TIMOR-LESTE REPTILE & AMPHIBIAN SURVEY
PHASE IV: ATAÚRO ISLAND cont.

We arrived back at Macadade at 13:30 but by 14:30 the truck had not appeared. Knowing the walk back bye road would take many hours as the road looped far to the west and north of the island before descending to the eastern coast where Tua Ko'in was located, a journey of at least 16 km, we decided to start walking. It was a hot trek and I for one, lugging two heavy cameras, four lenses and flashguns in a backpack, found the uphill sections of the trek tough going and I'm sure others did too. After an hour or so, and only around 3 km into the long walk, the truck fortunately arrived, and we all rode back down to Tua Ko'in, fully appreciating the distance as it took the truck a full hour from where it had picked us up.

Back at Tua Ko'in we showered and changed our sweaty clothes, rested and repaired our bodies, before a late lunch. Everyone was too tired to do much else, so specimen prepping and photography had to wait until the next day. As usual the Tokay geckos (Gekko gecko) were much in evidence in the eaves and trees, and Laca even found he was sharing his hammock with one!

Tokay gecko Gekko gecko