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Published: April 5th 2007
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We left Sandakan for a journey deep in to the centre of the Jungle, The journey took us four hours in a mini bus but there were only two other travelers so we had a sufficient amount of room to breathe, their names were Patrick and Sophie they were on their 4 month honey moon and were such lovely people, really good fun to be around.
We eventually came to the very end of the road we had traveled on for two hours into the jungle, before us we could see a large bungalow on stilts surrounded by forest. A large river flowed by the residence. We really were in the Jungle it was awesome I was so happy excited and terrified of snakes, crocodiles, big spiders, praying mantas, scorpions etc......
I crossed over the lawn towards the river to do a Croc spot but after 20 minutes of waiting in wide eyed anticipation I gave up, and stroked the owners pet baby deer instead, is was soooooo cute and rather tame, a proper baby Bambi!!!
We all gathered on the veranda for dinner and chatted hearing the experiences from the others travels, there were some funny and interesting
stories to be told, I shall save the best to tell you when I get back. A couple arrived back from their guided tour of the jungle river with a local guide, he said he had spotted something in the bushes behind us and would we like to take a look. There was no hesitation amongst the group people were on their feet before the guide had chance to say another word, we crossed the lawn in the dark, some people just bare footed, we were wearing sandals. Into the forest we went, only a few meters. The ground was covered in dry leaves, my mind kept reminding me that we were entering scorpion territory, (let alone all the 1000's of other creatures out there!) the guide shone his torch high into a tree above our heads. There sat an owl, he flicked his torch to the left and there was another. Then the guide sped off in the other direction claiming to have spotted a leopard cat, all I caught was the word Leopard so I was a bit wary to follow as fast as everyone else.
It turned out to be a rare species called a Leopard cat;
it was about the size of a domestic cat but marked like a leopard and a few inches longer.
We sat on the porch and talked some more the lights outside attracted some fair species of insect I could not possible begin to explain their names, but there were beetles, large stick insects, huge butterflies, geckos, moths, praying mantas and bats swooping over our heads to eat the smaller insects.
The next day I took a trip to see the famous Gomantong caves, (which are a place once visited by my hero Sir David Atenborough on yet another fantastic mission to document the wonders of nature.)
The caves, located in a limestone outcrop near the Kinabatangan River have been harvested for their edible birds' nests for centuries. There are black nests (these contain feathers they are less “pure” and valuable) and white nests that fetch a considerable amount more cash for the locals from their Chinese demanders.
The roof of the cave is 90 meters from the floor, twice a year licensed collectors risk their lives in a dangerous operation, climbing rattan ladders, ropes and poles to reach their treasure from way up high. I felt really dizzy just looking
up at the ladder, it was tiny, I wouldn’t trust it ‘for 1000 pounds but I don’t suppose these poor people have any choice in whether it’s safe or healthy, they just need the cash!
The floor of the cave is covered in guano (Bat Poo) which apparently is the largest heap in the world, it stinks!!!! Must be meters deep!!!
That afternoon I met back up with James and the other half of the group we ate lunch and took a boat trip down the Kinabatangan River to scope out the wildlife. We were very lucky as only 20 minutes down the river our James spotted something high in a tree; the guide quickly whipped the boat around and pulled us onto the river bank. We stepped out of the boat and waded through the highest grass, to discover that our creature in the tree was in actual fact a WILD Orang Utang!!! It was so amazing to see. I had my video camera along with me and I got a really close up view of the little ‘monkey’ just chilling out on a branch, she was eating fruit and spitting the remains onto us all down below.
We continued further in the boat for only a few more minutes until we caught a distant glimpse of some elephants bathing in the river. We approached them and stopped the boat only meters from the heard, there were at least 25 Pigmy elephants here, our guide was excited too as it is very rare that anyone sees elephants.
We saw the rare proboscis monkeys too; it was a really fantastic experience.
It saddened me as the effects of deforestation had become apparent in the color of the river, before the people started to destroy the jungle by logging the river ran clearly but now, as there are less trees sheltering the ground the rain washes the mud down stream also.
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dave
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I'm so jealous - it sounds amazing! Hope you are taking plenty of pictures so we can see more!