Tabin

While checking out the resident pit viper by the staff room, the gibbons decided to put in an appearance this morning before breakfast adding another simian to my growing list. They breezed in and out so I didn't get a sense of their personality - they seemed very fuzzy.

A river bed walk yielded a snake bird, (a cormorant really, it just resembles a snake when it surfaces with a fish,) lots of small pretty birds and a well camouflaged frog. Guide Maui doesn't speak much English but he obviously enjoys his job and is proud to be showing us his turf. He's a Lahad Datu native but his two sons and wife live in KK as his wife has a banking job. He, along with most of the staff here, work every day and get four or five days off a month - less in high season. A tough separation but he makes the most of his time off and takes his sons out fishing when they do get together. 

He was astounded when I told him about the east Sabah travel warning issued by Canada, the UK, Australia, etc. He, as I am now, can't see how remote Tabin with a guarded road, site security and, miles of wilderness would be a risk for a tourist. Another guest who had to spend a night in conservative Lahad Datu was told by his guest house to not go out after 9pm. I think he took it as a warning to a whiteness but in retrospect, I think they were just concerned for his safety from militant offshore kidnappers. The staff is more reserved here but no less considerate than at Sukau.

The lodge is on the edge of Sabah's largest reserve. The access road divides it from a green wasteland of oil palm plantations. I shouldn't be so critical given that Canada mowed down the prairies to plant wheat, it's just that the rolling hills look naked and ravaged compared to the lush greenery on the other side of the road. So many ziggurat stepped hills suggest previous open pit mining but on second look, the steps host evenly spaced palm babies like some alien incubator. In time you won't even notice the forced pattern.

An observation tower and waterfall were our post breakfast destinations. I opted for (complimentary) wellies and leech socks for this hike. Always hard to know what to dress for. It was a good choice given the muddy spots and the river. I left my swim and bike gear in KK so settled for wading in my wellies while some of the others swam at the waterfall...not sure if the water was flowing fast enough for my health minded satisfaction anyway.

There were some interesting rocks and...

...my first leech.

The first real (torrential) rain of my trip was well timed after lunch and left us with clear skies for a dusk drive in search of elephants. Highlights were two ginormous monitor  lizards just walking down the gravel road, an endangered stork (less than 500 left in the world) and of course, elephants. Forty or so shy Borneo Pygmy elephants - the same bunch I saw on arrival were still hanging out on the edge of the plantation at the entry gate. 

And the fun wasn't over. On our night walk Maui found a bat hanging on a thin tendril in the middle of a path, some very colourful lantern beetles, 

...a stick insect, a morphing stick insect and a sambar deer - surprising as I never associate deer with the tropics. This one was slightly smaller than our our white tailed version. I think Maui was more excited by this sighting than we were...and *that's* a lot!