It’s raining again, as it has for the past 3 mornings, but it doesn’t matter. It seems to clear and of course it’s never cold. Some people here who have lived in the UK or USA have told us that they like the seasons we get, or even that they miss the winter! To all my friends and family at home potentially struggling with a cold, grey January, remember, there are some people who would like to be there!!!!
We had a little spare time before the start of our jungle trip so went out to do a bit of exploring. We found Geoff a new watch strap. £3.00. I bought some biscuits, just in case we get peckish 🤦♀️😂😂😂, 26p. We then decided to have a look at the Central Market. Oh boy! Another assault on the senses! The first floor, which is all we managed to do this morning was a plethora of fruit, vegetables, household goods, dry/smoked fish, and at the back the fresh fish. It wasn’t really a pleasant smell. Underneath the smells you could recognise was something not pleasant. Probably best not to think what that was! The only fish we could recognise were prawns and crabs. Other things looked similar to what we know but of course the seas around here are not the cold North Sea so no cod!
We will have a bit more time when we return to Sandakan so may try and explore floors 2 and 3 then.
It was time to pack up and meet our guide to take us to the boat for our trip out to Kinabatangan.
A short car ride to the jetty to link up with others going to Kinabatangan, then onto the boat and away!
I have yet to look at a map of the area so not sure of the geography, but it took a half hour to reach the Kinabatangan river and I think we may have been weaving our way between islands. I don’t think there was much habitation, apart from 1 or 2 small settlements, but there were a lot of mangrove swamps! I guess our route was a short cut, but it does warrant a look on a map to see just how many islands there are and how big.
Then we followed the course of the Kinabatangan river. Along the way we saw a lot of egret and some heron and then of course other things that we couldn’t recognise. The boat was covered and was fast, providing a breeze which was nice, but spray too at times if the window was open and the wind in the wrong direction!
The biggest village we passed along the river, was called Abai, with a population of around 300. It has its own school.
After an hour and a half we arrived at the Kinabatangan wetland resort. There waiting for us was our first wild animal sighting! A bearded pig! There are a lot around and although they are not fed they still seem to be ever present!
First off we had lunch. We could choose from a selection of dishes - squid in coconut, sweet and sour fish, roast chicken, cabbage, French beans, rice and chips! No prizes for guessing what we had!! The veggies were lovely though! 😉
We were given a briefing about the rest of the day and then shown to our rooms. Individual log cabins in the jungle. A large living/bedroom area with a big picture window out onto the jungle. Large bathroom with 2 showers. One indoors and one out. No neighbours as the lodges are all far apart and staggered so you can’t see another one, so as long as you can shower before the mosquitoes are out then a outdoor shower in the sun is fine. It is all screened off!!!
Our first trip out was on a boat with our guide and another family. They took us back down the river the way we had come in. There are mangrove swamps and also nipah palms. These look similar to the date palm oil tree but are not, and the leaves are used by the local people for roofing and the fruit to eat. On one of these trees and their rather large leaves lay a yellow ring cat snake. He can grow up to 2.5 metres, is venomous and his bite would give you a fever for a week.
We also saw lots of long tailed macaques and egrets, plus one of the varieties of hornbill to be found here, some crocodiles, proboscis monkeys, 2 types of kingfisher, 1 of which was a winter visitor from Europe!
The prize for the afternoon though went to a wild orangutan, sitting in a mangrove tree eating its fruit. There were 3 boats of tourists sitting under the tree watching him, no more than 20 people, and he was totally unconcerned by it all. We stayed watching him for quite a long time. Then as the sun was setting we turned back for the resort.
After dinner it was time for a night walk. So armed with torches and dressed up to protect ourselves from mosquitoes, plus spraying any exposed skin with deet, we went off to meet our guide.
It was not a long walk, 1.3km, and all on the boardwalks around this resort. Our guide, Andis, managed to spot a young leopard cat, flying squirrel, colugus (known also as a flying lemur), water spider and a scorpion.
Then back to our log cabins as we have a 6.30 start tomorrow morning!
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