Sohoton Caves and Natural Bridge National Park

A few hours up river from the small town of Basey, on Samar, are the Sohoton Caves and Natural Bridge Natural Park. I recently took a trip there with some friends. It’s a lovely day trip and a great way to see something of the rural Philippines and get a glimpse of what the forests that once covered much of the country would once had looked like.

The sound of silence

I woke up around 4am this morning in a bit of a panic. It was eerily quiet. I couldn’t hear anything. You’re probably wondering what’s weird about that? It’s kind of hard to explain what it’s like when you wake up to absolute silence when you’ve heard rain hammering down so hard on your roof for 48 hours that you’ve been struggling to hear yourself think! Never mind cats and dogs, when it rains in the tropics, it sounds more like elephants!

The thing about living in a place surrounded by World Heritage rainforest… it tends to rain a lot. That’s why they call it The Wet Tropics!

Spotted Catbird

Taken at Kingfisher Park, Julatten, January 2008

If you’re walking through the rainforest in North Queensland and hear a strange cat-like yowling, it’s probably a Spotted Catbird Ailuroedus melanotis. Very tricky to spot in the dense foliage of the rainforest, you might be lucky enough to catch one out in the open like this.