Yes Pappy, they are a very happy bunch so far. We have been in Eastern Indonesia which is a little more remote and us white folks are a bit of a novelty, especially to the children. There is a kind of happy innocence about the people. They are friendly and generous, resentment and selfishness dont seem to be a part of their make up.
The picture with the old man is a group from our guide's village who wanted us to stay for a party to celebrate the communion of one of the children.
The two girls are travel agents who wanted a photograph with "James Bond", a result of my $1.50 haircut!
The boys are at a technical school in Maumere and we spoke to them about the importance of learning English, and working in different parts of the world. We spoke to several classes at the request of their English teachers. What a great bunch of kids.
After the talks the guide took us to his house where he and his wife laid on lunch, a complete surprise and free of charge. His wife and neighbours are to the right. The other folks are from two other boats in the rally, Jan, an cardiac theatre nurse from Canada, and Salim and Nadire, doctors from Turkey. All amazing people.
Soon we go to Borneo which will be quite special. My sponsor said I looked like the "wild man of Borneo" when I came into AA, now I am actually going there. If I find any wild men, I will take pictures.
I will have a go at more pics when I get some more data.
I find this absolutely fascinating Mike ... This is probably as close as I will ever get to that part of the world ... and your pic description above kinda makes everyone come alive in the pics ... thank you so much ...
Borneo, huh? ... wild man ??? ... that's funny ... seems like I've heard that expression before? ... a long time ago ... 'wild man of Borneo' ... was that in a Boris Karloff film??? ...
Take Care,
Pappy
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
He's scary! I wondered what you meant by Komodo dragons! I thought you were talking about going to see some kind of oriental show and couldn't figure out why/how they had those where you are.
(Gotta pull out a book or read up on stuff more, my ignorance is showing...ha! not funny, actually sad.)
Oh my! Then Pappy was right on with his running shoes comment. I have never heard of lizards that do that! How big do they get? Are there a lot of them where you are? Hope you are careful. That pic looks awfully close to me. Zoom lens?
I believe Mike is on the Galapagos Islands which, I think, is the only place these large lizards are found ...
I believe you're thinking of the marine iguanas, which are found in the Galapogos. Komodo dragons are found on Komodo island (hence the name) which is in southern Indonesia. It's located about half way between Australia and Borneo.
All this lizard stuff is crawling over my head. I used to love the miniature ones--the chameleons and another kind I used to catch in my yard and play with. I couldn't stand to touch one now---I have gotten so squeamish over the years. Much like I cannot put a worm on the fishing hook anymore yet used to do so when fishing with my dad when little as well as catching nightcrawlers. EEEEKKKKK!
Thanks for setting me straight on this Mike ... I was stating what I remembered from 30 years ago ... (I had not yet sobered up yet, could have something to do with my memory, LOL) ... I was going to say they get up to 8 to 12 feet long ??? ... guess I need to watch your site clip you added and get me some learn'n ... thanks for the info ...
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
