What was my favorite memory from this Christmas? Cock fighting ranks right up there as one of the best. Cock fighting in the Philippines uses a 4-inch blade. This is much longer than cock fights in other countries. Consequently, cockfights usually don’t last too long here.
First, the two owners have to get the roosters frustrated with one another and ready to attack. They do this by letting one bite the other in the head and neck. 
The Sepilok area is a chilled out place that features a couple of nicer places to stay, and a variety of wildlife sanctuaries and rainforest discovery centers. I am not really into spending time at wildlife sanctuaries or discovery centers, but they did provide enough distraction to keep us entertained for about two days. If I did return, I would quickly book a standard chalet at Sepilok Forest Edge Resort. The chalet felt deluxe after the other places we’d been. The food was good, and the pool was a nice added bonus.
During our time, we visited the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary, the Orang Utan Sanctuary, and the Sandakan Rainforest Discovery Centre. None of them really grabbed me as being worth the trip, but they were OK.
Kinabatangan River was truly an amazing place. Seeing animals in the wild is a completely different experience than seeing them in a zoo. Honestly, I’m not the biggest fan of zoos, or seeing animals. One minute, and I’m ready to move on to the next thing. This was different kind of experience. Animals can be kind of cool!
We ended up getting connected with Osman’s homestay, which was right on the river. There are other nature lodges one can choose from in the area, but they are much more expensive. The deal with a homestay is that visitors experience what it’s like to hang out with a family, instead of just having a room somewhere. I’m glad we got the chance to meet Osman and his family. He is a passionate conservationist and educator, and knows the local environment as well as anyone.
We were happy that a herd of nearly sixty pygmy elephants was in the area. What surprised me the most about the elephants was the noises that they would make. One person commented, “now we know where the dinosaur noises used in Jurassic Park came from.”
Osman with a flower
At night, the herd of elephants moved through Osman’s yard. At times, the elephants would bump and rub against the house causing it to shake. Osman’s house is on stilts, which made it even more unstable and vulnerable. We prayed that an elephant would would not get itself under the house and knock the entire thing over trying to get out. Trying to sleep with wild elephants walking just a few feet from where we were sleeping proved to be impossible. We tried starting a chainsaw, started small fires and using a spot light to try to get them to move away. Nothing was successful.
*Lots of people have asked me if they could buy pictures. Pictures are now for sale here.*
Piazzas, gelato, pasta, heat, churches, wine, and soccer. Anne and I experienced large quantities of those things and much more as we traveled around Italy’s mid-section. On a side note: it was hot. Too hot. For instance, one day it was almost 110 degrees! When we left Seattle, it had not yet reached 75 degrees in well over 7 months!
*Lots of people have asked me if they could buy pictures. Pictures are now for sale here.*
- Patrick, this is the best work I've ever seen from you. This is amazing! When will the exhibition be? :-) I'm glad you took your digital and not just the pinhole. I'm so impressed!!!July 31, 2010 - 5:48 pm
- I finally got around to checking out your blog update today. Wow! LOVE these new pictures!August 7, 2010 - 6:45 pm
- Really impressive images! I love the atmosphere you've created. I'm your newest fan :)August 26, 2010 - 12:46 pm
- Patrick, WOW. I have been checking back in on your blog periodically all summer hoping to see your Italy photos, and they are worth the wait. These are SPECTACULAR, my dear, and my expectations were high to begin with. I hope you had a wonderful time in spite of the heat - certainly coming home with images like these must be a great consolation prize in any case!September 14, 2010 - 8:31 am
Ashley and Drew had their ceremony and reception at the amazing Trilogy Golf Club at Redmond Ridge. They are a couple that knows how to get down and have a good time, which made them so much fun to work with. Consequently, at their wedding they didn’t skimp on the fun-factor.
Hide-n-seek with the flower girl.
The dancing at Ashley and Drew’s reception was even more off the hook than what can be seen HERE!…:-)
Drew singing Gin-n-Juice on the mic. He rocked it so hard! One of the coolest things ever seen at a wedding!
Tribute to Michael on the dance floor.
by P-Lo
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