Burmese Python spotted on the banks of Sai Kung near the hotel – SAI KUNG BUZZ

_{The water along the Sai Kung Waterfront Promenade is very shallow. Photo: Google}

While walking along the banks of Sai Kung, I meet a Burmese python. You won’t believe it!

It’s true.

The creature snaked its way along the path from the WM Hotel to the seawall. It was about a meter long, a baby (the scary snakes can grow up to 6 meters) and from the patterns on its skin it was unmistakably a Burmese python, quite beautiful if you’re so inclined.

The python snaked its way through a hole in the seawall. There was a guy sitting on the rocks playing with his cell phone to see where it went, but I didn’t say anything because I thought a baby snake couldn’t hurt him. Even though I screamed “SNAKE!” and if I imitated fidgeting with my hands, I might frighten him so badly that he would jump up, fall over, and hurt himself on the rocks.

I suspect that the snake had eaten mice and rats that were hanging around the hotel. Why was it heading to the sea? Maybe it was swimming. Burmese pythons are good swimmers. University students attached a transmitter to a python and watched it travel 26 miles in one day, including lots of swimming in the ocean.

There is a lot of fun to be had while walking by the water. It was very windy today. A Hakka lady wears one of these large, distinctive hats. It catches the wind. There is a risk of it falling over. I suggest that she take off her hat, but she doesn’t understand me. Hong Kong women are often seen training by the sea, covered from head to toe, veiled, their eyes peering through slits so that the sun cannot reach their white skin.

And you can admire the swimmers. They go out so far that you think they’re brave, until you realize the water is flat for a long stretch. You will often see Sing, often voted Sai Kung’s favorite restaurateur, swimming with his dog. Another swimmer you might see is Datta, owner of one of the restaurants that consistently serves the best food in Sai Kung: Big Fish.

The view is also wonderful. Sparkling waters, verdant islands, million dollar yachts and windsurfers racing, racing, racing.