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TIMOR-LESTE 2009
Victor Valley College Tropical Research Initiative
Dili to Maubisse
The participants in Phase I arrived in Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste, on 14th July 2009. After over-nighting the expedition set off for Maubisse, at 1,400m in the mountains behind Dili.
On the climb out of Dili there is a memorial to the Australian troops who fought the Japanese in Timor during WWII. In Aileu, Aileu District, the expedition met their modern-day counterparts, part of the peace-keeping force deployed to Timor-Leste. The Australian soldiers told us where there was a Saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) in a small fenced pool in the town, but more importantly reported sighting a green snake, which could only be the Island pitviper (Cryptelytrops insularis) at Same, further south.
Maubisse, Ainaro District, is located at 1,400m and the Maubisse Posada is even higher. The conditions are cool during the day and cold at night, and the herpetofauna could be expected to be fairly depauperate. Mt Ramelau, at 2,963m the highest point in Timor-Leste, towers over the town. It was planned to make a collecting trip up the mountain but this plan was abandoned as it would mean an over-night on the top and we were not sufficiently equipped for the cold, and the likelihood of finding specimens was fairly small. The trip will probably take place on a later phase.
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