One Last Jungle Safari Cruise

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Geo: 5.4957, 118.206

Luckily we set our phone alarms as a back-up, because we are pretty sure that the gong was not rung this morning. Once we collected our life jackets we went to the jetty and got into the boat. Being our last cruise I hoped that we would see something new. Our first sighting was a troop of Long-Tailed Macaques in the top branches of a large, tall tree. This morning there wasn't much mist at all compared to yesterday morning.

I was then very impressed with the guide when he spotted a snake curled up on a tree branch. This snake seemed quite long and it was mainly yellow in colour. It is called a Grey Tailed Racer. It was virtually on the branch above us. I really hate snakes and was glad when the boat moved away a little bit. We watched the snake as it slowly moved about. The guide then pointed out another snake, this one wasn't as bright yellow in colour. It was on a branch very close by, also curled up.

The cruise this morning was a bit slower than others, due to the many tree trunks floating in the river. They were a bit of a hazard to boats and shouldn't have been thrown into the river. Before we knew it, it was time to turn around and go back to the lodge. Rach and I went straight to breakfast, where our last meal here didn't disappoint us. After breakfast we said goodbye to the others and went back to our cabin to shower and finish our packing.

When we were all packed we went to reception to check out. We took a few last photos and then wheeled our bags down the ramp and onto the jetty. Here there was a boat to take us across the river to our road transfer. Again we were the only people on the transfer. As we were the only ones being transferred, the driver was more than happy to drop us off at the airport instead of in Sandakan.

We arrived at the airport just after 11am and our flight wasn't until 2:30pm. So we had plenty of time to kill, the problem was that this was a teeny, tiny airport and there wasn't much to do to pass so much time! We started off by spending time in Gloria Jean's (because they had wi-fi and air conditioning) and caught up with the world, after having no wi-fi in the jungle. We then went for a walk, but it was still too early to drop off our bags.

Finally we could drop off our bags. After that we went to the only place to eat and ate noodles. Then we went through to the departure lounge and spent more time waiting in the only lounge in the airport. Finally a plane landed, emptied out and then we were able to board.

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Photos

01 Snoozing
A troop of macaques sleeping at the top of the tree.

02 Waking Up
The macaques are slowing waking up and becoming active.

03 About to Jump
The monkey is about to jump up.

04 Morning Mist
The morning mist slowly rising over the river.

05 Snake in a Tree
A Grey Tailed Racer on a branch above us.

06 Nest
An insect's nest hanging from the branch.

07 Snake
Another Grey Tailed Race snake.

08 Plantation
A palm oil plantation.

09 River Cruising
The view ahead of us as we cruise along.

10 Bird of Prey
A bird of prey perched on a branch.

11 River
A view of the river as we cruise along on our morning safari.

12 Floating Branches
The guides were not impressed with the branches that had been dumped into the river by the farmers.

13 River
A view of the river as we cruise along on our morning safari.

14 Palms
More palm plantations by the river.

15 River
A view of the river as we cruise along on our morning safari.

16 Entrance
The entrance to our cabin.

17 Cabin
Our deluxe cabin.

18 Bridge
The little bridge we crossed over to get to our cabin.

19 Splotchy
A splotchy patterned plant.

20 Flower
A unique tropical flower.

21 Lodge
The path we walked along to get to the reception.

22 Gumboots
Lots of gumboots to hire when doing the jungle trek.

23 Gong
I am pretending to ring the gong.

24 Path
The path that leads to the cabins.