Batty for HCM’s Ecosystem
Another notable thing about Ho Chi Minh City was the proliferation of bats above every street after dusk. They are fairly plentiful in Hanoi as well, but not quite as many as in HCM. As a former card-carrying member of Bat Conservation International for over a decade, this sight was very pleasing to me. It also made me speculate whether the relative paucity of bats in US cities is reflective of a less robust ecosystem overall. (Besides bats and birds, I saw some sort of tawny owl at one point as well).
And in Sapa, I found a huge glut of dragonflies– just dozens and dozens hovering around and darting about. I imagine that’s what it was like in the dinosaur era– except with dragonflies twenty times the size. An amazing thing to picture…
