Having seen Orangutans at the reserve we now want to see some in the wild. We stay in another safari style lodge which runs wildlife spotting cruises up and down the Kinabatangan river.
Our first cruise is at dawn and it is pouring with rain. The small boat seats eight people, all of whom are huddled under umbrellas or in their rain coats - not great conditions for spotting animals. Our first sighting is on the main river and of an Orangutan nest. The Orangutan is being very sensible and staying hidden from the rain, although our guide claims he can see it. He is very camp in skinny jeans and a quiff (the guide, not the Orangutan). Apparently on the evening cruise the night before he came out with lines such as 'We have five types of owls available for your viewing tonight' so I'm looking forward to what he will come out with this morning.
Turning off the main river and onto an over grown tributary our guide announces 'Ladies and Gentlemen, I have spotted something very special for you, can you see it?'. No one can see anything in particular, and it is eventually revealed to be a tiny caterpillar on one of the branches on a near by tree. It is too small to get a picture of and I have no idea how he spotted it. We reach an ox bow lake and our guide encourages us to put our feet in the water to be nibbled by the fish - 'No crocodiles, I promise!'. Two minutes later we spot a HUGE crocodile... luckily its dead. Our guide comments that it would make a nice handbag if it didn't smell so bad.
In the evening we go on a sun set cruise. The rain stopped three hours ago, apparently to perfect time to spot wildlife. First we spot a huge water monitor lizard sitting on a log. It watches us lazily for a while before sticking out his tongue and crawling away.
The trees lining the river are filled with long tailed macaques, some with babies. We get a glimpse of an Orangutan in a tree far back from the river, visible to the eye but not through my camera lense or even Alex's, which is better than mine. Hornbills fly overhead and, just as were about to head back, we spot a group of Proboscis monkeys.
We have seen all the main animals listed as 'must see' in our guide book, even if it was only a glimpse of the Orangutan. To top it all off there is an amazing sunset as we rejoin the main river.
Our first cruise is at dawn and it is pouring with rain. The small boat seats eight people, all of whom are huddled under umbrellas or in their rain coats - not great conditions for spotting animals. Our first sighting is on the main river and of an Orangutan nest. The Orangutan is being very sensible and staying hidden from the rain, although our guide claims he can see it. He is very camp in skinny jeans and a quiff (the guide, not the Orangutan). Apparently on the evening cruise the night before he came out with lines such as 'We have five types of owls available for your viewing tonight' so I'm looking forward to what he will come out with this morning.
Turning off the main river and onto an over grown tributary our guide announces 'Ladies and Gentlemen, I have spotted something very special for you, can you see it?'. No one can see anything in particular, and it is eventually revealed to be a tiny caterpillar on one of the branches on a near by tree. It is too small to get a picture of and I have no idea how he spotted it. We reach an ox bow lake and our guide encourages us to put our feet in the water to be nibbled by the fish - 'No crocodiles, I promise!'. Two minutes later we spot a HUGE crocodile... luckily its dead. Our guide comments that it would make a nice handbag if it didn't smell so bad.
In the evening we go on a sun set cruise. The rain stopped three hours ago, apparently to perfect time to spot wildlife. First we spot a huge water monitor lizard sitting on a log. It watches us lazily for a while before sticking out his tongue and crawling away.
The trees lining the river are filled with long tailed macaques, some with babies. We get a glimpse of an Orangutan in a tree far back from the river, visible to the eye but not through my camera lense or even Alex's, which is better than mine. Hornbills fly overhead and, just as were about to head back, we spot a group of Proboscis monkeys.
We have seen all the main animals listed as 'must see' in our guide book, even if it was only a glimpse of the Orangutan. To top it all off there is an amazing sunset as we rejoin the main river.
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