The thrill of Danum tubing ! :) Yiipeeee...
I'm back already... boy, we had heaps of fun. We even enjoyed the trek to our starting point as the scenery was so spectacular and then we got into this (very) brown water and had to follow our guide and paddle with our arms here & there to avoid the strongest currents. I got stuck in a tree root once or twice but eventually got the knack of it. It took us about 45mns to float down the Danum River and it was just breathtaking. We were with another 4 US tourists, who also agreed that Disney World just did NOT come close to this. To see the river from the river, offered such a different perspective, far more interesting than looking down on it. The tall, tall trees seemed even taller ! We were all totally in awe, soooo much green all around, sooo many shades of green and soooo many types of trees. I was just absolutely gutted that I couldn't take my camera on this particular activity (since it's not water proof) as we could have taken such fun, fun shots of us with our bum inside this big buoy... Roberto found it a bit unnerving that you couldn't see the bottom of the river at all, so you had no idea if you were just above the soil or had a lot more room to manoeuvre. He reckoned he needed to do the ride twice to be a bit more relaxed. But I instantly enjoyed it... I mean, once you've swum in the Amazon, nothing is as scary. At least here you have no piranahs and no crocodiles... ok, we could have had a python I guess, and every time I was sent floating towards the lower branches my first thought was like 'how will I cope if a snake falls right on my lap ???'.... but it's the kind of thought I tried to dismiss as fast as I could.
We could have happily gone on for hours but a storm was coming, the clouds were gathering, the wind was picking up (more and more leaves were dancing in the air) and it was time to call it quit. We'd only just been at the lodge for 5 minutes no more when the heavens opened. And I mean, it bucketted it down if you can say this in English? It was like a wall of rain... the sound was incredible. I tried to record it, I hope it worked.
Just before the storm really broke out Roberto was keen to go back on the canopy walk and hike some more... I said 'but can't you feel a storm is coming?', he was like 'yeah but I don't want to go back to my room, it's boring, and I don't want to go on the internet either, I can do this in London'... I asked our guide whether it was sensible at all and he agreed that it really wasn't advisable as anything could fall on his head and the tracks would become even more muddy. As I said, we had barely finished the conversation that he was left with no option... I personally don't even fancy going on the night walk tonight, because it will be incredibly slippery. But I understand that he'll want to do it because he's never been in a jungle before. I'm slightly more blase... but only because I know full well it's next to impossible to take any decent shots at night and I'm too frustrated when I see something I can't picture. He was telling me that he already found it hard to think of going back to London 'where the main way people have fun is to go to the pub and get drunk'.... yeah, I know what he means. He felt that here, because we eat such healthy food and do regular exercise, we look healthier too (and we get a free sauna daily !). I told him that the best way to get over a holiday is to start planning the next one ! He agrees. He's now convinced that going to Belize with me in November sounds like a great plan ! :) (another superb mix of rainforests and reefs, since we're now both hooked on both habitats).
I still wish I'd managed to get a shot of the beautiful civet last night. Our guide said we were unlucky that it was so shy because usually they don't mind the car engines so much and can even show off in the spot light. But it was full moon last night and he said that animals are always shyer when it's full moon. He also said that last week he saw wild orang utangs every day, but there aren't as many fruits now as they've eaten all the ones around the lodge so it's harder to see them, they've kind of moved on somewhere else.
He mentioned that if we are very lucky, we might see a herd of wild pygmy elephants when we set off as it will be 5am and early morning is the best time to see them. They tend to come to this lodge about once a month.
5am is going to mean at 4:30am wake up call. Painful. Roberto has given me some sleeping pills that his mother uses daily and they are brilliant. At least I get a full 5 hours' sleep with half of one, and 7-8 hours with a full one. It does pay off to travel with a doctor, hey... Like earlier, I'd managed to 'break' half our bathroom door (the bottom half fell off, I swear I didn't kick it !!!) and within seconds he managed to fix it back. Brilliant! I'm starting to think that it's a lot more convenient to travel with a boy friend than a boyfriend. You get all the advantages of a male brain [compensating where the female brain lacks power to solve challenges - ok, at least mine, sorry, I don't mean to generalise too much and offend my smarter female friends] but without the arguments because there's no sexual tension. Perfecto !
The poor thing is having a toothache, it does worry me a bit. He could see it coming and had taken with him with some anti-biotics for that (that he could self-prescribe) but with the anti-malaria tablets too, it can make him slightly queasy (not that you'd notice as his energy level is still pretty phenomenal). I just hope it won't get worse... it'd be such a shame on his first big adventure.
I think that's all I can say for tonight. I'll just go back to the bar where he's reading a magazine on diving, and then we can have dinner.
I trust I'll have internet access at our next destination (whose name I can never remember, it's too long... the K River I call it). Everybody we've met here who had been there told us that it's even more beautiful, with even more wildlife. I must say that the wildlife aspect of things has been slightly disappointing here in the Danum... though R&I did spot a flying squirrel on the way to reception just a few minutes ago. Shriek of delight on both parts :) Even the conference centre is broken so we can't even view a slide show to learn more about the place.
Bisous to you all, I'll try to send some sun over (I've just spoken to my sister who said the UK weather is dire still)... oh, I haven't written a post card yet because I just cannot find one that I like as much as my photos, so, I'm staying put till I can find one that does this place justice. Sorry... be patient.
