the tops of the big enclosures.  It was a hot day and they were using one wing to fan themselves as they hung.  I have a video of it, but I'm not sure you want to see. Every time I saw one while we were in an enclosure I made Made walk in front.  He laughed that he'd protect me (the guy can't be more than 5'4", but he is average height around here)

Bali Bird Park - Chillin'

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The highlight of the bird park for me was seeing the Komodo Dragon, Lola have a meal.  They are only fed twice a week, so it was a cool thing it happened to be meal time as we walked past her enclosure.  The bird park has two Komodos, they are kept in adjacent cages and only brought together when its mating time.  (I guess Lola keeps kicking the poor guy's ass all the time, and they had to keep her away from him for his own good! LOL)  So the park worker came out with a little bucket containing 3 little dead bunnies.  As soon as Lola smelled them with her forked tongue she woke right up.  I don't have pics of the actual act, as I was taking a video the whole time, but I've uploaded some before and after pics.

After visiting the parks, we went for a drive north part way up the Gunung Batur volcano to see some Rice terraces.  Most of the rice patties here are on flat land, but there were some industrious farmers that weren't intimidated by a little old volcano and built their rice fields on it's sides.  Ok, I just can't believe these when I see them.  I mean, rice grows in water, so they have to make plots of land to be filled like little pools.  How do you do that on the side of a volcano?  I've seen it and I still don't get it.  It's an engineering feet of mind-boggling proportions.  I don't even get how the irrigation to work?

Anyway, i won't worry about that I'm on vacation.  So, Ketut knew of a little cafe that overlooked the nice view, so we had a great diner (I treated them, it was $17 total) and we drove back home.  On they way made mentioned that there was a ceremony in the temple that night.  (There is a ceremony in the temple most every night, but I hadn't been to one yet so I decided to go.)  I'll put those pics in my next entry....

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Bali Bird Park - B-b-but don't you, step on my....	Bali Bird Park - Beautiful Blue Bird	Bali Bird Park - Bird with Pom-Pom Head	Bali Bird Park - Can all these colors be real?
Bali Bird Park - Can you find the Peacock?	Bali Bird Park - Huge freaking Bat	Bali Bird Park - Lunch time	Bali Bird Park - Aaagh a ropebridge!
Bali Bird Park - Made!	Bali Bird Park - Me & the Pelicans!	Bali Bird Park - Mr. Toucan	Bali Bird Park - Pelicans
Bali Bird Park - Roaming free	Bali Bird Park - Me and some flamingos	Bali Bird Park - Softest Bublegum Birds	Bali Bird Park - SOoOOOO beautiful
Bali Bird Park - What is this thing?	Bali Bird Park - Yeah, we blend...	Bali Bird Park - You lookin at me?	Bali Bird Park - Do I smell something?
Bali Bird Park - Komodo Snoozin' before lunch	Bali Bird Park - Me and a well fed Komono	Bali Reptile Park - Can you say Jurrasic Park?	Bali Reptile Park - Doesn't he look fake?
Bali Reptile Park - I think he likes me	Bali Reptile Park - I'm chilly.....	Bali Reptile Park - Made wouldn't pick it up =)	Bali Reptile Park - Nice armor
Bali Reptile Park - Really heavy lizards	Bali Reptile Park - Reptiles Eye View	Bali Reptile Park - sclaes up close	Bali Reptile Park - She lookes like lunch
Bali Reptile Park - The aggressive Male Komodo	Bali Reptile Park - Tree frogs	Bali Reptile Park - what a cutie!	A farmer in the pic for scale
Bali Rice Farmer tending to his crops	Bali Rice Patties	Bali Roadside Rice Patties	Bali Volcano - Gunung Batur
Brilliant Green Rice Patties	Made, Ketut and I having diner with a view	Man tending Tiered Rice Patties	Me in Bali!
Rice Patties - Close up of Irrigation	Suz in the Rice Patties!

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