Kinabatangan River Basin again!

Sunrise from our bedroom window

As planned Patrick and I met up at Sepilok and there he was looking clean, shaved and healthy - not like any reality show on the tv! It was lovely to see him and he had obviously had a great time in Tabin Wildlife reserve, learning about the birds and animals, as well as making good friends with the staff members. So as soon as he was out of the jungle we headed off towards some more i.e. the Kinabatangan river basin where a corridor of jungle either side of the huge river is now protected as the Kinabatangan Widlife Sanctuary. The palm oil plantations encroach either side but at least now the government recognise the importance of trying to preserve the incredibly diverse wildlife in this area and also realise how lucrative eco tourism is for the economy!

Blue eared Kingfisher

Golden backed woodpecker

Male proboscis monkey

Stork billed knigfisher

Orang utan mother and baby

Hooded pitta

Blue flycatcher

    We hadn't made any booking and just turned at a sign for Bilit Kinabatangan Heritage B&B and arrived at the most perfect spot on the edge of the river. The B&B is run by a most charming lady and the  accommodation was a few wooden houses on stilts, nestled in among the trees with monkeys jumping from the branches. There were about 10 of us staying which was small enough to get to know everyone and our trips on the river were unpredictable and exhilarating as we never knew what we might see. Patrick soon showed his expertise by spotting birds and even an orang utan before the guide and everyone was asking him for the names of certain birds! Our most exciting boat trip was last night when we saw two female elephants and their calves grazing by the river edge. We had been told that the elephants were further down the river and that there was no chance of seeing any so it was an extra bonus.

 Our weekend was over far too quickly and we said goodbye to our new friends and made our four hour trip up towards the mountain calling in on the way to see the Gomantong caves. These are very impressive caves that have been home to bats and swifts for eternity and also for  hundreds of years where man has harvested the nests and sold to the Chinese for the saliva to make birds nest soup.The harvesting is very strictly regulated now and despite the smell and huge piles of manure and cockroaches it was worth a visit. 
The photos or the weekend are taken by Patrick with my camera and he has got some amazing ones from Tabin.I'm afraid to say I was very ignorant about the bird names before but there are so many around it is difficult not to become slightly more knowledgeable than before!We have another 50 or so to bore you with!