Uncle Tan

Our journey into the jungle began with a 2 hour transfer in a minibus to the Kinabangtan River where we hopped onto a boat and travelled another hour downstream. The lodge had really basic accommodation but all meals were included and we had plenty of guided walks and boat safari's to keep us busy. The trees were teaming with monkeys, from the fairly common long-tailed and silverleaf macaques to the strange being that is the proboscis monkey. On our day walk, besides having 2 tiger leeches latch onto my ankle, we stumbled upon a large male orangutan which was pretty cool. We saw plenty of birds, a very large tarantula (actually named after Uncle Tan - only recently discovered in the area) and some very strange insects like the hammerhead worm and the lantern bug. The strangest of all the creatures encountered was a couple we met. They were originally from Czechoslovakia but now live in Melbourne. They escaped in 81 and arrived in Australia with 29 cents in their pockets. Bob laughed when he told us that it was such a serious situation that he almost had to give up cigarettes and whisky. Their trip to Australia ignited a passion for travel and they have literally seen it all. They now average about 8 months of travel a year, making the most of everywhere we go. The most entertaining thing I've seen for a long time was Bob defending the lodge from a wild monkey attack. (Bob is the bearded fellow under the yellow Uncle Tan flag)