The island of Borneo is a cool place. It's a very large island divided into 3 countries. I've visited two of the three but never ventured to Brunei. The island is an adventurers paradise due to the abundance and variety of wildlife, as well as the remoteness of parts of the rainforest. There's a lot to cover on this island and I've already covered some here;
This post I want to focus on a night time adventure I enjoyed on one of the many rivers that runs through the rainforests. I was actually staying in a small hut I rented on the river, not the best of accommodations, but I often enjoy these stays more than the 5 star hotels because of the locations. The stays are certainly more memorable!
One one particular night I negotiated with a local who owned a boat to take me by night down the river, I told him I was in particularly interested in a close up view of the kingfisher bird. Although the bird is fairly abundant on the rivers here, I often only see them as they quickly fly by. I really wanted to see one up close.
His English was not good, and my Malaysian was non existent, so it was difficult to communicate. No internet access out here so I couldn't use my translator app. But, with some effort it is possible to communicate with people without language. Of course, it can lead to mis-communication, but luckily it didn't happen here. I really appreciate the people of this island because not one local ever tried to scam me. Unusual for a foreigner in this area of the world for me, anyway.
The area of the rainforest here is very tropical as you can imagine. Lots of coconut trees. I actually despise coconut trees because they are so scary. If you're under one when one of those coconuts fall on your coconut, well, you know what would happen. There are a number of sever injuries and deaths every year due to this.
Here is a look at the river just as the sun was going down. I met the boatsman shortly after sunset:
Our first stop was a nearby embankment where there was a colony of bats. I had to google what a group of bats were called and turns out "colony" is the word.
Compared to the bats I saw in Mulu on this island (see above for link) this was only mildly interesting. Let's move on please.....
I think there is always the obligatory stop to see these cute fellows, the monkey. But, they are so ubiquitous on the island they were of little interest. C'mon man, take me to the object of my affection!
There it is! The kingfisher!
This was a great opportunity to get up close to these fellows. During the day they will occasionally zip by you on the river, but you don't get the chance to really get a good look at them.
At night they are more docile and remain in the trees by the river. It surprised me they were not easily spooked and allowed such great photo shoots.
This made the night adventure worth it!
I don't usually venture out at night when I'm traveling. I'm not a night person as there are few after dark activities I engage in. Besides, I'm a very early sleeper as I like to rise very early in the morning,
But this was an adventure worth losing a little of my beauty sleep for.
I hope you enjoyed it too!
Give me the 5 star hotel over the first shack on the right. 😂😂😂😂
Beuitiful birds I give you credit to interact with the locals. Not knowing who to trust would be a little scary.