This is the tree crab that lives in the tree just outside our hut:
In the morning we take out two kayaks and go all the way to the lonely tree at the end of the bay. It’s raining and this actually makes it a pleasant trip. We go between the rocks and get half stuck a few times. Emma and Alex write in the sand on a deserted beach we find.
We race back and Emma and I win.
We also visit the little shopping mall next to the Damai resort. Huge stainless steel hornbill statue and as everywhere, fish ponds.
In the evening we are supposed to do a mangrove tour, but reception forgot to pass our form. The good people of Permai arrange for us to do it the next night. The resort manager is quite angry and apologises. He had just sent the boats back because nobody was going tonight!
So instead we eat dinner at the restaurant and have a quiet time in the hut.
We are very late for breakfast but still decide to take the jungle trail (blue-red, ~90mins).
The trail (it’s about here) leads up the west side of the Santubong, maybe 1/3 up with a little bit of rock climbing, but nothing technical.
But before we set off, here is a picture of the red ants near our hut, next to a flip-flop:
There is no end to the variety of mushrooms:
A nice fat centipede (the resort manager said these were more dangerous than the snakes) and a trail of ants, similar to the one Jane stepped into one evening.
We only cross one (dry) stream with a rope bridge:
When we reached the waterfall almost at the top of the walk we spotted a frog! It’s about our normal size, but with nicer colouring.
And finally a lizard on a tree just about to relieve the world of a mosquito:
I am certain we missed 90% of the animals as they are very good at hiding.
We do the walk in 2.5 hours and only encounter other people at the end. There are many threatening words on the signs when you enter the forests about watching your step, no fault for injury and death, etc.
Finished the jungle trail
And as we walk back Alex spots another snake. Same type as before but much smaller. we have since worked out that it is a Striped Bronzeback snake which is mildly poisonous:
Alex repeats the feat the next day when he steps on an even smaller version of this popular snake.
At lunch we meet an Italian couple who came over from Kuching on a rented motorbike and have a flat tyre. One of the men running the resort cafe is very helpful and gets them in contact with a place to fix the tyre.
From the cafe we spot this beautiful green lizard with blue stripes:
Alex playing with the beast-quest cards and Emma playing patience in our hut.
These spiders are common at the site and are about hand sized.
On the way to Sarawak Cultural Village we encounter our first snake. A big one – I estimate 2m. By the time the others catch up we can only see its tail.
The bridge from the walkway to the head house.
The head house is where boys live until they are married. You can see a hornbill head and (just out of sight) a bunch of human heads strung up high in the hut so the spirits can get away.
The village offers you a passport to all the tribes of the area which you can get stamped at each mayor hut. Above Emma and Alex try the blowpipe with poisonous darts.
There is a clear distinction between rich town peope (wooden floor) and more nomadic (bamboo floor) native people. When Jane mentions she would quite like to live in the lady’s house she tells us it’s expensive with all the materials to own such a house.
At the village we also spot a monkey who poses long enough for me to work out how to push exposure to get more than a black outline.
The cultural dance show is actually quite good and the dancers seem to enjoy it. The chief with the blowpipe is best. At the end he invites a girl from the audience to dance with him and makes fun of her shoes and gets her to break a balloon with a dart.
After the village we check out the shopping mall, but many shops are closed. On the way back we spot the real monkeys emptying the bin and sitting on cars.
We book some trips after dinner for 16 and 18 Aug to the forests and the islands.
