Day 7... They don't call it a rainforest for nothing

 

Up early and ready for my morning walk with Yulinda pre breakfast... the sky was grey this morning and it felt even a bit chilly at 24 C. Rain was in the air for sure but at the moment it was dry so we set off to see what we could find. This morning the Gibbons had started calling early so after a quick walk round the pond, we headed for an area behind the accomodation, where the calls were loudest. Stand... look up... and wait for trees to move! Sure enough soon we could see the branches moving which told us where to direct our gaze. At the tops of the highest trees the Gibbons had woken up and we're starting to move around. Given the height they were operating at, getting a clear picture was not easy even though we could. clearly see them moving. The trick was to look with your eyes first, zoom the camera in preparation and then follow your gaze with the camera. We could see 4 or 5 Gibbons. moving around, then stopping to sit and graze on the fruit around them. They like the fruit bearing fig trees and if you are in the know like Yulinda, you know exactly where best to go with a chance of spotting them.

We stood and watched them for a while, me trying, in vain, to get a half decent photo.  I did also manage to catch one swinging in a video, which I was chuffed with. We spent so much time watching the Gibbons that it was pretty much time for breakfast, after which I had some free time to take myself off for a walk.

I opted to go along the waterfall path to see what I could find. I slowly placed my feet one in front of the other, scanning the ground, the bushes, the tree canopy, looking for movement or anything that would point me in the direction of a living thing. I find that for me, in the daytime, movement is the key. My eyes tune into movement fairly quickly and enable me to see lizards before they disappear, or identify an area monkeys are swinging through. I think the jungle knew what was coming though as this morning was fairly quiet. The animals were not making their usual sounds and I saw very few living creatures... save for another pill millipede and a small skink or two.

Then a raindrops, followed by another, and soon it was raining... heavily. Everything started to become drenched including myself and I came upon a shelter, so decided to try and sit it out. I sat in the shelter, watching the rain crash down, the paths turn to puddles, turn to rivers and the river become a swollen mass of raging water.

The only saving grace is that rain here is warm rain and the ambient temperature, though less than before was still higher than England on a good summers day... so I wasn't cold despite being soaked through. 

I sat there for a good 30 minutes but the rain didn't abate, so I decided to press on, despite knowing that this level of rain would drive all the animals Into hiding.  I set off again, very thankful that I was wearing my wellies and not my hiking shoes.

I squelched through the mud, sinking down and slogging forward and upward. The goal was the waterfall, though if this rain continued at this level, the trail would turn into one. It reminded me of the day I trekked into Corcovado N. P in Costa Rica, when we ended up basically wading through rivers.

Here too the trail now had running water and I sloshed through pushing onwards. 

It did cross my mind as the thunder started that there may be a little danger increase from falling branches so as I walked I listened out for cracking branches, ready to run for shelter if required. The rain ran down my hair, into my eyes, making it hard to see and I was spitting out water as it ran into my mouth. Here when it rains... it really rains.! Not that I was surprised. There is a reason it's called a rainforest and getting wet is often part of any adventure in habitat like this. The damp humid conditions support many millions of different species that have all adapted to live a life reliant on the rain... except for me. I wasn't adapted, even if I do live in England!

It got colder to the point where I started feeling a bit chilly, even though it was waay warmer than back home at this time of year. 

That said, I still pushed onwards, up muddy slopes, over wet tree branches and through hanging foliage. 

Eventually I reached a river crossing and a sign which said that the waterfall was only 400m away. I stopped. The crossing had a rope tied from one bank to another and the river did not seem to deep or be flowing too fast to cross... but.... 

crossing rivers in a tropical environment during rain leaves you very exposed to the dangers from a sudden surge in water level. The river may look ok to cross now but in 5 minutes it could easily be a raging torrent of water. Sense won the day and I turned back around and headed back down the trail. 

As I followed the path of the river down, the river had risen visibly higher and was definately moving at a greater rate. good call!

I made it back to the accomodation pretty speedily, literally dripping wet. I ran inside and stripped my clothes, hanging my shorts and t shirt on a dryer in the toilets... not that I expected them to dry well. My socks ended up in a ball on the floor of my room to be dealt with later... mistake. 

I then sat and watched the rainfall, waiting for the time when Yulinda would take me for the afternoon walk. A text from her saying that we couldn't go whilst in was still raining heavily came through and I waited there, crossing my fingers that it would soon stop. 

