So it's been two full days since the last entry and we have spent this at the Myne Resort. Our program has been a mixture of cruises and walks. I don't think there's much point in giving a blow-by-blow description of exactly what we did. Better to mention the highlights.
First of all, there is the scenery. Whilst I'm pretty much here to spot animals I have to be honest and say that the real experience is cruising down a jungle river on dusk or in the early morning light, the only sound the hum of the motor and the foreign cries of birds and monkeys. This is plain awesome.
Of course, if there weren't animals I'd still be pretty miffed, no matter how much awesome scenery. Fortunately, we've seen plenty. Curiously,this seems to have turned into primate and hornbill bingo. Early on we saw orangutans, pig-tailed and long tailed macaques. We added to this silver langurs, proboscis monkeys and red leaf monkeys. As far as hornbills go, we've now seen 7 of the 8 species, including the rare helmeted hornbill. Now, like a kid collecting football cards I'm desperate to spot the missing hornbill - the wreathed hornbill. I honestly wasn't expecting to be this keen about hornbills. We also saw a couple of cool crocodiles and basking monitor lizards, along with a plethora of other birds and some cute squirrels. There was one squirrel in particular, the least Pygmy squirrel. As you can guess from the name it was tiny, but it moved like greased lightning. The little bugger looked like speedy Gonzales on red cordial. Oh, and I also got dive bombed by bats that were in a large hollow tree my guide took me into. That was pretty cool as well.
First of all, there is the scenery. Whilst I'm pretty much here to spot animals I have to be honest and say that the real experience is cruising down a jungle river on dusk or in the early morning light, the only sound the hum of the motor and the foreign cries of birds and monkeys. This is plain awesome.
Of course, if there weren't animals I'd still be pretty miffed, no matter how much awesome scenery. Fortunately, we've seen plenty. Curiously,this seems to have turned into primate and hornbill bingo. Early on we saw orangutans, pig-tailed and long tailed macaques. We added to this silver langurs, proboscis monkeys and red leaf monkeys. As far as hornbills go, we've now seen 7 of the 8 species, including the rare helmeted hornbill. Now, like a kid collecting football cards I'm desperate to spot the missing hornbill - the wreathed hornbill. I honestly wasn't expecting to be this keen about hornbills. We also saw a couple of cool crocodiles and basking monitor lizards, along with a plethora of other birds and some cute squirrels. There was one squirrel in particular, the least Pygmy squirrel. As you can guess from the name it was tiny, but it moved like greased lightning. The little bugger looked like speedy Gonzales on red cordial. Oh, and I also got dive bombed by bats that were in a large hollow tree my guide took me into. That was pretty cool as well.
Our second trip back to Gomantong Caves is worth a mention. We went there on dusk to see the bats exiting, which they duly did. Apparently around 2 million leave the cave each night. Not a bad effort. Around the cave the hawks and eagles circle trying to catch a meal. This was cool in itself, but we got an added bonus, courtesy of our bingo game. Lo and behold, this was where we saw our one and only red leaf monkeys, followed shortly by a flock of bushy hornbills who turned up in a gregarious mob, landed on a branch and then bunched up like crows on a wire and made plenty of noise. To top it all off, as we were watching this the rare helmeted hornbill flew overhead. And we only went there to see the bats. We are, indeed, hornbill magnets!
Three more memories from the night. The first was driving home in the dark. On a pretty narrow and atrocious road we came across a herd of cows. They blocked the road and coming the other way was a police vehicle. Our driver said the best way to get around them was to stay quite but the police decided otherwise and proceeded to honk their horn and use their siren. It all had a slightly jumped-up-bureaucrat feel about it, and it was with great satisfaction that we watched the frightened cattle relieve their remarkably full bladders at the front of the police car. I guess the police could say they were keeping the piss.
Then there was the night cruise that wasn't. We got out on the river, had just spotted some wildlife when the heavens opened, just like they'd done in the amazon a year ago. I guess that's why they call them rain forests. Though this cut short our cruise it did leave one lasting memory. The glow of the resort lights on the water were transformed by the rain and the whole river took on a beautiful silver sheen. Never seen anything quite like it before.
And the final memory. Our chalet (a strange name for a building so far from snowfields but that's what they call it) is up a hill side. Walking back after the rains I came face-to-face with a herd of wild boar who were sheltering under a chalet down the hill from us. The only thing separating us was a piece of rope. I looked at them and they looked at me and we came to some sort of arrangement where I'd just walk nonchalantly by and both of us would pretend I didn't really exist. Worked a treated and as far as I could tell neither party wet themselves.
Then there was the night cruise that wasn't. We got out on the river, had just spotted some wildlife when the heavens opened, just like they'd done in the amazon a year ago. I guess that's why they call them rain forests. Though this cut short our cruise it did leave one lasting memory. The glow of the resort lights on the water were transformed by the rain and the whole river took on a beautiful silver sheen. Never seen anything quite like it before.
And the final memory. Our chalet (a strange name for a building so far from snowfields but that's what they call it) is up a hill side. Walking back after the rains I came face-to-face with a herd of wild boar who were sheltering under a chalet down the hill from us. The only thing separating us was a piece of rope. I looked at them and they looked at me and we came to some sort of arrangement where I'd just walk nonchalantly by and both of us would pretend I didn't really exist. Worked a treated and as far as I could tell neither party wet themselves.
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