Flying Reptiles

It was the first day of my holiday in Bali, Indonesia, and I had decided to go exploring. I was keen to find out about all the animals and secret places the island had to offer. It was a glorious morning and I decided to climb, walk and swim right around the coastline.

I set off soon after breakfast, equipped with my special shoes and sunhat and wearing a thick layer of suntan lotion. It was possible to trek around all the island’s headlands and beaches on foot. 1. ................................... I had my facemask and snorkel ready. In my backpack I carried a bottle of water and a couple of mangoes to eat. I headed along the beach and finally reached a high cliff. Where this tall piece of land met the water, there were several large rocks 2. ................................... .

I decided I would swim and snorkel right around the headland to the next stretch of a beach. With my facemask in my hand, I strolled over the white sand into the sea. 3. ................................... Leaning my head back, I gazed into the sky with halfclosed eyes, enjoying the moment.

Suddenly, I heard a loud noise from up on the cliff. Something was clearly moving very quickly across the parched ground. 4. ................................... Amazed, I saw it fall towards me, twisting its body about violently like a broken electricity cable. It had leapt off the cliff so fast that it landed in the sea only centimetres away from me. In an instant, it lifted its head, turned and swam back towards the cliff. Then it disappeared into a deep hole in the rock.

But the drama wasn’t over. The snake — a black cobra — had leapt for its life because a two-metre-long monitor lizard was chasing it! At the same time, the lizard realised it was at the very edge of the cliff. It dug its claws in the ground to stop itself from falling. 5. ................................... It was a near thing, but the reptile just managed to hold on, while stones and dry leaves showered into the sea below.

6. ................................... Looking down, it tasted the air with its forked tongue. It looked at me thoughtfully and then crawled back into the bushes.

I waded out of the water and sat on the beach. ‘Do monitor lizards usually hunt black cobras?’ I wondered. ‘And had the cobra slithered towards the edge of the cliff on purpose? Or was it just by accident?’ 7. ................................... But as I snorkelled around the coast, a sudden thought made me shiver. Could another reptile appear out of nowhere? And this time, horror of horrors, would it actually land on my back?