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The best part was that we were accompanied by stray kittens on the walk.
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We left the kittens behind and drove a few minutes farther up the road, where we went for a hike. We passed some local homes until we came to a narrow path through dense forest that made it hard to see the birds we could hear. We got brief views of a blue monarch and a Black-ringed White-eye. We saw the Sulawesi Pitta, but it was deep in the leaves. Chris spotted a Yellow-sided Flowerpecker, but it was too quick to photograph.
On the hike back, we spotted three or four hornbills, and one male posed long enough for a photo. We even got a better view of the pitta.
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Although we found our target birds, it was a bit frustrating flying 10,000 miles and driving two hours to see a kingfisher for 30 seconds and a hornbill for a minute.
On the drive back, we stopped for a small bowl of Coto Makassar, a traditional Sulawesi beef soup which you eat with rice wrapped in leaves.
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We got back to the hotel a little after noon, showered, ordered room service, and fell asleep about 2:30, ruining our acclimation to the time zone.
For seasoned international travelers, y'all are seriously unconcerned about rabies. Don't pick up stray cats!
ReplyDeleteI love this comment because I get to talk more about one of my favorite things - kittens! These were no doubt the funniest and most fun kittens we have ever encountered birding or not. They followed us into the woods birding as if they were dogs running along behind us with a this is great what are we doing attitude. The one I picked up was always twirling around my legs and it was purring! The two larger ones were with us along the hike and when we got back to the roadside the smallest little runt I have ever seen came out. It was their sibling but at least half the size with a half tail and barely any fur. But what spunk! When I put my hand to that one it gave me sweet fierce hiss. I thought of fleas with my interaction with them but will admit I did not think of rabies but I did not fear being bitten. I may be a birder but deep down always a cat lady. I feel bad these little ones will probably wind up splat on the road and I couldn’t even find anything to pour them some fresh water into.
ReplyDeleteBut do you remember the saying “dancing …… with horses” from Australia I believe? Now we say “birding …. With kittens.” 😻😹it was the best!
We were actually going to get rabies vaccines before we left. They were recommended because of stray dogs and monkeys. We did not for 2 reasons. First we decided not to go to a national park that has monkeys that harass visitors. Second, we were going to get them at the same place we get our Covid vaccines, but that’s pretty far from home since we want the Novavax vaccine, which is less common. But Novavax was not out yet, so we got the mRNA Covid vaccine at the local pharmacy that didn’t have the rabies vaccine.
ReplyDeleteWe never considered stray kittens .