When I lived in Bali, there was one unique part I adored. The lizards. Growing up in England, the only wild creatures that would get into the house uninvited would be spiders, mosquitoes, flies, mice if you were really unlucky. But in Indonesia, it was something a little different.
Houses in Bali would have little vents at the tops of windows- ornately carved. And the Cecaks would creep in. Cecaks (pronounced Cheh-Chack) were tiny little lizards, of not more than about 5cm long, who would sit high up on the walls. Their name appears to be onomatopoeic since the sound they make is a "Chak, chak, chak". I was utterly delighted by these shy little creatures. No worry that they would come and crawl on you, they lived high up on the walls and would eat the bane of my life, those awful relentless Nyamuk- or mosquitoes to us!
One of the cutest rhymes I was taught by a child there was this:
Cecak, Cecak, di dinding
Diam-diam merayap
Datung seekor nyamuk
HAP! Gagal/Lalu ditangkap!
"Lizards, geckos, wall
Silently creep
Suddenly mosquito!
HAP! Failed arrest
(apparently according to Wiki!)
They were so sweet- always there. I always longed to hold one of them but they were very shy. I told my neighbour Ayu I wanted to hold on and one day I came home from school to find a very disgrunted-looking Cecak in a clear plastic bag with air holes. She'd caught me one so I could hold him! I did so and he ran off immediately.
The other type of lizard, I heard before seeing. The Dokeh or the Gecko in our language! You would hear this:
Gudugudugudugudugudugudugudu
DOH- KEHHHHHH!
DOH- KEHHHHHHH!
DOH- KEHHHHHHH!
DOH- KEHHHHHHH!
DOH-----KEHHHHHH!
Children used to joke that you could tell the time with a Doh-keh! He's winding himself up like an alarm clock and then he chimes!
When I finally saw one, they were much larger than the Cecak and would camoflage against a tree. Less cute-looking, a bit more Crocodilish but still handsized. darker skin. I never managed to hold a Dohkeh!
I learnt to perfect my impression of a Dohkeh!
The other type of lizard that I never saw was the Komodo-dragon. You could see these in the zoos in Bali (which I never went to) but I met a few people from the Indonesian Island of Flores where the Komodo-dragon comes from. I'd have loved to meet one.
My friend Va'clav said that there was a larger lizard in our garden there but I never saw it.
The lizards were one of my favourite parts of life in Bali. Something about having such a completely harmless animal sitting around on your walls, keeping you company.
Have you ever fallen in love with a creature indigenous to a place you have stayed?
Do share any foreign animal stories!
xxx
Monday, May 23, 2016
14 comments:
Greetings! Welcome to the maaaaaadness! I am so glad you came to visit and leave me a pretty comment!! Would you like tea and cakes? The books are over on the shelf! I have sofas a-plenty so leave us a friendly comment and I'll pretty much guarantee I'll come a-visiting to you at some point soon!! This blog-post will self-destruct in 2 minutes. Go, type, type, type!!!!! (and put a hat on!)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Oh My. What a great story!! We have little alligator lizards here in California. They're mostly small and harmless and they eat bugs and spiders. The dog loves to chase them. If you catch one by the tail, it breaks off and the lizard scurries away leaving behind a tail that is just flip flopping around and bleeding all over the place, a completely confused dog and a very grossed out human.
ReplyDeleteOh of course we need audio files of your lizard impressions, how adorable would that be. That one sounded a bit like Homer Simpson. Animals away from home? Hmmm, outside of zoos there was the shiny-eyed raccoon army during my one night of camping and young Mr. Bear I encountered on a hike in another state. But nothing like your lizard tales heh heh lizard tales
ReplyDeleteI loved the lizards in India; they were adorable- although it sounds like they were also braver than yours! I remember we went to a roadside restaurant for dinner one night, and the electricity cut out. When the lights came back on, a lizard was sitting on my friend Steve's hand. He did the highest-pitched shriek I've ever heard :p Utterly hilarious xxx
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'd like to get too close but they do sound cute.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in the Sahara we didn't see many signs of life but after sleeping out under the stars I woke to see all sorts of little footprints and trails in the sand around us. It was a little creepy to think we could've been crawled upon in the night but fascinating to see the different prints, thankfully I didn't see any snake marks!
In Australia I loved the wallabies and the koala bears. The emus were funny! One chased our Jeff!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you were in Indonesia! We were next door in PNG!
ReplyDeleteThe geckos loved to lay their eggs in the hole for the door latch. Like little hen's eggs.
I remember the sound well.
I also remember the green tree frogs that invaded one of our holiday houses up there. One night we looked up to see one on the picture frame of the saying "I will never leave you or forsake you"!
So many fun stories of animals. Too many to tell here.
Thanks for these memories.
xo Jazzy Jack
What a lovely story Kezzie. From your description, those lizards seem to be the cutest creatures. Love your sound impersonations. xxx
ReplyDeleteI remember hearing "chak chak" all the time when I was in Bali. It took ages to realise what it was.
ReplyDeleteI love lizards, too! xxx
WOW! You lived in Bali, that's so cool! I loved your story and I love how you managed to hold a cecak even if it was for a short amount of time! I think if I had all of these creatures in my room I'd be so scared but it's nice to know that they're not harmful :) xx
ReplyDeleteI share your fascination towards lizards but I personally love to only observe them, it never occured to me to take one in my hand. I would perhaps take an iguana or something like that, I've heard somewhere they like to be peted (I'm not sure is this true, but hey who knows)?
ReplyDeleteNow I wonder how those little Bali lizards look like!
That rhyme is so cute!
ReplyDeleteI love lizards. We saw some in the botanical gardens the other day.
By the way, Lake Titisee is real and apparently I can get a train there in about 2 hours!
Toads! I've always loved them. They are far easier to hold than frogs. As a child, I caught a rather large female toad which I called Lizzie. I took her to school in a shoebox and was the envy of the other children. I let her go when I got back. Then in your childhood home of Butterfly Cottage we had an assortment of frogs and toads. Do you remember Pavarotti, the extremely vocal one eyed male toad. He was louder than all the others when he croaked.
ReplyDeleteAnother lovely read dearest Kezzie. I've never been to Bali, but my daughter has and is hoping to go again soon. It all sounds very exotic x
ReplyDeleteAnna
www.annasislandstyle.com
We somehow would get tiny lizards in our inner city Taipei apartment and they were so cute! We don't have squirrels here in NZ so I always loved seeing them when we lived in Korea. I also saw some during my first trip the the USA and lost my mind!
ReplyDelete