Monkey Magic

Trip Start May 15, 2006
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86
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Trip End Nov 2007


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Flag of Malaysia  ,
Wednesday, February 28, 2007

We hadn't originally planned to go to the Kinabatangan River because it sounded expensive and we've done some similar things in Bolivia but Beccy said it was a great place and luckily we took her advice and missioned it.We knew there was a B&B there and that we might be able to rent a boat and guide to see wildlife on the river. Most people stay in a lodge but that was beyond our budget so we decided to just go and hope to do it on the cheap. We had to get a bus to a junction where a very rough road goes to Sukau, the main village on the river. After 30mins or so of haggling with the mini bus driver we got a ride for a reasonable price. We were dropped in the village and had to walk for ages in the midday sun thinking, "What are we doing, we don't even know if we can rent a boat or if the B&B is still there, or what its like!" It all worked out perfectly. We stayed in a very cheap B&B just outside the village, it was simple but really clean and friendly. There were 8 of us staying there so it meant it was really cheap for us to hire a boat to do a river trip to see wildlife 01 Proboscis Monkey
01 Proboscis Monkey
 . We saw the unique Proboscis monkeys who have massive noses and are really funny, they go around in big groups and fling themselves through the trees, you can't believe they don't fall down into the river! We also saw some big monitor lizards (one of them swimming), small long tailed macque monkeys and then came the grand finale....2 rhinoceros hornbills flew over us which were the one bird we really wanted to see (they are the "best" or should I say most impressive of the 8 species of hornbill) and then we saw 4 pygmy elephants eating just by the edge of the river. It was the perfect end to the trip and we were so glad we'd made the effort. The other people we met there were really nice too, including a 72 year old lady who is still backpacking! (Dean's new personal hero!)
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