Snake!


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June 17th 2007
Published: August 8th 2007
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Snake!Snake!Snake!

My unwelcome passenger - but very pretty.
The opening picture this month is a very pretty snake that nearly killed me! It hitched a ride on my motorbike probably down from one of the forest sites where we had been that day. If I had seen it while going along the highway I would have probably crashed in panic - I have no idea if its venomous or not but wouldn’t like to find out. It appeared when I pulled into my house, my landlord shouted “Snake” I am looking on the floor to find it until he says “on your motorbike” I parked very fast! Its only small but….

After the elections last month, this month has been about getting back to work. For me that has meant an intensive round of inspections and survey work in the forest followed by going mad in front of the GIS machine trying to get all the results plotted, layers to line up, areas calculated and pretty maps printed off. The Help button says that its all easy to do but is less forthcoming about how!

Getting guides for the survey work has proved frustratingly hit and miss with only about a 50 / 50 chance of the arrangements turning out to be successful. When it all works out the days hiking in the forest GPS in hand are great. I was super impressed with one guide, at 74 years old he kept going for 10 hours and wasn’t looking any more tired than me Drinking and snacking on coconuts on the way round saves carrying to much stuff. Under the canopy it gets steamy hot, the sweat just runs off me like a wet sponge being squeezed, how to take enough fluid in to avoid headaches is the big question. Before I came out here a colleague at the Forestry Commission warned me about evil ants that climb up your legs then bite when they find softer skin - they are here and they are evil - don’t stand still for too long.

The reforestation sites that I am surveying are mostly within an hour of two hike of the road. The river valleys are one of the easiest ways to get into the forest so river crossing like in the picture is common. This one had to be waded across six times which is wonderful for feeling cool and clean. The group picture titled Cortes
Cortes reforestationCortes reforestationCortes reforestation

Participants in reforestation activities in the municipality of Cortes.
reforestation shows some of the 15 different families who have planted areas of 1 or 2 hectares each on their land. For these areas we used native species that will provide valuable timber in 50 - 60 years time as well as grafted fruit trees which will start to fruit within about 8 years. The fruits can be eaten by the family or sold at market.

Next up is the VSO Annual Volunteer Conference - This is where the blog becomes repetitive. Being an old hand now (into the second year of my placement) this is the second time that I have written about attending the AVC. For the first AVC look at the entry titled “The cutest thing you have ever seen”.

The AVC has two roles. The first is educational as a way of sharing volunteers knowledge and experience. The second is social, this is the only time in the year when we get together from all over the Philippines. From 8am to 5pm we are shut away in an airconditioned conference room but that leaves plenty of time for other activities. The AVC was held on a small volcanic island called Camiguin (which has featured
Group photoGroup photoGroup photo

VSO in the Philippines
in this blog before - see “Long nose on tour”) it can be recommended for any visitors to the Philippines. Good spots to visit on the island include the hot springs and white island. White island was only about 10 minutes by boat from our hotel so we were able to fit in a 6am trip for snorkelling, sun bathing and an exercise class all before breakfast.

My favourite trip was the day after the conference ended when myself and Roger a Dutch volunteer went to climb Mt Hibok Hibok. This is classified as an active volcano but apart from feeding the hot springs seems pretty quiet. At 1200 and something meters it would fit nicely as a Munro if it was in Scotland. The various types of pitcher plant found on the higher slopes are very cool. Just like at home our view from the top was interrupted by clouds for most of the time but the glimpses of view were spectacular.

I got back from the AVC just in time for the Lanuza Fiesta. This is a great event where you wander round town and drop in on all of the people that you know -
Hot springHot springHot spring

38 degrees - just right for an after dinner soak.
eat and drink for a while then move on and do it all again. Roast pig is the traditional centre dish - sat on the table legs, snout and curly tail. Peculiar to Lanuza is a dish made from raw Carabao meat, this tastes much better if taken with a shot of rum. After as many meals as I could eat in one day a group of us retired to the “outdoor cinema” in the kitchen area where I live to digest over a film. First up was a pirate copy of Pirates of the Caribbean - at worlds end, which seemed very appropriate for our setting - sat under coconut trees swigging rot gut local rum. There are 11 more films on the same DVD which might explain the picture quality. Overall it was quite a good pirate copy with only one person getting up to leave the cinema in front of the camera plus a few mobile phones going off.

As there is no surf at the moment (and I couldn’t have a month without a surf reference) I have been giving my surfboard some TLC. To make it even more beautiful than it already is I
Mt Hibok HibokMt Hibok HibokMt Hibok Hibok

The summit party - Munro bagging in the Philippines.
am adding a nice set of woven “go faster stripes” down the centreline. I wove all 8 feet myself which took about 10 hours - one of the reasons that you couldn’t make surfboards like these in a western economy, the process is too labour intensive.

More next month
Have fun
Matt




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White island

Early morning exercise on white island
WeavingWeaving
Weaving

Weaving some "go faster stripes" for my surfboard.


17th June 2007

Might be your snake
Hi this might be your snake. A flying tree snake called Chrysopelea pelias: Twin-barred Tree Snake They do have a mild venom but are shy and wont attack unless cornered. The fangs are not hypodermic like they are in the rear of the mouth and grooved. There bite hurts a bit but usually doesnt cause any problems unless you turn out to be allergic. They are most unusual and this is one of 5 species that sort of fly by flattening their bodies and jumping off the tops of trees the parachute/glide in a twisting motion to a lower level. sometimes they cause area power failures landing across the hot and return lines of course that doesnt do the snake any good at all!. I have bee enjoying your blog as I am an American retired to the PI last year with my family. We live in Cebu and I have never seen one here. I think most wildlife is near extinct in Cebu as there is very little, possibly no old forest left here. Everywhere has been cultivated at sometime in the past 500 years it seems. Maybe Im wrong though. Thanks to your descriptions I hope to visit that area of Mindanao sometime. I have lots of family on the otherside in Zamboanga Del Sur. Keep blogging and keep doing the good work. I have a blog on 360 yahoo and am called BossFish if you get a chance to look.

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