Into battle with the Island Dragons

---

21st March 2009

We decide to spend a day at Sapi Island off the coast of Kota Kinabalu; Pili and I are especially keen on snorkelling on the reef there. But before we do any of that we decide to have a walk through the Kota Kinabalu Sunday Market which we can see from our hostal.

The market place is packed with tourists and a few locals. Most fears are confirmed straight away when at first I hear, then find many stalls trading in animals. I find cages crammed with kittens & dogs, all looking terrified and obviously dehydrated. I also find small fish tanks with dozens of terrapins climbing over each other in barely a dribble of water. There are also many caged birds, prisoners in the heat. I protest but it all falls on deaf ears. I tell Pili that I need to get out of here and that I will meet her, Renata & Zbynek at the top end of the street. If I hadn’t have gotten out of there anger would have consumed me and that would just cause trouble. Pili was a little annoyed at me and said “that’s just the way it is” which is the common attitude I find from people. It might be the way it is but that still doesn’t make it right! I guess I’m going to run into more of this cruelty when we get to Thailand and Vietnam, this I’m not looking forward to. I’ve decided I will write to the Sabah Tourist Minister and bring his attention to the animal traders in the market. I’m sure he knows but I will point out that this will keep tourists away, I heard many western complaining under their breaths while walking through the crowds.

After Pili has purchased a traditional Malayan hat we head to the port to purchase our tickets for the Island. On entering we are met with a barrage of sales people all shouting at me for my ticket money. My patience has worn thin this morning caused by the horrors in the market, I snap and shout “do you really think I’m going to give you business when you shout at me, I’ll read the notice boards and make my own choice thank you” the surprise on their faces lightens the moment for me and makes me smile to myself, and it feels good. I just wish the other backpackers and tourists would stand up for themselves. Most Westerners would never put up with the rudeness and pushy sellers back in their own country but they meekly accept it while away from home, this cowardly attitude pisses me off and just encourages this behaviour to carry on and prices to rise, manners cost nothing no matter where you are from.

While Zbynek deals with the tickets along with the girls I find a local trader and buy a straw cowboy style hat just to get that redneck John Wayne look.

On the way across the water to the Island my hat blows off to everyone's amusement. The skipper turns the boat around, I hang over the side to rescue my limp hat from the sea - funny enough, it now fits better than ever!

We decide to go to Sapi Island until 2:00pm then catch another boat to Mamutik where Pili and I had first snorkelled because we wanted to explore the western side of the island; we’ve been told the coral life is even better.

Sapi Island is one of the most popular local islands and when we arrived we find a lot of locals there for the day. A large barbeque area is set up and the smell of the food fills the air. We’re not the only ones who notice this, several of the Island resident Monitor Lizards are loitering around the cooking area and the back of the complex and I get a chance to get some very close up film. We are told by one of staff that at 1:00pm the cooks feed the Lizards with the chicken bones and other scraps. From the size of these reptiles its apparent the pickings are good and they have completely lost their natural fear of man.

We all agree that before we go down to the beach we should walk through the jungle along the well marked tracks. Zbynek and Renata soon leave us behind because I’d prefer to take in the forest rather than just walk to complete the track. Pili and I hear a few birds, but we don’t see any, a few Butterflies flit around among the shadow but really we find very little life apart from a occasional large, well fed lizards. It appear that these island have been ravaged of their bio-diversity by the resident scaly predators. The monitors love nothing better than bird eggs, chicks and anything else they come across, the island has been eaten alive! No wonder the Lizards have moved into the tourist eating areas, they seem to have eaten everything else!

The trail takes Pili and I half an hour and we are relieved to see the beach with the knowledge we’ll soon be in the cool waters. We find Renata and Zbynek in the shade under a tree, they are negotiating with a guy from a paragliding trip, we tell them we’ll pass as we’ve done this in Goa but to go for it and we’d stay and watch their bags, so off they go and are gone for about 20 minutes. Pili is actually the one to stay with the bags because I decide to check out the reef. When I first get my masked face into the water I’m a little disappointed because the visibility is poor from all the disturbance from the dozens of people in the water. I decide to head further out and soon I’m over superb coral full of fish. I also find a few jelly fish and feel the sting from a few across my legs, it’s not bad but it certainly made me move to clearer waters. When I get back up the beach the guys have returned so I drag Pili into the sea so that I can get some underwater photos of us feeding the fish with the bread we’ve purchased specifically. As soon as the fish see our bread bags we are surrounded. After a few failed attempts at getting good underwater photos we both find the right distance and get the pics. There are fish everywhere and our bread is soon devoured. Some of the coral is very impressive and I’m definitely at some point going to have to buy a decent underwater camera, they are not cheap though!

