Our days here on the river went something like this:
Early morning river cruise.
Breakfast on the "Jungle Platform".
Copy the example of the animals- lunch, relax & retreat from the heat during mid-day. (Lots of reading & card games during these hours for us.)
Late afternoon to dusk river cruise.
Dinner.
Night jungle walk.
Bed.
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| From this deck, we set out on our daily excursions & also found respite from the sun. |
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| This morning we boated to the Pitas Oxbow Lake (a haven for birdwatchers) & then visited the village of Abai. |
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| Peregrin Falcon |
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| Heron |
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| "Abai" means "the forgotten" or "neglected" The indigenous Orang Sungai (River People) who live in this rural village (within shouting distance of our lodge) are primarily fishermen. Others assist with a forestry replanting project by overseeing a tree nursery & we met many young villagers who are staff at the lodge. |
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| Children of Abai |
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| The schoolhouse |
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| All laundry in the village is washed by hand using river water pumped through hoses via a diesel powered water pump placed on the dock- |
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| Young fishermen |
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| One of the many dangers of the river- we estimated this croc to be about 4-5 meters long (13+ feet) |
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| To remind us of the beauty in life |
Afternoon cruise: Look who shows up again!
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| This adolescent male is checking us out... |
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| .. he decides to continue to eat... |
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| ...but then his curiosity gets the best of him & he moves in closer! |
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| You can never guess what these adolescent males will do... Matt's curiousity got the best of him too it seems, he just had to try the elephant grass- |
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| Macaque monkeys having a grooming session- While many of the primates we've seen are endangered, these monkeys are all over the place and very cheeky. |
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| The guy in front is asleep! |
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| Excellent shot of a male Proboscis male- Here you can clearly see his extra large & funny looking nose. Our guide George, called this guy "The Boss". Large dominant males like this one typically has 20 or more wives & usually sits off from his group, perched & watching out other male suitors. |
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| His family nesting in the nearby tree- they gather at the river banks to bed down for the night. |
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| Younger and less dominant males will travel in bachelor groups- This one is giving us the mean face... |
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| ...and then shows of his athleticism by demonstrating his "long high jump". |
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| Remnants of the sun on the cloud- |
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| We started off seeing this sweet little blue bird (I've forgotten his name) and then the creepy crawly things began to show up... |
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| I could go without seeing the others but this stick insect was really fantastic- |
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| Ready for bed after a long full day! |
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