The Mighty Monitor

Throughout the resort there are 6in by 2in burrow entrances everywhere we look.  There are literally hundreds of them.   Our guides assure us that these belong to the very large and rather shy local lizards. The lizards are in fact members of the monitor family and average about 4ft in length.  

I have been waiting to come across one. 

We are a couple of hours from departure, when finally, some movement in the undergrowth and here he is.  The big camera is of course packed, so this will be our only lizard portrait. Nevertheless he is a very fine specimen and every inch of four feet long.  

What a shame they only eat larger insects like the locust-sized grass hoppers that abound.  If only he would eat the flies, I'd catch him and wear him as a scarf. By the time  I took this picture, I must have had a hundred of the little sods buzzing around. That's the last time I step outside without my fly net and hat in place!

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