Despite my tender ankle, Hannah and I decided to go on a hike to a waterfall. If my injury wasn't enough to turn us back perhaps something more dangerous would. I don't know, maybe something like five guys in Army uniforms carrying M-16 machine guns at the start of the waterfall hike.
Yeah, when Hannah and I arrived at the park and started to hike these five or so guys with freshly polished guns crossed our path. Normally this might be a reason not to go hiking in unfamiliar woods but these guys seemed really friendly as they smiled and waved at us. A smile can really be disarming (although in this case I wish I had the arms).
So, Hannah and I ventured into the jungle. For the record, the voice in my head had spoke out earlier when I told Hannah we wouldn't go on another hike to the highest point on the mountain unless we had a guide. This hike we were told was easy enough to do on our own.
The hike was quite pretty with two different waterfalls and a well marked trail. When we got to the top of the mountain we discovered a sleeping hiker in a hammock and a great view of the island.
As we rested, I asked Hannah what animals were in the jungle. She opened up her Lonely Planet Island edition (thanks for the book, Steve!) and began to read. I forget all of the animals she said except one -- WILD CROCODILES.
Frankly, this scared the crap out of me. I can't remember if I blogged about it earlier this year or not (I'll search in a minute) but I have had FOUR dreams of a crocodile eating either a friend or a family member of mine so far this year (I usually have this dream after eating salty hot pots).
Each time the dream is about me and X (one time even my sister) walking through the woods when a croc jumps out and devours X. I try to fight off the croc in my dreams but soon am chased by it through the woods. When Hannah told me that there were crocodiles in the jungle I had a slight moment of panic. A minute later this appeared from under a rock:
It's hard to tell from this picture but that lizard is at least two feet long. It was a big boy. This lizard didn't scare me so much but it made me start to think, "What if some bigger reptiles are near." Hannah and I soaked in the view for another minute and took off...
