A Week’s Worth of Adventures

Last Sunday a group of us decided to take a boat ride across Lake Er Hai. The five of us hopped onto a metal boat with the “captain” and the driver. Our crew of seven enjoyed the beautiful views of the sun skipping across the peaks and valleys of the mountains in the west. The water was calm, which made for a pleasant ride over to the island where we were planning to have a relaxing lunch.

Our “captain” had another agenda that day, and when we felt the boat slip into reverse, we turned to each other with worried faces. He jumped on the lower deck with a long pole in one hand and a bucket in the other. The object of his desire was finally in our line of sight and it turned out to be a rigor mortis duck. Yes, ladies and gentlemen. A dead duck. It was scooped up and thrown on the deck. Instead of asking questions, our group decided to keep taking pictures of the beautiful scenery and listen to the waves slightly crashing on the sides of the boat.

On his third duck pick-up, we couldn’t ignore this strange “hunting” practice. Jeanee asked the man why he was collecting all of the dead birds in the lake. I was hoping that his answer would have something to do about cleaning up the environment. Not even close. These ducks (and one seagull) were going to be sold in the market. Not only was he the captain of the boat, leading us to our destination, he was also an amateur duck hunter. I guess that’s the true definition of the phrase “killing two birds with one stone.”

This past Saturday I went with my friend Anthony to an all you can eat BBQ in Dali and yes, we decided to pass on the roasted duck.