The Laderan-Tangke Trail

++ The Laderan-Tangke Trail+++++ this message was written by Steve Vance but I stole it to share+++

Steve and I took the kids on a hike this morning on The Laderan-Tangke Trail a 1.8 mile loop around the area of a cliff face on the northern part of the island. It's really a great hike. Lots of up and down, some of it pretty steep and rocky. Ashley got tired before the end so I carried her on his back part of the time- but she made most of the hike on her own- very impressive for a 6-year-old.

We heard lots of birds, and saw a few very up close - could almost touch a few. We heard Kingfishers. We saw these white birds (Fridgite Terns I think) flying around together with this weird call sort of like a muted sonar. We also saw another bird with some really pretty tail feathers that it fanned out whenever it landed. Whether it was trying to intimidate us or attract a mate, I really don't know.

There were also some very cool swarms of insects. I know. You're asking, "Cool swarms of insects?" They seemed to be two types, sometimes swarming in the same area, and sometimes distinctly separate. One was a type of moth that, when they landed, were on the branches so thickly that they visibly weighed them down. Both types were swarming so thickly that you could hear the sounds of them hitting the leaves in the foliage so much that it sounded like a light rain storm. The other was something very gnat-like. You definitely needed to keep your mouth shut when going through the areas. You wanted to keep your eyes shut, but you wouldn't be able to go through very fast then. They also sensed our passing, and got very active and agitated. Since Steve was taking up the rear, they were especially thick.

Steve managed to get stung on the ear by a wasp while we were passing some nests on the trail. No big deal. A red mark, but not even any swelling. Just a little bit of an irritating prick and a burn for a short time.

The trail went through a serious rain forest. Lots of cool trees. Many of them were growing with buttressed roots, large root clusters, and in some cases, roots that fanned out like legs to keep the tree trunk out of the rot of the soil. Also, there were the occasional mango, noni, and pandanas trees. There were also scarlet ivy gourd plants and some cool looking hard red seeds with black caps. I've now exhausted the limits of both mine and Dave's knowledge of rain forest foliage.

All in all, it's a great trail. Steve and I will probably tackle it by ourselves next Friday.

David