Day 3 – wow

This afternoon we took off in search of the elusive Pygmy elephant. I was told by our guide that there had been a heard sighted about 40mins down the river.
So off we set !
We finally arrived at the place they had been seen and they were still there !
After a while they left just as three other boatloads of visitors arrived.
We stuck around after they left as our guide thought they would come back.
So we learnt about where they came from (a gift from the sultan of Brunei – they have now bred and grown to around 2000)
Then they came back ! So we had a private viewing of three of them right in front of our bots
Amazing !

Our morning cruise

We set off at 6:30 again today to see what we could find.
We headed to a new section of the river and found a  new species of maquare . The silver leaf eater. We ventured further and took a smaller branch of the river where we found a tree snake having a sleep and then just along the river we met a baboon sitting on a tree trunk at the rivers edge.  We stayed with him for a while and then set off deeper into the forest. Then we spied a mother and child orangutan in a tree so we parked up and watched them climb and eat. This was amazing to see wild orangutan just meters away from us.
After this it was coffe break time and then back to the lodge for another huge breakfast.
This morning we are off on a jungle trek so its time for long pants and long socks !

What a day !

Today was a full day !
We had our morning adventure then lazed aboit till lunch.
Afyer lunch we watched a documentary on the orangutan sanctuary we are going to on Thursday.
In the afternoon we headed oit in the boats and spotfed lots of monkeya in action. Proboscis and Macquares then ww found lizards and plenty of birds

Then the thunder and lightning started with tropical torrential rains to add some fun.
We headed for home but got a good soaking on the way. Lucky its so tropical !

An adventure before breakfast

After an awesome sleep we met at the jetty at 6:15 to head off exploring. We found a huge familes of monkeys who were crashing their way tbrough the trees , we spotted a 2m long monitor lizard having a sleep in a tree and after a while found a wild orangutan crashing about. Unfortunately he took off as we got closer so we only saw the top of his head in the tree. We stopped for a coffee break then headed up an oxbow lake to learn about the river plants.
We returned home and had a huge breakfast. It is rest time now before lunch then out for more exploring on a different part of the river system.

All these photos are on flickr too. Check the link at the top of the blog homepage or google crispysmithnz on flickr

The kinabatangan river lodge

We have now settled into the river lodge and are about to head out exploring

On the road again

Palm oil plantations everywhere

Landed in Borneo !

Agtwr leaving our container hotel and getting breakfast we jetted off to the island of Borneo.
We have just landed and are awaiting our transport to the river lodge

The flight in was over cool rivers and acres of palm oil plantations. Malaysia is the worlds second largest palm oil producer.

Us outside the capsule motel

Yum !

We made it

We have arrived in kl and are on the coach to port dickson.
The 7 hour stop over in Melbourne was lots of fun but now the real fun begins !
My malaysian phone number is 006 1129015269

Our coach for the day

Inside the plane

The A380

The airport train.

TOMORROW !

Oh my gosh – we are going to Borneo TOMORROW ! … amazing.
can you all bring some cards/game and books to read as we may have some chill out time at the river lodge and lots of sitting around in airports too ! English texts to read ? bring them

Insurance and Gear Lists

Hi Everyone,

The gear list and Insurance info is below;

Borneo Gear list 2014

The Full House of Travel Insurance Policy

Travel insurance summary