I got up this morning to find a large trail of ants streaming past the outside of my living room door. Guess what! It was a dead rat–I really do mean a rat and not a mouse. A cat got him! He was not there last night. The cat and the ants made quick work of him. Seems everyone has chickens and cats. They are even part of the university campus. I think I need to start a Facebook page–Cats of Bengkulu and showcase a different one every day.
I believe this is the cat responsible. She (female I think) is my house cat. Typical cat fashion–when I started taking her picture she laid down on the floor and turned her back to me.
Cassava is the root of a shrub. It is very tasty–especially fried!! Here it is a staple of the diet. Abdul (biology professor) is building a home on some property he just purchased. His goal is to do sustainable gardening. One of the plants he is growing on his newly purchased land is cassava. He invited me to watch him harvest the cassava and plant more. However, I had to participate!!! I pulled up the cassava and planted more. To plant you just cut up what you pulled up and put it in the ground. Great fun! I love to garden. He is planning to install a mushroom farm behind his house when he moves in. I must return to see it. We went back to his current house and his wife cooked up a big batch–it was delicious!!!!
After a morning of cassava pulling, planting, and eating, we went to Pantai Panjang beach. I am sad to say the beach is covered in garbage. They dump the garbage in the river. The trash goes out to the ocean and onto the beach. I made a video of the beach. Visiting Pantai Panjang The beach is known for being an area for prostitution. I looked all over the internet about the beach–even in Lonely Planet. All things I saw are positive. I would not believe them. I saw the famous sign and it has garbage all around it. Not sure how they got the picture so clean. I had dinner on the beach with Abdul, his wife and children, and his students. The fisherman was fishing with a bamboo pole in the ocean.
