Phu Quoc Island

After catching a domestic flight from Ho Chi Minh on a small plane where the propeller was outside my window, we were met at the airport and taken to Cassia Cottage and warmly welcomed.  Our little room was decked out with a welcome sign on the bed, we had some privacy and could sit on our verandah and watch the world go by.  Actually it was watching the butterflies go by.

This is the view from our verandah.  Behind Wayne is a swimming pool and beyond that is a small [park like area with trees and hammocks and a small stream.  From here you could laze in the hammocks and read books, chat and the staff would come around and ask if you wanted or needed anything and they were only to happy to oblige.  There was then the sea and it was so nice to have a clean beach with no local bothering you to sell or try the wares.

The beach had golden sand and was such a delight to walk on.  The sand was  a bit courser than the sand at home but was lovely to wander in barefeet and paddle in the water which was so warm.

The island has its own breed of dogs and we found many of them had dug holes in the sand and were sitting in them.  They looked so pretty and seemed to be smiling at us as we walked passed.  They have hair a bit like a ridge back dog along their spine but it looks tufty.

I am continually amzed by these boats - woven round boats - sometimes called basket boats.  They are able to stand in them and come in on the waves and don't seem to keel over.  The one we saw being used in the sea had 3 adults and they were using a net for fishing.

At one of the beach were an outcrop of rocks and as I went to put my hand on it a movement caught my eye.  The rock was loaded with sea lice ranging from very small to very big.

After dinner one night we came back to see we had a house guest outside on the wall.  Tokay gecko's are one of the biggest geckos and are so pretty with their coloured dots that are almost fluorescent.  I am not sure I want to get up close as they are said to be the bull dog of the lizards and hold on tight for a long time.

Needless to say I didn't get very close to it all.  Thanks goodness for zoom lens!

This guy was on the other wall and just sitting there waiting for unsuspecting prey.  In reality it was only about 2 inches from toe to toe but was plenty g=big enough for me.

One of the highlights of this place was the abundance of insect life - especially butterflies.  Although they weren't very obliging and it was  a mammoth task to get the photos.  Patience truly is virtue and it pays off in the end.

They even went right inside the hibiscus to get a drink.

This guy was very tiny, about 1 inch wingspan.  I just love the number of pretend eyes he has on his wings.

                                                           Can you find the butterfly?

Here it is, hiding underneath the leaf....such good camouflage.

Seems like this flying about is thirsty work.  The butterflies were always stopping at the flowers but only for such a short time.  It was fun trying to get these photos...am sure the other people thought we were crazy.  But to look back at these photos, I know we are not crazy but love to see nature working naturally.

Dragonflies were abundant too and they too were elusive.  I think its the hot weather and its probably cooler to fly than to settle and wait.

Drinking a Saigon Beer on the beach under the shade of an umbrella...what a pleasant way to spend the early evening.

This little frog was sleeping on a leaf in the shade.

This one wasn't sleeping he was watching everything we did.  As we walked closer he walked further away until he finally jumped onto the grass and ran up the wall.

We walked along the beach and up to the local town and wandered around.  They are so ingenious with how they use the bicycle for transporting a number of different items.

I kept waiting for her to fly away in the wind.  Balloons seem to be a big thing and easy to sell and make a little money for very little effort.

The river was quite pretty, with the different coloured boats, until you looked into the waters edge and could see all the crap and rubbish building up.

And sunsets were astounding.  Each night they looked so different and so spectacular.  They could be moody or they could be....

many different colours.