I'm back already... boy, we had heaps of fun. We even enjoyed the trek to our starting point as the scenery was so spectacular and then we got into this (very) brown water and had to follow our guide and paddle with our arms here & there to avoid the strongest currents. I got stuck in a tree root once or twice but eventually got the knack of it. It took us about 45mns to float down the Danum River and it was just breathtaking. We were with another 4 US tourists, who also agreed that Disney World just did NOT come close to this. To see the river from the river, offered such a different perspective, far more interesting than looking down on it. The tall, tall trees seemed even taller ! We were all totally in awe, soooo much green all around, sooo many shades of green and soooo many types of trees. I was just absolutely gutted that I couldn't take my camera on this particular activity (since it's not water proof) as we could have taken such fun, fun shots of us with our bum inside this big buoy... Roberto found it a bit unnerving that you couldn't see the bottom of the river at all, so you had no idea if you were just above the soil or had a lot more room to manoeuvre. He reckoned he needed to do the ride twice to be a bit more relaxed. But I instantly enjoyed it... I mean, once you've swum in the Amazon, nothing is as scary. At least here you have no piranahs and no crocodiles... ok, we could have had a python I guess, and every time I was sent floating towards the lower branches my first thought was like 'how will I cope if a snake falls right on my lap ???'.... but it's the kind of thought I tried to dismiss as fast as I could.
We could have happily gone on for hours but a storm was coming, the clouds were gathering, the wind was picking up (more and more leaves were dancing in the air) and it was time to call it quit. We'd only just been at the lodge for 5 minutes no more when the heavens opened. And I mean, it bucketted it down if you can say this in English? It was like a wall of rain... the sound was incredible. I tried to record it, I hope it worked.
Just before the storm really broke out Roberto was keen to go back on the canopy walk and hike some more... I said 'but can't you feel a storm is coming?', he was like 'yeah but I don't want to go back to my room, it's boring, and I don't want to go on the internet either, I can do this in London'... I asked our guide whether it was sensible at all and he agreed that it really wasn't advisable as anything could fall on his head and the tracks would become even more muddy. As I said, we had barely finished the conversation that he was left with no option... I personally don't even fancy going on the night walk tonight, because it will be incredibly slippery. But I understand that he'll want to do it because he's never been in a jungle before. I'm slightly more blase... but only because I know full well it's next to impossible to take any decent shots at night and I'm too frustrated when I see something I can't picture. He was telling me that he already found it hard to think of going back to London 'where the main way people have fun is to go to the pub and get drunk'.... yeah, I know what he means. He felt that here, because we eat such healthy food and do regular exercise, we look healthier too (and we get a free sauna daily !). I told him that the best way to get over a holiday is to start planning the next one ! He agrees. He's now convinced that going to Belize with me in November sounds like a great plan ! :) (another superb mix of rainforests and reefs, since we're now both hooked on both habitats).
I still wish I'd managed to get a shot of the beautiful civet last night. Our guide said we were unlucky that it was so shy because usually they don't mind the car engines so much and can even show off in the spot light. But it was full moon last night and he said that animals are always shyer when it's full moon. He also said that last week he saw wild orang utangs every day, but there aren't as many fruits now as they've eaten all the ones around the lodge so it's harder to see them, they've kind of moved on somewhere else.
He mentioned that if we are very lucky, we might see a herd of wild pygmy elephants when we set off as it will be 5am and early morning is the best time to see them. They tend to come to this lodge about once a month.
5am is going to mean at 4:30am wake up call. Painful. Roberto has given me some sleeping pills that his mother uses daily and they are brilliant. At least I get a full 5 hours' sleep with half of one, and 7-8 hours with a full one. It does pay off to travel with a doctor, hey... Like earlier, I'd managed to 'break' half our bathroom door (the bottom half fell off, I swear I didn't kick it !!!) and within seconds he managed to fix it back. Brilliant! I'm starting to think that it's a lot more convenient to travel with a boy friend than a boyfriend. You get all the advantages of a male brain [compensating where the female brain lacks power to solve challenges - ok, at least mine, sorry, I don't mean to generalise too much and offend my smarter female friends] but without the arguments because there's no sexual tension. Perfecto !
The poor thing is having a toothache, it does worry me a bit. He could see it coming and had taken with him with some anti-biotics for that (that he could self-prescribe) but with the anti-malaria tablets too, it can make him slightly queasy (not that you'd notice as his energy level is still pretty phenomenal). I just hope it won't get worse... it'd be such a shame on his first big adventure.
I think that's all I can say for tonight. I'll just go back to the bar where he's reading a magazine on diving, and then we can have dinner.
I trust I'll have internet access at our next destination (whose name I can never remember, it's too long... the K River I call it). Everybody we've met here who had been there told us that it's even more beautiful, with even more wildlife. I must say that the wildlife aspect of things has been slightly disappointing here in the Danum... though R&I did spot a flying squirrel on the way to reception just a few minutes ago. Shriek of delight on both parts :) Even the conference centre is broken so we can't even view a slide show to learn more about the place.
Bisous to you all, I'll try to send some sun over (I've just spoken to my sister who said the UK weather is dire still)... oh, I haven't written a post card yet because I just cannot find one that I like as much as my photos, so, I'm staying put till I can find one that does this place justice. Sorry... be patient.
posted by Sylvie at 10:28 AM
<< Home