Day 6 - Hi Gorgeous!

Most of our days started when our alarms went off at 7. However Maddie and Rosie's started at 1 o'clock as they had spent last night trying to put up a tent on top of Maddie's bed, after Maddie had found it covered in a lovely garnish of bugs. This involved a brief side quest into the jungle for Patrick after he dropped the tent down the slope next to the cabin!

Anyway, breakfast was another ladle of 'overnight oats', but by this point our enthusiasm was flagging. We were surprised with a trip to a market with a slight miscommunication - we had ideas of elephant trousers, sarongs and fresh fruit, but our guide just smiled and shipped us to the nearest convenience store (definitely our fault). Nevertheless, it was still eventful. Rosie lost a bet and had to eat a dried, vacuum packed fish, which very nearly made a second appearance (Mr Lane, Patrick and Raffy all actually liked it, not sure which was more worrying). We unlocked two new Fanta flavours of lychee and 'fruit punch', which was a radioactive green. Not a deterrent for Lottie. And we all came back with bundles of Malaysian sweets for the two hour journey ahead.

Next, we went back to Paganakan, to have lunch and set off to Kinabatangan. The journey was an iteresting one as the bus broke down after 10 minutes so we had to all had to swap buses. We are currently staying in a complex of wooden lodges in the middle of the rainforest - Kota Kinabalu feels like years ago. And trying to relax and cool down 🙏 after (in my opinion) the best and sweatiest afternoon so far.

As soon as we arrived at Kinabatangan, we set out on our first river safari! Our guide introduced himself in almost the same breath as he started describing the many gruesome ways to die by crocodile. Safe to say we will not be going for a swim in the river. But before we even got in the boat, we were called over by the guide. As we turned the corner, we saw the surreal sight of mum and baby Bornean elephants, literally metres away from our viewing platform! It was crazy to be that close, with the elephants so unbothered by us (the guide told us the elephants were so unflustered because of our 'good hearts', despite Lottie's sinus tachycardia).

As we went down the river, we saw a whole family of elephants bathing themselves in the banks. A male elephant even swam across the river, right in front of us - if that thing can float then surely anything can. Further down, we saw a crocodile lying in the shallows, about four metres long. It seemed to be slowly getting closer the whole time. We made a quick exit. Then, my number ones: the Probiscus monkeys. Although all my photos were more tree than monkey, we could see the whole family as they swung between trees! 🐒

On the way back to the lodge, we were rhino-sauras (Vi) hornbill!

Once back at the lodge we had a really lovely buffet and then had a wildlife talk with out lovely guide who seemed to be blaming us for all Malaysian deforestation.