weds day 47

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So after only getting up once in the night for a wee and waking with what felt like someone shining a torch in my face ( it was the daylight!) I was relieved to know that I must have got some sleep during the night. Not feeling too keen on having an early dip in the river I settled with a roll of deodorant and some clean clothes. After being entertained by the large group of macaques diving and swimming for scraps of food - have never seen a monkey swim before! And watching the large resident lizard lazily making its way up the river we sat down and had breakfast ourselves. We all had a choice of tea or coffee, omelette or 3 layers of toast with cheese, tomato, onion and egg finished off with a huge tray of fresh fruit - not bad for being in the middle of nowhere. After gathering our bits together off we headed, starting with a steep uphill climb out of the valley - about 5 minutes from the top and an orangutan with her baby appeared, as she came towards us we all stood frozen to the spot. The guide reassured us and said she was friendly, as she walked past the group and came level with me she reached out and grabbed my wrist. Initially feeling a little anxious about the situation and as her 4 yr old child came to join us the guide told me just to keep walking. So walking together - with her still holding on we made it to the top of the hill, the guide fed her fruit and putting a lighter close to her and my hands - she let go. She didn't become aggressive at all and later being informed that she was brought up in a rehabilitation centre, so completely used to human contact - but now living in the wild. The experience absolutely made my day and I felt so lucky to have come that close to such a beautiful creature. After getting some photos she climbed up into the trees ( possibly to make a nest out of branches - they make 5-6 everyday!) A further climb up to see the view over the jungle and to wait for the white tailed gibbon - it never appeared - sadly, so downhill it was to the bohrock river. On the way down we passed a further 2 orangutans high in the trees, the path being almost vertical in places we used tree roots as ladders and with no incidents we made it to the bottom. The river being 15 metres wide in places, deep enough to dive into and clean and clear we all went for a dip. Sitting by the side and having a spot of lunch - noodles with vegetables followed by more fruit we relaxed while the guides got the last bits together for our trip down the river. 5 large tyre tubes all roped together with mats in the middle, it was 2 people in each ( plenty of room) with a guide at the front with all our bags ( in watertight bags) and a guide at the back. The 30 minute ride back to Bukit lawang was great fun, fast rapids in places and calm waters in others expertly steered by the guides - really was a fab way to end the 2 days. After saying our thank yous and goodbyes and walking the 2 minutes back to the guesthouse i had a well needed shower put on some clean clothes and sat chatting to a lovely Australian couple - who have been travelling since July! Went down to some dinner and spent the evening chatting with the danish couple - also staying at the same guesthouse and watching a storm ( being thankful that we weren't out in it last night). Packed my bags for tomorrow and settled down for the night.

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