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Published: November 29th 2005
On the boat
This was our first jungle river cruise.Borneo is home to some of the most spectacular jungles in the world and has hundreds of species of wildlife. Since we were there, we tried to find an opportunity to stay in the jungle overnight to see the many species of monkeys, crocodiles, wild cats, birds, elephants, boars, and of course - mosquitoes. We found a jungle camp that takes people to a remote section of the jungle that is inaccessible otherwise.
The camp offered jungle boat cruises (both day and night). On the first day, we took the boat down the Kinabatangan River, which is famous for its diverse and dense population of wildlife. Within the first few minutes, we saw Proboscis monkeys leaping from tree to tree. These monkeys are some of the funniest looking creatures I have ever seen. They all have giant hooked noses, and often you can see males spending their days proudly chillin' in the trees with giant erections - quite funny.
Throughout the rest of our cruise, we saw 2 other species of monkeys, and many very colourful birds. Within the 1.5 Hr, I saw about 100 wild monkeys!
That night we went on another boat cruise, but this time
Monkeys
It was hard to snap pictures of the wildlife, but atleast I got something. in the dark! It was incredible floating down a jungle river in the pitch black, with the stars above us and the noises of the jungle all around us. Our guide had a big spotlight that he used to search the trees and shorelines for wildlife. When we spotted an animal, we would creep up on them in the boat and watch! The most exciting was the crocodile hunting. To spot a croc, we would shine the light along the shoreline and look for red reflections. Crocodile’s eyes emit a bright red glow when a light is shone upon them in the dark. Once we spotted one, we would slowly creep up. The biggest croc that we spotted was just over 2 meters, but our guide said that they can be over 5 meters in this river!
I was reading articles about one giant croc in the river that swallowed a little boy whole. The people of the boy's village sought retribution and finally caught the croc, sliced open its stomach, and found the boy completely untouched (except for a missing leg). The only thing we were missing on the crocodile hunt was Steve Irwin to poke and prod
Jungle Cat
Sneaking around looking for some grub. the croc's in to a furious rage.
On the night cruise we also saw monkeys sleeping in the trees, leopard cats, owls, brightly coloured birds, wild boar, and giant monitor lizards.
We spent another day in the jungle doing similar cruises seeing many of the same animals. We were hoping to spot some elephants and orangutan’s, but were unsuccessful.
Sleeping in the jungle was great. Every animal seemed to be trying to make as much noise as possible. Before we went to bed, the wild cats (Civets) would creep around the deck looking for food. In the morning, we would wake up to hear monkeys causing a huge ruckus outside of our room. They would leap from vines on to our roof, growl and hiss at each other, and stare at us with curious eyes from their perches in the trees.
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Justine
non-member comment
Dedication
Tim, You are a very dedicated blogger, thanks for keeping the saga going...it is great to read your regular entries. Even with ants all over the keyboard!!