Crazy Unexpected Bat Adventure

Lindsey and I were just sitting in the cabana before dinner when one of the tour guides came up the stairs with a dead baby bat. She said that there was another baby bat down in the pavilion; it turns out that that baby was alive. While we were examining the dead bat, the live bat was brought up to the cabana. Apparently, a crow (or raven, we aren't sure which bird it is) grabbed the babies, but then dropped them afterward. We didn't really know what to do with the baby. The staff isn't able to care for orphaned/injured bats. We figured the best thing to do was to just try and put the bat back and hope that he/she will find its mom or it's able to fly, etc. I ended up walking up to entrance 1 (really scary) and was able to get the baby to grab onto the rock wall there. I don't think that the older bats appreciated my actions. Here are some pictures...

Fun and Games

Lindsey and I had some time to pass today during lunchtime so we played the classic game MASH - something neither of us has done since elementary school. In case you don't know, MASH is just a fortune-telling game.

According to MASH this is my fortune:
I am going to marry Tristan. We will live in a mansion in Mongolia. My job as an owner of a McDonald's franchise will allow me to buy a customized tie-dye Aston Martin Vanquish and support 2 children.

According to MASH this is Lindsey's fortune:
Lindsey is going to marry Will. They and their 2 children are going to live in an apartment in Scandinavia. Lindsey will become a doctor and instead of buying a new car she will keep Pepe, her Civic, and give him a new purple paint job.

Signed, The Amburglar

THE BAT CAVE!

Here are our first pictures of the bat cave. Today Lindsey and I filmed at opening 2 with our cameras for about an hour each. We saw lots of cute baby bats and lots of pregnant bats, too...I guess that is why they call that opening the nursery. Our filming today was mainly about learning how to use the cameras and how to pick out certain bats. We aren't working today as long as we plan on working for the rest of our time here primarily because I was so sick yesterday and don't want to over-do it today and end up sick again.

Pictures of Our New Digs

These are just a few pictures of our new home.

This is our view:

This is the kitchen:

This is my bedroom:

This is Lindsey's room:

This is the dining area/sitting area:

Another view of the kitchen/dining area:

This is the shower:

First Night in the Cabana

Last night was our first night in the cabana. Things started out pretty well. We had a great time exploring the property during the day but then had a brownout (like a blackout but not as long-lasting, or so we thought...) around 4:00pm. There wasn't much to do without electricity and it still wasn't working as it started to get dark outside. Our cook even had to make dinner in the dark and shine a flashlight over our plates so we could see to eat. After that, we tried to watch the bats leaving the cave but had no such luck so we gave up and went to sleep around 8:00pm. We were only able to sleep for a little while before we woke up again at 2:00am. Since the lights were working again, we walked outside only to find an infestation of wild cats on our porch. I have been doing my best to chase them out but they're excellent climbers and keep coming back through a hole in the wall. We have even seen them on the roof! Right now, it's 9:45am and we're still awake so we'll probably be in bed early again tonight. Today our plans include unpacking our bags and experimenting with our many cameras, among other things.

Philippines Herps

This post goes out specifically to Dr. Meyer!

It's only our second day at the cave and already we have had major herping success. We are hoping that Dr. Meyer might be able to ID the animals in the pictures we post so that we actually know what all the animals we come across are.

Our first viewing of the cave was very exciting. Norma came across a very large snake sitting in a tree at one of the cave entrances. It's a snake from family Boidae, but other than that we have no idea what it is. Unfortunately, the snake died shortly after we found it - if you look at certain pictures you can see that he had a mess of injuries all over his body.

We have also come to understand the "joys" of living near nocturnal, vocally active geckos. They are louder than my IPod when it is set at its highest volume. It's crazy that such a loud noise can come from such a small animal.

We hope to have plenty more reptile (and bird) pictures along the way. We can't wait to hear back from you Dr. Meyer - every time we see a herp we think of you!

"Fun" In Manila

Our experience in the Manila airport wasn't exactly the best. First, we got off the plane around 9:00pm our time. Having slept through almost the entire flight, we missed out on getting our arrival cards and customs papers. Naturally, we were very confused when we got to the counter so we stepped aside to fill out the papers only to realize that we did not have the address to where we would be staying. To make matters worse, no one would answer the phone to help us.

Eventually, we got all of that straightened out and made our way to baggage claim. We stood there for quite a while before realizing that our bags had been set on carts behind us with two men anxiously waiting to go home. Next, we went through another security check and as usual, the hard drive raised many questions. After all of the problems we had already experienced, we had to "sleep" on the freezing cold floor of the airport holding on tight to our six suitcases for five hours.

We were so relieved when we got up at 2:30am to find our tickets and check in our luggage. With a sense of accomplishment, we stepped up to the ticket counter and handed over our passports. The people gave us a couple of strange looks and told us that we were at the wrong airport. By this point Ambre and I were both on the verge of tears. A man directed us outside to the scariest line of taxis we have ever seen. Men tried to lure us into their cars and eventually we just gave up and settled for a driver that looked slightly less intimidating. Once we were in the car, he rushed us to the other part of the airport just a few miles away. The ride ended up being $14 for each of us. Finally, we made it to the airport and got on our plane. This has definitely been one of our most stressful experiences yet.