Kinabatangan River ... another gem in Borneo's crown (30 June)
Well, I'm now back in KK, the capital of Borneo, in a McDonald, standing up because the typing chair is broken and using a keyboard that is seriously wonky.... as it's late already I am not sure how much I'll have time to say but we had a fantastic time in the K river area.
We had left the Danum Valley at 5:00am and needless to say that Roberto & I were both seriously dopey and dozed on & off in the car, on the way to Laha Datu... which was a bit of a shame as the scenery of the rainforest was as spectacular as ever. Especially early morning, with the mist rising from the tree tops... sooo atmospheric. We didn't really see any wildlife on the way but we enjoyed the trees just the same...
From Laha Datu it was another 1h30 drive to Sandakan, the gateway to Borneo's main wildlife area... an area that used to be plagued by pirates a few centuries back as the Philippines is just a mere 27kms away from there.
Roberto bought me another 1GM memory card for my camera in case we ran out as we both find that every day is so scenic that you want to capture as much of it all as you can, and yet try and be selective too not to be too repetitive. Besides, when you just see one frame it doesn't compare to the whole picture....
We then boarded a boat for another 1h30 to go to our lodge for the next 2 nights. We were treated to sightings of several groups of proboscis monkeys. These guys are seriously weird looking and if you have time to look them up on line, please do. They look like caricatures, with very big noses and the locals nicknamed them the 'Dutchmen' as when the first explorers arrived they found some likeness ! The alpha male can have up to 20-25 wives (a record in monkey world) and the females are known to behave like humans when the 'kids' disobey by slapping them on the face if need be. When the boys want to fight, they are gentlemen about it and do not hurt each other or kill each other. They just growl and snarl and might slap each other, as one would with an invisible glove, till one admits defeat.
We saw heaps of them and it was special because they are endemic to Borneo and you will never find them in a zoo. They are on the 'vulnerable' list of species as their habitat is very limited (though the K river area is now protected) and some conservation projects have been trialled with them, to ensure their survival but it proved impossible. The moment you put them in a cage, they go on hunger strike... as if they would rather die than not be free.
Then, a few minutes later, we got another bigger treat, a herd of elephants by the riverside, spotted by Yours Truly. We got so close to them and watched them bathe and eat bamboos, etc. It was such a thrill, especially for Roberto who had never seen them in the wild, ever. Even our guide was excited because he said that such sightings are very rare and sometimes you only see them 4-5 times a year. He had not seen any for 2 months at least. So the word soon spread around that we had hit the jackpot. I told Roberto that he had 'beginner's luck'....!
Our good fortune continued as we spotted many black hornbills and macaque monkeys and even wild orang utangs ! These guys share 96.4% of our DNA so they can have some remarkably human like expressions. They are solitary animals once adults so spotting them is a lot harder. We saw a mother with a baby, but quite high up on a tree... This prompted our guide to explain to us that orang utang mothers are expectionally devoted mothers and will spend several years teaching their offspring every skill they need to survive. If one of the babies falls off when they are jumping trees and obviously dies upon hitting the ground, they won't give up,they will go down to pick it up and carry it with them till the body starts to smell... and then they will realise it's definitely dead. But even in Sepilok, some mothers have been known to bring their dead babies to the feeding platform, as if they could still benefit from it.... really heart-wrenching.
We eventually checked in and soon after went on a beautiful evening cruise. The light was perfect, till a storm set in. But we were both completely taken aback by the scenery unfolding in front of us. Again, the sheer diversity of trees and ferns and all sorts... I know I have said that a lot but it is SO lush and SO green, it's like a 'green overdose' and just stunning. Roberto was usually sitting right on the front of the boat (we had one for just 4 people to ourselves) and he was having the time of his life. I was equally impressed, and it does take a lot to impress me as, being well-travelled, I feel I have 'been there and done that' a lot more, obviously.....
We even saw a mangrove snake on a tree, a few monitor lizzards snoozing up in trees too... we pretty much got to see everything we wanted to see, but for the clouded leopards. One had been spotted in a lodge just a week ago, on the ground of a beautiful restaurant where we had stopped earlier to have lunch - food is very very good. Actually, I must correct what I said in my earlier post, clouded leopards were not discovered just last year, but the first one was captured last year. The food, by the way, has exceeded my expectations... I am not getting bored with it at all.
