Wow!
So that was an amazing few days!!
Just got back from Jungle camp in Borneo.
I
arrived at Sandakan airport late at night after another very bumpy
flight, realising I had forgotten to let the B&B know how late I was
arriving! Luckily they were still up so I had somewhere to sleep.
The
following morning we were dropped off a Sepilok Orangutan sanctuary
just in time for feeding time. There was quite a few people there which
wasn't that great as they are quite shy but we got lucky and 2
youngsters swung their way over to the feeding platforms and gobbled
down the food in no time. They are adorable and look like they have so
much fun swinging about although I always think they have a bit of
sadness in their eyes :(
Anyway as soon as they had eaten they were
off and the platform was taken over by some small monkeys who got the
scraps. You cant see the babies unfortunately, although I expect this is
better for the Orangutans in the long run-I guess I will just watch
them on youtube for now!
After the centre we headed back to the B&B for some lunch before we set off into the jungle-to base camp.
It was about a 1.5 hour drive to the Kinabatangn
river where we took a small boat to camp. On the way to camp we spotted
about 5 crocodiles on the banks, countless beautiful birds, long tailed
monkeys and wild Orangutans chilling in the trees.
Our camp was
pretty basic but had everything we needed and was set in the jungle with
part of the river running through it. We were given a sheet and shown
to our huts which were basically open air huts but with a roof. We had a
mattress and a mossie net on each. We were told to put any food in the
bins they provided as it would be very likely we could have visitors in
the night. All the huts are shared, so I ended up sharing with 2
couples, bonus being I got a double too! Plus I wasn't thrown in the
singles hut;)
After some dinner with the group we had a bit of a
singalong with the guides and their guitars which was pretty cool. Some
good music too!
That night we had a nighttime boat safari down the
river to see what we could spot. Saw lots of sleeping birds in the trees
and a couple of wildcats.
I had an interesting nights sleep! Lots of rustling in our hut and apart
from the noises coming from the jungle it was silent! And very, very
dark!
The next morning we were woken up at 6am and for once in my whole life I
was straight up! We took another boat ride and saw some Orangutans
hanging out in the trees. In the evening after another lovely meal we
went on a trek in the jungle which was quite spooky! Saw some massive
spiders and some gorgeous Kingfishers fast asleep just centimeters away.
The birds are blind at night so you can get so close and they don't
move at all. After about an hour we headed back to camp where I passed
out almost immediately! Unfortunately I woke up in the night at 3am
desperate for the loo so had to find my way i the pitch black which was
very spooky esp with crocodiles on my mind.
Such an amazing experience.
The next day we headed back to the main site, where I stayed the night
and headed to the airport early the next morning to Langkwai where I am
now writing this!
Its boiling and I somehow have a hangover from just 3 beers!
Not long now folks......
