With jungles, mountains, and oceans, Vietnam is teeming with diverse wildlife. The Mekong Delta in the south of the country for example, has wild water buffalos, siamese crocodiles, yellow-cheeked crested gibbons, and sun bears. Most of these animals I had never heard of before I moved to Vietnam. Despite the variety of wildlife, I'm most excited to share my favorite animal in southern Vietnam, the gecko.
While there are several species of gecko living in Vietnam, the common house gecko (thạch sùng) is the one I see and interact with the most. This gecko is brown or tan and often has darker brown speckles. Common house geckos are fairly small, around 6-8 inches long. They move very quickly and you can often see them climbing walls of houses or scurrying across sidewalks in the city.
The other notable characteristic of the gecko is that they love to sing. They are loud and nocturnal so one can often hear the chirps and calls of the gecko when they're trying to fall asleep.
