jong's crocodile farm

Just returned from a visit to Jong's Crocodile Farm, about an hour outside of Kuching by bus. I got up and left early this morning to make sure I arrived well in advance for the eleven o'clock feeding time. Jong's is about a kilometre from the highway bus stop, but the bus driver kindly took a detour especially for me and dropped me off right by the entrance, an act which was initially quite confusing for the other Malay passengers who filled the bus. There was a small photographic exhibition just inside the main entrance which I studied in some detail. It included a set of horribly graphic pictures of a child that had been eaten by a crocodile. The pictures were of the retrieval of the wet white corpse minus a leg. I took a few photographs but later deleted them because they were so unpleasant.

I was joined on my walk round the farm by a group of local school children. Wandering from enclosure to enclosure I could hear them shouting in English, 'hello crocodile, hello crocodile,' their voices getting louder each time as if expecting a response. None came, you will be unsurprised to learn. I took a few pictures and, inspired by the exhibition at the entrance, thought taking a close up of a crocodile head would make a good shot. I leant over a little into one of the caged enclosures and hung my camera in. As I was zooming in on a croc I noticed his still green eye move on my screen. A second later he snapped up violently towards my arm. The staff at Kuching Hospital have been very good and treated me very... just kidding... he missed me. But it gave me a hell of a shock, and I wasn't stupid enough to do it again.

Looking at them close up made me realise what ugly creatures crocodiles are. Unlike the late Steve Irwin, I can find nothing beautiful or redeeming about them. They look what they are: hideous, extremely dangerous, massively strong, and predatory brutes. I was unnerved by how still they are, and by their cunning stealth-like movements as they prepare to attack and kill. Looking at them when still, they look like they are dead. Completely motionless. You can't even see them breathing. And then one of those devious green eyes moves, and before you can say 'crikey' you've been bitten in half. Me and the kids witnessed the power of the larger (four or five metres I'd say) crocodiles when feeding time came. The farm keepers wound out large chunks of meat on a clothes line into the feeding pool, until a croc approached and launched up on its tale and ripped the meat down. It was terrifying.

In the end the only bites I got at Jong's were mosquito bites from the nearby wooded monkey enclosure. I noticed yet again on the bus back that the Proton motorcar is ubiquitous on the roads of Malaysia. They are everywhere. Malaysia is the only country in South East Asia to manufacture its own car, and the Proton is it. I can't say I like them much, but they are cheap to buy locally (I'll give 'em that). A few people also have Toyotas but the Proton dominates. On the subject of cars: I've seen two Rolls Royces in Kuching, and a brand new Jaguar - so somebody is making good money here it seems.

I leave Kuching tomorrow morning to travel north to Bintulu. My last impression of the city will be that of a sleepy unhurried place (everyday here feels like a flat Sunday afternoon) where people seem to be doing well and there aren't too many cares. It will be worth noting if the rest of urban Malaysian Borneo feels the same. I suspect so. I guess I'll find out in the next couple of days.

It may be a challenge blogging for the next few days, partly because I'll be on the road a fair amount, and partly because I'm not sure if they have easily available internet access in Bintulu or Miri. Blogging in Brunei may also be a challenge as in my imagination each Bruneian has their own solid gold, diamond encrusted, individual computer terminal and there is no need of internet cafes, and so they do not exist. My imagination is running a little wild though, so you can probably expect to hear from me in Brunei towards the end of the week at the latest.

It's day one hundred and fifty nine, and tonight I'm going for my hundred and fifty ninth dinner at a local restaurant called 'The Junk' with a Kuching kindergarten teacher and her friend from Taiwan (don't mention the Chinese - I did once but I think I got away with it).

Changing subject to books: they had a copy of a novel called Indecent Exposure by Tom Sharpe (my favourite author) at Le Village where I stayed recently, and I swapped it for my copy of The Heart of the Matter. I've zipped through it over the last week because it is unputdownable, one of the funniest books I've read. I've just swapped it with the owner of the B & B Inn here in Kuching for a copy of Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Think I can see it through, although reading the first chapter did feel a bit like being back in A Level English.

And finally, a note to self: time for another haircut. The old mane is getting away from me a bit. A short back and sides in Kuala Lumpur should do the trick.

Terimah Kasih!