Here Be Chickens Summary and Analysis

Three years later, Adams and Carwardine meet in Australia, where Carwardine tells of ancient Chinese stories about scaly, fiery breathed, man-eating monsters and Western sailors who mark on maps "Here be dragons." The first modern Westerner to meet a dragon lizard crash lands on tiny Komodo Island, the expedition's next destination. Learning from a noted Australian venom expert that it is best not to be bitten, they head to Bali, advertised as the most beautiful place on earth but fully spoiled by and for tourists. Carwardine explains that tourists are examples of "convergent evolution," the process whereby unrelated species develop similar structures under identical conditions—like the aye-aye and long-fingered possum of New Guinea

Two days of frustration with Indonesian red tape later, Adams, Carwardine, and BBC producer Gaynor Shutte fly to Labuan Bajo, where Kiri...