We have had 4 interesting face-to-face meetings with Borneo wild life in the last 10 days.
The first was a boat trip with Claire up the river where we happened upon a very large crocodile sunning itself in the mud. It slipped into the water as we came up but all 3 of us saw its full length - at least 2 metres. No camera at the ready of course but here is the mark that he left in the mud.
It made our planned coffee stop drifting in the river nearby a bit uneasy, I must say. All hands and feet inside the boat on my insistence!
The second was monitor lizards on the islands off Kota Kinabalu. These islands are part of the national park and the animals are protected. The monitor lizards were simply lying around in the warm mud close to the beach. No fear of people whatsoever, and quite large! The largest was well over 1.5 metres.
The first was a boat trip with Claire up the river where we happened upon a very large crocodile sunning itself in the mud. It slipped into the water as we came up but all 3 of us saw its full length - at least 2 metres. No camera at the ready of course but here is the mark that he left in the mud.
It made our planned coffee stop drifting in the river nearby a bit uneasy, I must say. All hands and feet inside the boat on my insistence!
The second was monitor lizards on the islands off Kota Kinabalu. These islands are part of the national park and the animals are protected. The monitor lizards were simply lying around in the warm mud close to the beach. No fear of people whatsoever, and quite large! The largest was well over 1.5 metres.
We also went to an orangutang rehabilitation centre where they have 7 young ones they are gradually releasing into the wild. We were allowed to look but not go near these lovely animals as they came in to eat at the feeding station. They are given some but not enough food to sustain themselves fully. Thus they learn to fend for themselves in a safe environment. They ranged from between 3 and 7 years old, and just like little kids they loved to show off.
The 4rd was a little more scary. Howard was tidying the unpacked boxes stacked outside the house on Sunday morning and a snake fell out of the box he was shifting, landing on his (bare) feet. Luckily it didn't bite him and it took off down the garden probably more scared than us. We chased it (it was only about 15 inches long). It quickly disappeared into the grass but we were able to get a good look and identify it as a kukri snake - NOT venomous!
The 4rd was a little more scary. Howard was tidying the unpacked boxes stacked outside the house on Sunday morning and a snake fell out of the box he was shifting, landing on his (bare) feet. Luckily it didn't bite him and it took off down the garden probably more scared than us. We chased it (it was only about 15 inches long). It quickly disappeared into the grass but we were able to get a good look and identify it as a kukri snake - NOT venomous!