The next day we had another early wake up call and set off in the spitting rain for another leisurely cruise up a smaller estuary. This was even more beautiful as the shores were much nearer still, and it led us to a very peaceful oxbow lake... lots of water hyacynths (?) on the water and we saw more proboscis monkeys... oh, a funny anecdote about them is that they are nicknamed 'hot chilli' because they seem to spend half of their lives with a permanent erection... they are very highly sexed because it's part of social interaction for them... and the 'red chilli' is often quite visible....
We never saw any crocodiles but there are plenty around so Roberto was advised NOT to go for swim lest he is never heard of again. Besides, the water was very muddy... like a smooth cappucchino I guess. We even had a small breakfast on our boat, which was just perfect as the rain had stopped by then.
It's also better for pictures as I refuse to take pictures in the rain in case my digital camera gets broken as they are SO fragile. My built-in flash is already broken and I do not understand why because I took SUCH good care of it, never dropped it, or anything.... so I'll have to take it back to the shop. Thankfully I have a back up flash with my flash gun as last night I wanted to have a photo of us wearing our sarons (as traditional in Malaysia.... and the lodge had left a couple of sarons for all guests to try on so we'd all be 'in the mood'). Talking of clothes and all, it is also traditional to wear no shoes inside so it suits me fine as I like wearing no shoes given half the chance. Women, I have been told, are so shy that they will bathe in the river fully clothed. I cannot imagine having a bath with all my clothes on !! It's like: how do you EVER get properly clean ???? I'd wander around with no clothes on either if I could, far more freeing... especially when it's sooo hot and humid.
After lunch we had another cruise, starting at 3:45pm (any earlier is pointless as the animals are sleeping too). We were lucky to spot a beautiful Asian flycatcher, or Paradise Flycatcher... a bit like a white quetzal, with a lovely long tail. But we just saw it hover above water, it didn't really sit still long enough for us to take a photo.
We saw more wild orang utangs too... oh, did you know that they are so like us that they catch the same diseases, have the same gestation period AND even the same twin rate (1 birth in 90). However, unlike human mothers, because looking after ONE 'kid' is tough enough, the weaker twin will be abandoned to give the stronger one a much better chance of survival.
It's been a brilliant adventure so far and I'd highly recommend this area to anyone who wants to spot wildlife in Borneo.... a gem.
Well, I'm now back in KK, the capital of Borneo, in a McDonald, standing up because the typing chair is broken and using a keyboard that is seriously wonky.... as it's late already I am not sure how much I'll have time to say but we had a fantastic time in the K river area.
We had left the Danum Valley at 5:00am and needless to say that Roberto & I were both seriously dopey and dozed on & off in the car, on the way to Laha Datu... which was a bit of a shame as the scenery of the rainforest was as spectacular as ever. Especially early morning, with the mist rising from the tree tops... sooo atmospheric. We didn't really see any wildlife on the way but we enjoyed the trees just the same...
From Laha Datu it was another 1h30 drive to Sandakan, the gateway to Borneo's main wildlife area... an area that used to be plagued by pirates a few centuries back as the Philippines is just a mere 27kms away from there.
Roberto bought me another 1GM memory card for my camera in case we ran out as we both find that every day is so scenic that you want to capture as much of it all as you can, and yet try and be selective too not to be too repetitive. Besides, when you just see one frame it doesn't compare to the whole picture....
We then boarded a boat for another 1h30 to go to our lodge for the next 2 nights. We were treated to sightings of several groups of proboscis monkeys. These guys are seriously weird looking and if you have time to look them up on line, please do. They look like caricatures, with very big noses and the locals nicknamed them the 'Dutchmen' as when the first explorers arrived they found some likeness ! The alpha male can have up to 20-25 wives (a record in monkey world) and the females are known to behave like humans when the 'kids' disobey by slapping them on the face if need be. When the boys want to fight, they are gentlemen about it and do not hurt each other or kill each other. They just growl and snarl and might slap each other, as one would with an invisible glove, till one admits defeat.
We saw heaps of them and it was special because they are endemic to Borneo and you will never find them in a zoo. They are on the 'vulnerable' list of species as their habitat is very limited (though the K river area is now protected) and some conservation projects have been trialled with them, to ensure their survival but it proved impossible. The moment you put them in a cage, they go on hunger strike... as if they would rather die than not be free.