An hour later than our walk should have started, signs that it was slowing came and I decided to put on my boots again. and head over to the recreation area to see if I could find some monitor lizards. The rain was stuttering to a close as I walked over and sat on the spot where we had seen them the other day.  Result... a small monitor sauntered past. Then he saw me and hurried to the river, which was now a very muddy colour and churning downstream. I wondered whether the monitor would avoid the water as it was flowing so fast, but he dived in without hesitation and skillfully swam across to the opposite bank, powered by his muscular tail. 

I found one other monitor, a larger one, who stayed put when I approached and so I got a bit closer until I could see him tense up, ready to dive in the water if I came closer. So I backed away a little and stood there watching him for a bit. I'm so lucky to be able to see these creatures up this close!

Yulinda joined me shortly after and the rain now came to a complete halt. We wandered over to the area that was being re forested when she pointed to an orange fuzzy mass in one of the lower trees.... a red leaf monkey... and another... and best of all there was a white version... the baby one. Genetic abnormality gave him his colour which he had inherited from his father, the only, and alpha, male of this little group. The male had died but this group had stuck together rather than splitting up and finding another group. They were in younger lower trees so we were pretty close to them but they didn't seem bothered. We laughed at one of them who had gathered a load of young leaves and stuffed them in his/her mouth all at once... greedy thing!

They moved along from tree to tree, unbothered by our presence, pausing to gather more leaves and sit eating them. It was a pretty special moment.

Because they were in trees that weren't really tall, it was easy to photograph them and I managed to get some really nice photographs. They had really cute faces and sat there munching away. They don't get huge amounts of nutrition from the leaves so have to spend a lot of their time eating. They can eat some fruit but not much as their stomachs cannot handle a large. amount of the acid produced and they can die. 

We also wandered a little into one of the palm oil plantations. The palm oil grown here was of a harder variety. The older trees that get too high for people to harvest the fruit are cut down and new ones are planted. Although it is not as good a habitat as the jungle itself, the palm oil plantations. do provide a good home for cobras, eagles and blood pythons as their prey is easier to spot here where the undergrowth isn't so dense. The macaque is also a visitor here, but they are literally everywhere. Unfortunately no cobras appeared and we traipsed back for dinner, where I found I had gained a hitchhiker. 

Its not the first time that I have found a leech attached to me, I had a couple in Madagasgar on me. It doesn't actually bother me that much. Rather than remove it and risk leaving the head attached as sometimes happens, I tend to leave them be. When they have had enough they just drop off. You never feel them bite you as they anaethetise the bite but the bites do bleed for a while after they have dropped off due to the anticoagulent that they also emit. 

I was joined for dinner that evening by a couple, him French but living permanently in Malaysia and his parter from Malaysia. They were in Tawau Hills park to research what the facilities were like before bringing clients there. We exchanged the usual conversation one has when you meet people abroad. 

The dinner as usual was excellent. Rice, chicken and veg... a bit spicy but just about within my tolerance levels (which are pretty low). 

We headed back to the accomodation and prepared for a night walk. On the way back, I heard my name being called and Chave, the founder of 1 stop Borneo bounded over and gave my hand a firm shake. Full of energy, he exuded enthusiasm for the area and his projects towards conserving it. 

He did annoy me slightly when he was discussing the night walk, and voiced his doubt over whether I would be able to walk up to this pond as the route was uphill all the way. I was a little put out, especially when I mentioned to him that I had already gone up there on my first day, but he seemed to ignore this and told the guide that if he felt like I was struggling to come back! He then turned to the couple and said 'you could join them for the walk, you look fit enough'. Way to put my back up lol (I got to know him better later and all annoyance disappeared BTW) 

I got my stuff together for the night walk and sat on the steps waiting for the guide, Ledumin. I was just minding my own business when in the corner of my eye I saw movement and turned to look.... 

A grey furry shape moved quickly to behind the accomodation. I ran up the steps and called over to Ledumin... Civet!! 

OK I wasn't 100% sure that that is what I had seen but it was my best guess. We looked over the railing at the back and I began to wonder whether I had been mistaken. Then Luedumin pointed and out of the darkness strolled a Malayan Civet. Beautiful, mainly grey with black and white markings, he sniffed around below us looking for food. 

Woohoo. Unusual to see apparently so that made us very lucky. It seems our luck carried through that night. 

We walked slowly upwards, our torch beams casting aside the dark and illuminating as many trees, plants and rocks as we could in order to find signs of life. Nocturnal. animal hunting is different than hunting in the daytime. You no longer reply in your ears for sounds of animals as those that are awake at night are generally more silent... except for the frogs of course. Those make a cacophany of sound that carries through the stillness. 

