Well, what an exciting time we have had. Certainly, our trip up the Kinabatangan River has been one of the highlights of our time in Malaysia. Within a few hours of entering the river we were spotting monkeys playing and swinging in the trees. Cameras poised we scanned and watched. As we progressed we passed small settlements and villages. Mile after mile we motored on. Yachts are able to go sixty miles in but because of some low power wires we only intend to go in forty miles. We met a yacht on the first night which had been up there four days and hadn’t seen an elephant. The sad part was, within hours of him leaving the next morning, we saw elephants right where he had been anchored. Luck played a big part but over the next few days we felt we optimised our opportunities by spending many hours quietly cruising the river and tributaries, forever looking and watching. At one stage Lyn complained of a sore neck from constantly looking up.
Elephants in the wild.......................................................How cute is that!!!
In for a swim...........................................................entry with style
Mother and baby......................................................Young at play
Front row seats..............................................In the thick of the elephants
We were rising and on the water before 6 am, took a break in the middle of the day and on the water again for the afternoon and evening. But we felt we were well rewarded for our efforts. We saw quite a variety of wildlife with the elephants probably being a highlight.
With there being only a thousand pygmy elephants in the world, all of which are in Borneo, we felt lucky to have seen around thirty of them over the week we were on the river. Dynes got some great video footage, especially the sounds of the elephants as they trumpeted and bellowed, rumbled and snorted. We will long remember the feeling of sitting in the dinghy on the river bank, hidden by bushes and listening and watching as twenty wild elephants thundered past. As one big male stopped and stared down at us Lyn said she was too nervous to push the button on the camera. But later we established that although wild the elephants seem used to people and the tour boats get in really close, so soon we too were up close and relaxed.
Morning on the river...................... Evening
Shower time in the rainforest.........................................Tranquil evening
White billed hornbill..............................................Egret
Rhinoceros Hornbill..................................................Red Eagle
Common Egret
One evening we hired a guide, Ahmed, who took us on a night cruise. His skill at spotting wildlife in the dark was incredible and we learnt so much from him. Another guide took us on a bush walk and gave us a run down on the plants and their uses.
Short of giving you all a nature lesson I think I will leave it at that and let the pictures tell the story.
On night safari.......................................................Kingfisher at night sleeping??
Viper.................................................................................Yellow skinned croc
Proboscis monkeys are a common sight..........Dominant male in action
Dominant male...............................One of his many wives
Daryl getting supplies at Sukau's store....................Family settlement
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