Leaving Malaysia behind, Adam returned home to Hong Kong, while Dan, Kevin and I flew to Bangkok, where we met up with ten (ten!) of our herping friends. It took two vans to haul our collective asses around, and we engaged the services of TonTan Travel for logistics and guide services. Tony and Tan are fine, knowledgeable people and fun to be around – I had engaged them on my first trip to Thailand in 2016. We had a day in Bangkok while everyone assembled, and a subset of us headed over to Lumphini Park to check out the free-range water monitors and turtles that make the urban park home. Bill said “I think there’s a snake on that branch…
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“When you go, check out the city parks – those are the best places to see water monitors.” I’ve heard this advice from several sources, and since we had a number of days scheduled in Bangkok, it seemed like a no-brainer. One of the reasons I picked a hotel out in the suburbs north of the airport was the large park it bordered, and that turned out to be a good decision. Our first morning there, eating breakfast on the verandah overlooking the park, Jeff said “there’s one!” and we watched a medium-sized Varanus salvator swimming across the lake. There was no mistaking that large lizard head in profile. Breakfast On The Verandah Life Lister Number One. Still a bit…
