In Iloilo, close to a college campus, I saw a striated heron, a bird species that tends to live in mangrove environments. These birds are distinguished by their thick, gray necks, large bills and dark, gray backs.
I loved visiting Jawili Falls in the province north of Antique! The nearby attraction is made up of seven cascading waterfalls, each of which fall into deep, cool pools that you can swim in. The largest waterfall is towards the bottom, and the rock pools get smaller and colder as you hike farther up.
In the Philippines, animals are not only found in the wild, in the rice fields or roaming around in public like dogs and cats. Sometimes, they even find themselves in your house! I have had lots of geckos (suk-suk in our local dialect) wriggling around my kitchen lately. Not wanting them to get into my food, I will shoo them out my window. One time, I even had to pick one up with plastic tongs and bring him outside!
This week, I also had two large spiders creeping and crawling near my bed. I do not like to squish them since they eat mosquitoes, so I captured them in plastic cups and released them outdoors.
