Beauty and the Monitor Lizard

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Walking into the bathrooms at the Lemongrass Chalets is never something to be cherished at the best of times. 'Bathroom' is a term that conjures up images of a room and, if not a bath, then some bathing facilities. The word should therefore be used loosely in this instance - although not horrific I can imagine many people refusing to use them. Anyway, that is besides the point. The incident that I want to reconstruct on this page is the near collision I had with another living being one afternoon as I rounded the corner to the bathroom shack. Coming the other way was a six foot monitor lizard, presumably just having used the loo (possibly the shower but I think this is unlikely). It gave me one of the larger shocks of my life and I beat a hasty retreat - it was clear that the lizard wasn't going to. Once I had backed to a sufficient distance I motioned to the chalet owner to come and look. Although seeing these lizards is an everyday occurrence, even he was impressed with this beast as it wandered slowly into the shadows under my chalet.

The prospect of encountering one of these ugly and dangerously unhygienic reptiles plagued my days on the Perenthian Islands. Returning after dark to the unlit chalet compound were uncomfortable times.

Monitor lizards apart, my four days on Long Beach were amongst the best of my trip. The beach is simply superb with the most perfect azure, warm water. The non existence of any really comfortable accommodation means this is really backpacker only territory. Sometime this is a bad thing but here it makes for a lively, friendly atmosphere where people the most important things are diving and snorkelling rather than getting hammered. Alcohol is scarce on the island although there are a couple of beachside bars that stay open as long as you want to drink.

I didn't dive but the snorkelling was excellent. Sharks, turtles, a sting ray and hundreds of other fish were all spotted near the island.

Fresh fish barbecues, dvd's in restaurants and fire twirling displays were features of the evenings for me and the group I became friends with.

The danger is of course over development. from my second day the horizon view was marred by a giant crane that was erecting a concrete jetty, presumably to allow bigger boats to arrive. The water is already showing signs of the oily surface caused by too many small motor boats. However, for now it is a beautiful place to kick back and really relax for a few days.

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