After an hour in the water I go back up the beach and give my equipment to Zbynek and he goes and joined Renata and Pili. I decide to see if the Monitor Lizards have shown up for lunch as it’s 1:00pm. Sure enough they’ve appeared on time with a couple of very large ones prowling around the Asian tourist tables. As ever I have to get a little closer and venture over and pat a few on the head. All seems good and they don’t seem too aggressive. I ask one of the tourists if they have any scraps left over from lunch, a young Asian girl give me a chicken leg. I carefully rip pieces off and drop them into the mouths of these dinosaurs, excellent, time to get the camera and Pili. When I get back to the beach Pili is guarding the bags while the others swim. I ask her to come and film me but she refuses because she’s promised to look after the bags. As impatient as ever I grab my HD video camera and head back to the Lizards and the girls who gave me the chicken. I ask her to film me feeding the beasts, she’s a little unsure of how to use the camera and while I’m feeding I’m also watching her. THIS WA STUPID!!!! The biggest of the Monitors takes a piece of chicken and my thumb!! The mouths of these lizards are full of small razor sharp teeth that have some venom and bacteria with a strong anti-coagulant. In the wild the lizard lie in wait for a passing animal, strike when within range and then just waits for the animal to die from either loss of blood or bacterial infection. They then use their excellent sense of smell to find the corpse and dinner is served. My thumb poured with blood from the three deep wounds inflicted, it all caught on film so you can all have a good laugh at me later when I get around to uploading all my film links! I go back to Pili and of course she is horrified and then tells me what an idiot I am and why do I always have to touch the animal, that’s just me, I tell her. She wants me to go to hospital for a tetanus injection, yeah right! I head the life guard centre on the beach and he also reacts in a similar manner to Pili saying I should see a doctor. During all this time I’ve been bleeding myself out into the sand. I know that this is the best thing to do to wash out the bacteria until my own blood coagulants kick in. The guard wants to wrap me up in bandages and I explain what I’m doing and that when the bleeding stops (eventually after 15 minutes it does) I’ll wash the cuts and apply an anti septic cream which the life guard has provided. All too often infection sets in because people immediately bandage wounds trapping in dangerous bacteria, ALWAYS BLEED OUT FIRST!

To be on the safe side I tell Pili it’s probably best if we go back to the mainland just in case the teeth marks do get infected and I need a doctor. If I’d been bitten by the Komodo Dragon, a close relative of these Lizards I’d be in big, big trouble. Zbynek and Renata catch the 2:00pm boat to Mamutik after I assure them I’ll be alright and I know what I’m doing.

Back in KK we head to the internet café and I do a little research. My conclusions are all correct and my treatment seems to have been sufficient. My thumb is a little soar but I have no inflammation or stiffness, it’s been 2hrs since the bite, by now I would have had a reaction if I’d been infected.

After all meeting back at Lucy’s we decide to go and see the sunset at the harbour then we decide to explore the down town Filipinan food market, it’s vast and it smells really good. After walking around for 20 minutes and seeing all the fish that I recognise from the coral reef I decide to give eating here a miss. The thing that clinches my decision is the kebab sellers. Zbynek and I both discussed having some safe looking kebab sticks but then read the menus and noticed that the chicken sticks are called ‘Chicken Butts’, yes you read right, if you want ass on a stick this is the place. You can also have chicken throat, chicken skin on a stick and another speciality seems to be fish heads, mmmmmmmmm!!!!!! Where have all the good bits gone????. Pili and Renata order some very large prawns and squid and I arrange to meet them at the bar Pili and I went to last night. I’d need a beer and 'real' chicken and beef Satay and to get away from this slaughter house!

An hour later Pili, Renata & Zbynek meet me at the bar, we have a few drinks, a few drunken stories and head home at 11:30pm, our friends leave in the morning to head south for a couple of days before heading back to Prague.

22nd- 25th March 2009

Over the next few days we stay in KK, Pili has a stomach infection and I don’t want to risk going back into the wilds away from medical help and clean toilets. We used the time to catch up on some writing, I sort through my photo files and just chill and pray Pili will be back to form soon. We also walk up to the viewing point over the city and meet Lucy up there on the 24th. I take a few photos for her, I also watch a pair of displaying White Bellied Sea Eagles soaring above the city. On the way back from our walk and at the entrance to the lodge we find two nests belonging to some local swifts, soup anyone?

---