Kinabatangan River Lodge

June 4, 2018

Today we said goodbye to Abai and headed onward to a more populated (this is a relative term) area of the river near the town of Sukau.

Peaceful early morning-

We have a 40 kilometer ride to Kinabatangan River Lodge-

First watercraft we've seen larger than a fishing boat-

A heart or two swans?
*The fabric is actually a pleated sarong placed in our room to be worn for dinner.

Ross finds a feline friend-

Lounging until the afternoon safari-

Small palm tree plantation 

Orangutan in the wild!
*I thought it highly unlikely that we would see one of these outside of Sepilok because unlike other primates, they do not travel in groups but live a solitary nomadic life.  What a treat!

Floating medical clinic-

Very large monitory lizard-

This guy is not a pet-

Silly Macaques!

Mother & sons-

Giant Flying Squirrel-

This is not only an excellent photo but a very rare sighting as all flying squirrels are supposedly completely nocturnal.  Our guide was very impressed that we got to see this guy & also capture his flight on film.

Probiscus monkeys 

"The Boss"

Some villagers take the ferry home...

...others ride in the family boat.

Asian Black Hornbill-
*There are 13 different species of hornbills found in Malaysia, 8 of them in Borneo. 

Sarongs for dinner-

Abai Jungle Lodge Day 2

June 3, 2018

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.

From this deck, we set out on our daily excursions & also found respite from the sun.

This morning we boated to the Pitas Oxbow Lake (a haven for birdwatchers) & 
then visited the village of Abai.

Peregrin Falcon

Heron

"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.   

Children of Abai

The schoolhouse

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-

Young fishermen

One of the many dangers of the river-
we estimated this croc to be about 4-5 meters long (13+ feet)

To remind us of the beauty in life

Afternoon cruise: Look who shows up again!

This adolescent male is checking us out...

.. he decides to continue to eat...

...but then his curiosity gets the best of him & he moves in closer!

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-

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.

The guy in front is asleep!

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.

His family nesting in the nearby tree-
they gather at the river banks to bed down for the night.

Younger and less dominant males will travel in bachelor groups-
This one is giving us the mean face...

...and then shows of his athleticism by demonstrating his "long high jump".

Remnants of the sun on the cloud-

Night walk:

We started off seeing this sweet little blue bird (I've forgotten his name)
and then the creepy crawly things began to show up...

I could go without seeing the others but this stick insect was really fantastic-

Ready for bed after a long full day!