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| Big Buffalo was not happy to see Tom once again, coming out of the water to show his displeasure. |
“Sightings on the Beach in Bali”
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| Note this little kid in a narrow part of the river as this motorbike with a family of four. We’ve seen six on one motorbike but have yet been quick enough to capture it. |
It was about three months ago that Tom had the scary buffalo-ready-to-charge experience when he went for a walk to explore a dirt road he was curious to see. At the time, he said it was the “second biggest scare of his life.” See the link here.
Of course, the biggest scare of his life was while we were living in Marloth Park, South Africa when a Mozambique Spitting Cobra dropped from the ceiling and landed (alive) close to his bare feet as we lounged on the veranda waiting for “visitors” to arrive. Some visitor, eh? See the link here.
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| The boys were walking the buffalos along the beach. |
In the late afternoon, a few days ago, we were both standing at the edge of the veranda watching a wide array of activities on the beach; people swimming in the ocean and river; motorbikes zooming by, some popping wheelies; fishermen pulling in their nets and a variety of walkers with an end of day purpose in mind.
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| As soon as they entered the water facing our direction, the big buffalo Tom had previously encountered spotted him standing on the edge of our veranda. We could hear him snorting, the buffalo, not Tom. |
Camera in hand, we were at the ready for any interesting or unusual sightings we’d like to share with our loyal readers some of whom may have wondered if we’d have anything worthy of posting on a second two-month visit to Bali.
Now, with 25% of our time on the island behind us, we’re piling up photos and stories we’ve yet to share with the hope that our readers will enjoy, along with that which we’ve posted to date.
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| Tom stepped back several meters. Big Buffalo did the same. Smaller buffalo was oblivious. |
In actuality, personally, I’m having almost as much fun this time in Bali with our photos as I’ve had when we were living in some of my favorite places. Our long term readers know exactly which locations are forefront in my mind. Hmm..
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| Tom stepped up on the short stone wall of the veranda. Big Buffalo comes out of the river, moving toward us. |
As we stood on the veranda observing the beach, two familiar buffaloes were being led to the river by boys, who most likely are sons of the buffalo owners. Noting the red wooden bells they were wearing Tom was immediately startled. No other buffaloes in the area wear those red wooden bells.
Tom was certain the larger of the two bulls was the one who’d just about broken loose of his rope only three months ago with the intent of charging Tom. It was a frightening experience as Tom slowly backed off, hightailing out of the area, returning to the villa sweating and out of breath, anxious to tell me what had transpired.
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| Big Buffalo inched forward as Tom did the same. |
The buffaloes didn’t see us as they walked along the beach in front of the villa. Heads down, they were busy sniffing the sand and most likely anticipating cooling off in the river.
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| Tom backed off less than a meter. Big Buffalo did the same. |
Although Tom was a little guarded, we held our ground and continued to watch them entering the river while I was hoping to get a few good shots. Only moments after they entered the river, everything changed.
The larger of the two, Big Buffalo, spotted Tom. Keep in mind, there were other humans on the beach and at least of dozen motorbikes driving on the sand close to the river. It wasn’t as if we were the only people in the vicinity.
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| Testing further if this was really happening Tom again inched forward no more than a meter toward Big Buffalo as he stepped right out of the water. |
Apparently with great vision, Big Buffalo never took his eyes off Tom. Oddly, from a distance we could easily tell his serious gaze was directed at Tom, not me. He must have had a good memory, still angry from their last encounter three months ago. That’s not surprising. We often underestimate the ability of animals to recall past encounters.
Tom, feisty sort that he is, and curious to determine if the bull did in fact recognize him, only moved a few feet (less than a meter) toward the river and boom!…the Big Buffalo snorted, coming straight up and out of the water toward us.
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| “I’ve had enough of you,” said Big Buffalo as he totally emerged from the river. |
The interaction and test of wills continued. This time, on the safety of the veranda (supposedly), Tom was a bit more daring. However, this didn’t diminish his caution in us staying safely out of range of being charged if Big Buffalo became angry enough.
This all transpired in only a matter of minutes consisting of Tom never moving more than three feet, one meter, from our original position. I didn’t know if I should have tried to stop Tom in his somewhat subtle buffalo game or if I was so excited taking photos that I kept my mouth shut.
Of course, this doesn’t mean Tom is going for another walk where Big Buffalo lives!
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| Finally, we had to go indoors for dinner and Big Buffalo returned to the river for his swim as we began to walk away. |
Soon enough, the two Ketuts alerted us that dinner was ready and we went indoors for yet another wonderful dinner and evening. Ah, we anticipate the adventures in Bali will surely continue as time marches on during our remaining 45 days.
Yesterday, prepared to leave for Negara, we noticed the van had a flat tire. As a result, the trip was postponed until today. Ribut removed the tire and took it to a repair shop, returning it later in the day.
With an early start today, (we were both awake before 5:00 am) we’ll have this post uploaded a few hours earlier than most days and be on our way by 10:00 am, back tomorrow with more photos we’ll enthusiastically share.
Have a lovely day!
Photo from one year ago today, September 15, 2015:
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| While living in Savusavu, Fiji we visited the hot springs located in the village where locals who don’t have a stove cook their vegetables in heat proof bags. For our video, please visit the year ago post, here. |