Flying Fox Fruit Bats of Papua New Guinea
So we finally got our wifi back.
During the weekend, we visited a nature park that we will be spending a lot of time at. It's one of the few places we can visit that's clean and safe (more on that in a future post). The giant bats in the video above are not on display - they migrate there for six months out of the year. Thousands of them were in the trees. Their wingspan can grow up to 6 feet. These were relatively small at around 4-5 feet (so about Zach's height). Those of you who know me know that I can not stand things that are out of proportion size-wise, so watching them crawl and fly around was nauseating. Thankfully they stayed high up as there was nothing stopping them from eating our faces off. Now I know why we needed three rounds of rabies shots before we got here!
Other interesting things you'll see if you click on the pics below:
1. Tree kangaroos are adorable and only live in PNG and the northern tip of Australia. Basically they adapted to live in jungles instead of the Australian Outback. Very endangered. But they look a lot like Ewoks.
2. Cassowaries are related to ostriches and totally look like mini dinosaurs. There are some trees whose seeds can only germinate by passing through a cassowary's digestive track, so they are critical to the forests of PNG. Also endangered.
3. The walking tree is incredible. It sends shoots out that eventually move the tree towards a water source. Our guide kinda laughed at the fact that her village elders used to say they walked at night, but I don't think they were that off base. The tree in the picture moved about 20 feet in 20 years (they've been tracking it every year).
4. The hornbill is really cute but mean as hell - he recently killed his cellmate.
