Big Bats

One of the best things about our time in this country are the "once in a lifetime" experiences we have had. Last week we joined some Manila photographers in a trying horse ride into the mountains to see a pretty amazing site. The horses here are short and squat, perfect for climbing about the narrow and rocky trails. Luckily our hosts found a horse that was tall enough to keep Steve's legs from dragging on the ground. Each horse had a "saddle" that was formed from a piece of wood that had been artfully manipulated so that it laid across the horse. We rode about an hour into the woods on a narrow trail that wound up and down the mountainous terrain. We passed a number of small homes, bananas, guavas and areas where the soil was eroding down the hills. We also saw butterflies and unique birds that we had not seen before, but the purpose of our trip were the fruit bats. At one point we stopped and leaving our horses walked up a small trail to the crest of a hill. From this point we could see a couple of very large trees from which hung the largest bats either of us has ever seen. There are many bat variates in the Philippines and our hosts called them Giant Fruit Bats, but we are not sure exactly what kind they were. What is certain is that the bodies of the bats were about 12 inches long and their wingspan was easily 4-5 feet. They flew like birds, with a gentle flapping motion, and their toes pointing out behind them.
It was a pretty amazing thing to see.