Reptile Week Cont'd_ The Alligators

Yesterday, we started with the turtles. We forgot to mention that the Minnesota-based folk/rock band Trampled By Turtles will be performing in Buffalo, NY, at the Town Ballroom and The Port City Music Hall in Portland, Maine, on Dec. 2, in addition to their show at the Newport Music Hall in Columbus, Ohio. The band plays many other days in the northeast during that interval as well.

For those of you in North Carolina, my good friend folk singer Bruce Piephoff will play at the Southern Lights Bistro in his hometown of Greensboro, NC, on Nov. 29 and Dec. 4; I'm not sure if he has ever written a song about reptiles.


Today, we continue with the mighty alligator, which can be found from North Carolina to Florida here in United States. Initially, we were going to post an entry for crocodiles, which were the subject of a kitschy, but catchy Elton John song "Crocodile Rock."

But, we couldn't find a good image of Gustave, the notorious man-eating croc in the central African nation of Burundi to use. Gustave, who has reportedly devoured some 300 people, perhaps some of whom were photographers, was mentioned in a "Mental Floss" article about Burundi within the last year.

That same magazine said that 9:30 a.m. was the best time to post blog entries. It's actually 9:30 p.m. here on the east coast, but it is that time in Beijing, China, right now.  Perhaps, it's that time in Hong Kong too.

The Crocodiles are also the nickname of the Turkish soccer team Bursaspor, located in Bursa, Turkey, in western Turkey; the city is Turkey's fourth largest. This weekend the Crocs' tied Istanbul powerhouse Besiktash 3-3. I suppose taking photographs of the game is less risky than sneaking up on Gustave.

As for alligators, if one is in St. Augustine, Fla.,  then one can visit the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, which is open from 1:00-5:00 p.m.

http://www.trampledbyturtles.com

http://www.brucepiephoff.net

http://www.southernlightsbistro.com

http://www.mentalfloss.com

http://www.alligatorfarm.us

http://www.bursaspor.net (In Turkish)

Top 10 Countries to Visit in Next 10 Years...

I have a feeling some folks are going to scratch their heads over this list, which I initially made on New Year's Eve.

Egypt was actually on the original list at number ten, but do to riots, looting and political unrest, we have replaced Egypt with Burundi, even though that is where one can find the man-eating crocodile Gustave, who has had some 300 people for breakfast!

The images above are from Costa Rica, Honduras and Bolivia respectively. And, as it will seem quite obvious to most folks, I really, really want to go to a Scandanavian country.

Here is the list:

1. Bolivia

2. Honduras (yes, we know they had a coup in 2009)

3. Costa Rica

4. Finland

5. Sweden

6. Norway

7. Iceland

8. Denmark

9. Uzbekistan

10. Burundi

Status Update_ I'm Getting Hungry Here

First of all, our apologies to our friends in Karachi and Islamabad for forgetting to put Pakistan in our links section yesterday as we mentioned a uniquely named coffee place in that country yesterday, but we forgot to link them. Of course, all of the blame goes to Javier the intern.


As for my status update for 1/27: "I am as hungry as Gustave the man-eating crocodile."

"Mental Floss" has a great story in the current article about the central African country of Burundi where one can find Gustave, a 65-year-old croc who has reportedly eaten 300 people. Perhaps, he now qualifies for the senior citizens discount at Denny's!

While researching this piece, we found out that the T-Bone Steak House in Phoenix offers up a 24-ounce t-bone for $27, while our vegan friends in New York (actually, we don't have any vegan friends in New York that we know of, according to Javier) can go to Blossom on 187 9th Avenue. The establishment was voted the best vegetarian place to eat in 2008 and 2009 by "Time Out New York."

I'm not sure if it's going to be a t-bone or a tofu burger, but I need to get some food!

NOTE: The crocodile in the photo is NOT Gustave, but I'd advise against taking his close-up.