Warning! Crocodiles live here
23/6/2004

The crocodile is sacred in East Timor. According to local stories, crocodiles will not eat people - or at least, not local Timorese people. My friends were not so sure about their appetite for malae.

However, they insisted we visit the spot at Salale Beach where they are most often seen.

Just the day before, my friend Sheryl had encountered a 3 metre croc lazing on the beach.

“They can move pretty fast,” a worried Sheryl (from north Queensland) had cautioned her Timorese companions.

“Don’t worry,” they grinned, “we can run faster.”

I hoped we would not have to get that close.

We edged around the lagoon, and although my UN friend Ramil had his pistol on him, I was not too keen to encounter one at close range. The Timorese also believe it is bad luck to kill a crocodile and I thought it might be bad luck to get eaten by one, so it could have presented an interesting dilemma.

We didn’t see anything at first, but our Timorese friend John ensured us they would come. We spotted one in the shade at the far side of the lagoon and I ensured them that was fine for me, but just before we left we saw another salty, nearer to us, just poking its eyes and nostrils above the water in the centre of the lagoon.

Apparently Timorese crocodiles are more timid than our man-eaters in Oz, but I was happy to head back to the car without testing that theory.

East Timor is a dangerous place. There are killer crocodiles (Sheryl knew someone whose son was taken off Suailoro Beach, so I guess they don’t all stick to the rules), killer snakes and killer insects.

The first morning I spent in Suai I had a close encounter with a small green snake. I reached out to pick up a damp towel I had carelessly slung over a shelf in my room and a felt something heavy writhe and drop to the floor. I looked down in time to see a dark green snake, about the length of my foot, slithering out of the room.

Now I’m not particularly squeamish and in Australia small green snakes are tree snakes and quite safe, so I wasn’t particularly concerned. It wasn’t until a later conversation with some doctors that I discovered small green snakes in East Timor are highly poisonous. A bite could lead to amputation, or even death.

Weirdly, being here makes you pretty chilled out and philosophical about such things - although I have been more cautious when picking up towels left lying around. And I always keep my eyes peeled for crocs when walking on the beach.