Then, a few minutes later, we got another bigger treat, a herd of elephants by the riverside, spotted by Yours Truly. We got so close to them and watched them bathe and eat bamboos, etc. It was such a thrill, especially for Roberto who had never seen them in the wild, ever. Even our guide was excited because he said that such sightings are very rare and sometimes you only see them 4-5 times a year. He had not seen any for 2 months at least. So the word soon spread around that we had hit the jackpot. I told Roberto that he had 'beginner's luck'....!
Our good fortune continued as we spotted many black hornbills and macaque monkeys and even wild orang utangs ! These guys share 96.4% of our DNA so they can have some remarkably human like expressions. They are solitary animals once adults so spotting them is a lot harder. We saw a mother with a baby, but quite high up on a tree... This prompted our guide to explain to us that orang utang mothers are expectionally devoted mothers and will spend several years teaching their offspring every skill they need to survive. If one of the babies falls off when they are jumping trees and obviously dies upon hitting the ground, they won't give up,they will go down to pick it up and carry it with them till the body starts to smell... and then they will realise it's definitely dead. But even in Sepilok, some mothers have been known to bring their dead babies to the feeding platform, as if they could still benefit from it.... really heart-wrenching.
We eventually checked in and soon after went on a beautiful evening cruise. The light was perfect, till a storm set in. But we were both completely taken aback by the scenery unfolding in front of us. Again, the sheer diversity of trees and ferns and all sorts... I know I have said that a lot but it is SO lush and SO green, it's like a 'green overdose' and just stunning. Roberto was usually sitting right on the front of the boat (we had one for just 4 people to ourselves) and he was having the time of his life. I was equally impressed, and it does take a lot to impress me as, being well-travelled, I feel I have 'been there and done that' a lot more, obviously.....
We even saw a mangrove snake on a tree, a few monitor lizzards snoozing up in trees too... we pretty much got to see everything we wanted to see, but for the clouded leopards. One had been spotted in a lodge just a week ago, on the ground of a beautiful restaurant where we had stopped earlier to have lunch - food is very very good. Actually, I must correct what I said in my earlier post, clouded leopards were not discovered just last year, but the first one was captured last year. The food, by the way, has exceeded my expectations... I am not getting bored with it at all.
The next day we had another early wake up call and set off in the spitting rain for another leisurely cruise up a smaller estuary. This was even more beautiful as the shores were much nearer still, and it led us to a very peaceful oxbow lake... lots of water hyacynths (?) on the water and we saw more proboscis monkeys... oh, a funny anecdote about them is that they are nicknamed 'hot chilli' because they seem to spend half of their lives with a permanent erection... they are very highly sexed because it's part of social interaction for them... and the 'red chilli' is often quite visible....
We never saw any crocodiles but there are plenty around so Roberto was advised NOT to go for swim lest he is never heard of again. Besides, the water was very muddy... like a smooth cappucchino I guess. We even had a small breakfast on our boat, which was just perfect as the rain had stopped by then.
It's also better for pictures as I refuse to take pictures in the rain in case my digital camera gets broken as they are SO fragile. My built-in flash is already broken and I do not understand why because I took SUCH good care of it, never dropped it, or anything.... so I'll have to take it back to the shop. Thankfully I have a back up flash with my flash gun as last night I wanted to have a photo of us wearing our sarons (as traditional in Malaysia.... and the lodge had left a couple of sarons for all guests to try on so we'd all be 'in the mood'). Talking of clothes and all, it is also traditional to wear no shoes inside so it suits me fine as I like wearing no shoes given half the chance. Women, I have been told, are so shy that they will bathe in the river fully clothed. I cannot imagine having a bath with all my clothes on !! It's like: how do you EVER get properly clean ???? I'd wander around with no clothes on either if I could, far more freeing... especially when it's sooo hot and humid.
After lunch we had another cruise, starting at 3:45pm (any earlier is pointless as the animals are sleeping too). We were lucky to spot a beautiful Asian flycatcher, or Paradise Flycatcher... a bit like a white quetzal, with a lovely long tail. But we just saw it hover above water, it didn't really sit still long enough for us to take a photo.
We saw more wild orang utangs too... oh, did you know that they are so like us that they catch the same diseases, have the same gestation period AND even the same twin rate (1 birth in 90). However, unlike human mothers, because looking after ONE 'kid' is tough enough, the weaker twin will be abandoned to give the stronger one a much better chance of survival.
It's been a brilliant adventure so far and I'd highly recommend this area to anyone who wants to spot wildlife in Borneo.... a gem.
posted by Sylvie at 11:22 AM
<< Home