squirrel on a stick in borneo............... took me 8 beers to pluck up the courage, tasted er okay ish.......... but still looked like a squirrel holding onto a stick albeit slightly startled in appearance (i would be too!)

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" good morning starshine.......the earth says hello "

i have had turtle also was really nice , it took me awhile to have it as i also like turtles

Last year I stayed at a luxury beach hut resort on Siladen on a $5/night full board deal which included free tea and coffee all day. Siladen is one of the islands in the strictly protected Bunaken National Marine park in Indonesia. One day I wandered into the kitchen to ask for a cup of tea. On the dirt floor of the kitchen was a poor turtle on its back, feebly flapping its fins, dehydrated and with eyes streaming and all clogged up with sand. I must have a had a slightly disapproving look on my face because my landlady's daughter immediately reassured me they weren't going to eat it at the marriage ceremony that was taking place later that night..."turtle no good taste for eating ". She said they were going to take it to Manado on the mainland to sell to a posh hotel so they could put it in their aquarium. I pointed out that the thing would be dead before the next morning's ferry in any case but went and got a bucket of sea water to give the poor thing a wee sloosh to ease its agony anyway. These people are dirt poor and who am I, as a rich westerner, to say how they should make money to survive...no, I didn't scream and slag them off for infringing NP rules.
Anyway, at around 6pm that night a delegation from the kitchen arrived at my hut and presented me with the turtle and said I could put it back in the sea....which I did. So I never did get to taste turtle.

PS I didn't bother tasting the stray dog meat at that wedding either!

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“Not all those who wander are lost.” Tolkien.
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

No one has mentioned this yet!

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“Not all those who wander are lost.” Tolkien.
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Fio, I commend your diplomacy surrounding the turtle (Honu in Hawaiian) situation. What a feeling that must have been to return such a beautiful animal to it's freedom and life. Awesome!

I think I must have unknowingly eaten dog in my life, I am half Filipino and they eat dogs too. As for snake, I know I've eaten rattle snake chili once and that was enough. Alligator, buffalo, ostrich, fruit bat, frogs, snails, octopus, sea urchin, limpets, jelly fish, assorted fish roe, crab innards, spirulina algae, seaweeds, kelps and who knows what else?

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Be a traveler, not a tourist.

Fio,
What an incredible story...thank you for sharing, it was really touching...that turtle could have fed a lot of people...I can imagine how you felt..

It sounds like you have an exciting life...I love your posts! Pamela's are great too.....ok Pam....I eat opihi, aa ama crab, ahukihuki, I've had pig blood..there's a Filipino dish made with it....I like the taste, but don't eat it because the blood grosses me out. I 've never tried dog, as far as I know, but when it comes to sate on the streets of Bali, who really knows I'm sure theres more...I've been chatting with my friend in Indonesia so...I want to send this post now, so I don't risk losing it.

Thank you! Shucks. Yes islandgirl, weekly shopping trips to supermarkets and housework don't thrill me but people think I'm very excentric. My neighbors next door in France think I'm completely potty flying in planes and going to Asia.They offered condolences to my son (who'd been instructed to look after the dog while I was away) because they assumed I'd died the first time I went off on a 7 month wander.

If you need a guide for your second trip to Thailand, let me know. Maybe I should start a tour company myself... Fio's "Wanders-near-death-adventures-don't-worry-about-the squat-toilets" Inc Ltd and become a multi-millionaire tycoon.

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“Not all those who wander are lost.” Tolkien.
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.