Creatures on the Island

The great thing about Apulit Island was that it was a more than comfortable resort, but also has retained a lot of its natural ecosystem. Therefore, we were able to see so many plants, animals, and fish that we'd never seen before in our lives. (As comfortable as Tokyo is, it certainly does not have enough nature.)

 

The first time I saw a monitor lizard, I had to laugh, because it was almost terrifyingly large. After that initial encounter, I saw them all over the place, but it was impossible to be frightened because they are so noisy. There's never a chance of being caught off guard.

Paw prints in cement.

Fly? Moth?

The geometric print would make a great skirt.

These birds seem to make their nests under the cottages and on the thatched roofs. Luckily these roofs were new, due to the recent hurricane.

A sandpiper.

A kingfisher, which we were lucky enough to see on our very last morning. I caught flashes of electric blue and orange as it flew above us.

Flower-spotting on Apulit Island

The nature guide showed us how to suck the nectar out of the stems of this flower.

The flowers also showed up at a dinner on the beach one night.

 

Everything was transported onto the sand for a night.

A hardy plant perfectly able to survive in sand. I think this flower is also commonly found in Japan.

A lily in a tree.

I can't remember the name of this flower, but the name "half" is in there, a reference to its shape.

The Trees of Apulit Island

The most magnificent tree at the foot of the beach.

 

A parasite plant had covered the original tree completely.

Something that I found hard to believe: this tall tree is part of the orchid family!

 

The proof is in the little flowers that have scattered all over the ground.

A close-up of the overlapping leaves.

 

A member of the staff had climbed up a coconut tree to cut down a bushel.

 

Fresh coconut juice for dinner!

 

A nut tree with pretty casing.

l

 

Nature Hike on Apulit Island

Another activity on Apulit Island: a quite strenuous nature hike, very at odds with the placid beach shore. Amusingly, our laid-back guide was so used to it, he padded along on flip-flops while I was huffing and puffing in sneakers.

For me, the best part of the hike was encountering new plants and creatures.

A lizard, quite different from all the geckos that patter around the cottages.

This ladder was not part of the hike. The island was Japan-owned until around 6 years ago, and during the two years that the island was closed due to repairs, locals from neighboring islands created this man-made ladder so they could climb up to the top of the mountain to catch the ever-profitable swallow's nests made from their spit.

Leaves stuck in a spider's web.

A tree that looks like it's covered with barnacles. Apparently it is so rare that it doesn't even have a scientific name, just something in the local language.

Bamboo trees growing in sideways. In Japan, I think they only grow vertically.

Another flimsily-constructed ladder, this time made for the nature hike. Check the guide's flip-flops!

We saw lots of these large red beetles.

Bamboo like barbed wire.

Rappelling

One of the many activities offered at El Nido Resorts on Apulit Island is rappelling.

I was into it until I realized that the starting point was the cross at the top of the mountain.

 

I went halfway up the path for rappelling, not knowing that you were not supposed to go without a guide. The path was quite precarious!

Plumerias, which they called frangipani.

 

An egg that I excitedly pointed out to the nature guide on staff.

Rudimentary steps leading up.

Even clambering up that precarious rock, I was distracted by the pretty plants.

These look almost like sunflowers.

 A group making its way up.

 Getting ready to go down looked like it took forever.

 

View from the halfway point.

 

Going down. You could hear the woman yelling, "No, no!" which reconfirmed my decision not to do this.

  

But the view was probably even nicer than this.