Day Nine - Tuesday 1st November: Cruising down the river.

 Bounding out of bed at 5.30am was a challenge but worth it so we could do an early morning cruise.

And for those of us who weren't quite awake, we were quick to wake up when within a few metres of the jetty the boat stopped so we could get a perfect view of a yellow-banded cat snake. It was sleeping (fortunately!) in an overhanging branch only a couple of metres above us. Despite its distinctive markings it was well-camouflaged but Andis managed to spot it . We were quick to suggest that we move on before the snake woke up!

This time we headed downriver towards the Kelenanap Oxbow 'lake' which was totally choked with huge broad-leafed plants. It was a bit of a shock when the boatman drove us straight into the middle of the thick leaves and stopped. A lovely spot for a cup of tea and sandwiches!

Apparently the pygmy elephants who are only found in Borneo are particularly attracted to these plants so we did our best to spot some .....with no success! It seems as if sightings are rare as noone we spoke to had seen any, although Andis said that on one memorable day there were 128 lined up on the shore.

A monitor lizard looking for prey in the shallows

A family of proboscis monkeys hanging out in
one of the tall trees lining the river bank.

One of the many graceful egrets
 searching for food in the shallows

Cruised back home for breakfast keeping our eyes peeled and saw more monkeys bird life and hornbills.

Borneo has 12 types of
kingfishers and we saw
about half of them; some
very tiny but all bright blue

Langur monkey

A small black squirrel visited
the dining room for lunch

A couple of hours on 'land' before we had lunch and went out in the boat again for a dusk/night cruise. 

We seemed to be getting better at spotting branches which suddenly moved because of monkeys clambering around and picking out different shapes which signified animals or birds. We saw a couple of families of proboscis monkeys, more enormous crocodiles, egrets, long-tailed macaques, langur monkeys and more.

There was something almost meditative about slowly moving down the river and gazing at the lush forests which changed as the vegetation changed.

A male proboscis monkey
with huge nose and 'red chili': indigenous 
to Northern Borneo

Andis said we were doing the Christmas tree cruise as darkness fell. Finally some of the trees along the shore lit up with fireflies which certainly was magical.

Comment:

During our time at the Wetlands Centre there were very few tourists. The three people who were there when we arrived left the next day and Sue, a Malaysian woman arrived on her own. We took her under our wing and she came cruising with us.

It seemed a pity that so few people were aware of this place as it was such a unique experience. To be so isolated from the world for a few days is so rare and yet we had every mod con except wifi (which was a blessing!).