Victor Valley College Tropical Research Initiative
Herpetofauna of Timor-Leste
Phase IV

Tua Ko'in, Ataúro Island, Dili District

We visited Atauro in 2010 - click here to visit those pages

Tua Ko'in Eco Resort, in the village of Kelapa on the eastern side of Ataúro Island, is our usual base camp on the island.

Upon arrival we had settled in we set about to photograph and prep the remaining mainland specimens.

Prepping specimens: David, Hinrich, Joanna, Paul, Kyle and Caitlin	Scale-counting blindsnakes: Laca, Luis, Zito and Benny

Tua Ko'in accommodation	Tua Ko'in restaurant
Tua Ko'in eco-showers and toilet	Tua Ko'in laboratory and photography area
Caitlin and Joanna prepping specimens	David scale-counting a blindsnake
Click on images to enlarge

In the evening Scott, David, Zito and Mark went along the beach to some mangroves. We found several Common house geckos (Hemidactylus frenatus) and observed a curious escape mechanism, whereby the geckos hopped from rock to rock and then jumped into the seawater, only to wiggle-swim across the surface until they reached another rock or a branch of the mangroves. On our walk back we were startled by a crab racing across in front of us, pursued by a hungry rat. Crab-eating macaques and crab-eating snakes we were familiar with, but a crab-eating rat!

Tokay geckos (Gekko gecko) were also much in evidence in the eaves and trees around Tua Ko'in, and Laca even found he was sharing his hammock with one!

Tokay gecko Gekko gecko

Laca and his "balancing machine" on the beach at Tua Ko'in