The snakes and nocturnal mammals are stealthy and hard to spot. Many of the maals are up high in the canopy, the snakes sit quietly, waiting for prey. 

You take a step forward and then use your torch to illuminate  the area in front of. you, trying to cover every single bit of foliage. Even then, things are hard to spot. Twigs look like snakes and snakes look like twigs. You have to look for something that looks a little out of place. Often something will register in your brain as the flashlight passes over it, but you have to go back and check. Most of the time, you are mistaken and it is just a twig. 

Occasionally a sleeping lizard or bird will fall under the beam. The lizard sleeps on the ends of branches so that if a predator comes, they can drop to the ground below. 

However with all the effort and concentration that searching requires, comes great satisfaction when you do find something. Greater than the day time. Night hunting for animals is one of my favourite things to do, even if sometimes you come up short. 

Ledomin was clearly an expert, fizzing hsi torchlight over the vegetation with a practiced eye, he pointed out stick. insects and frogs, spiders (including quite a large huntsman spider) and even a few forest crabs. 

Due to our necessitated slow pace, the uphill climb was easy, if a little muddy. Then there was a shout of snake from the French guy. There, draped over a plant was a pretty, slender bodied snake. It didn't look to be venemous but here not all venemous snakes can be easily identified as such. It was a dog eared snake, whose diet consisted of mainly snails and we stood there for a few minutes taking photos. very exciting! 

Then upwards again. and before long another shout, this. time. from Ledomin. There caught in the beam was a small cute furry mammal.... the Tarsia. Even Ledomin was visably excited. When the guide is excited, you know you have found something rarely seen. He was practically jumping  up and down with joy. 

I snapped a photo... 

and then started jumping up and down myself... but not. out of joy. My flashlight turned to the ground and confirmed what I already knew. Fire Ants... their bite hurts like hell and when one has bitten you, several more will follow. I let out a shout, frantically brushed away the ants from my legs and charged upwards, desparate to get away. I stopped a few meters up, hoping that I had not disturbed the Tarsia. The others, wearing trousers had not yet been bitten and carried on taking photos until they too moved upwards in more of a hurry! The last time I had got bitten by fire ants was in. costa rica, when some of them found their way into. my boots. Fortunately this had not happened this time and I had oy received a few bites, which stung for a few minutes before fading away. 

We reached the point where we were to go off trail to the flying frog pond. My torch was running low on charge as was the Malaysian girl's but we pressed on until Ledomin came to a halt, the way blocked by a large fallen tree. We couldn't force our way through so we turned to go back down. I switched my torch to a less bright beam in the hope it would alst longer and we started to descend. 

Shortly after, an animal sprung out of the foliage in front of us and dived further into the forest. A Civet, Ledomin informed us excitedly. A different type to the one we had seen earlier, this was a banded civet. We tracked it, getting glimpses of it through the dense vegetation and trees. I managed to get a video where you can see a moving shape but not much else. It blended in to its surroundings well, never affording us a better glimpse that the one we had got when we first saw it. Nevertheless, it was still an exciting find. 

A few hundred meters further down, Ledomin stopped and turned his flashlight to the very top of the canopy. There staring back were a pair of red eyes. Another nocturnal mammal, quite possibly the Binturong, again, another rarity. 

We watched it, outlined just about in the beam of the torches but it was very difficult to see anything other than the eyes and a vague moving shape. this is why they are rarely seen as they stay up high and are only spotted by the reflection of the light in their eyes. 

It had been an. unbelievably successful night walk. The rest of the way, we spotted little, except insects and millipedes. 

Our final stop before entering the accomodation was a pond right next door. We walked down to the edge of the water and picked out lots of different types of frogs. Then Ledomin pointed with his torch. There, a kneeled snake, actively hunting. He was moving at the waters edge searching for the frogs when one hoped right into his path. He struck out, grabbing it by the leg. It was horrible to watch, as the frog screeched in vein as the snake made a quick meal of him. 

I felt sorry for the poor frog and it's cries as it was eaten alive were not pleasant... but snakes have to eat, and in the wild that means live food. We watched as the snake finished eating and then headed back to our beds. 

Chavez was waiting for us and Ledomin excitedly told him about all the stuff we had seen, the Tarsia being the highlight. It's great to see them so enthused even though they must have seen them before. It just shows how passionate they are about this place and makes it a priveledge to be going out on walks with them. Same again tomorrow?? 

Apologies for lack of photos but signal not good currently. Photos on www.facebook.com/OneChallengeAtATime