TIMOR-LESTE REPTILE & AMPHIBIAN SURVEY
PHASE IV: A DILI DAY

In the afternoon we went to "Downtown Dili" for a spot of shopping before the expedition winds down to leave the country the following morning.

The bridge into Dili from Comoro where the Timor Lodge Hotel is located.	UN Police vehicles are everywhere, at least until 2012 when the UN are due to begin leaving.
The Palacio do Governo.	The Tais Market where tapestries and carvings can be purchased.
Click on images to enlarge

We then returned to our oasis, the Timor Lodge Hotel, with small souvenirs but Hinrich returned with six turtles, Chinese pond turtles (Mauremys reevesii), a species introduced to Timor-Leste by Chinese traders in the 1960s. These turtles had been purchased by a Chinese woman who planned to release them to celebrate the Chinese New Year. We released the turtles into a rice paddy in Dili, not wanting them to spread further outside the town.

Chinese pond turtle Mauremys reevesii

The remainder of the day was occupied with gradual packing of kit and the making of an inventory of equipment being left in Dili for Phase V, scheduled for July 2011.