Simon at Sepilok

On with the designer leech socks this morning for the trek to Sepilok Laut. Don't we all look gorgeous? Most of us were doing the trekking, but a few had to go by boat to make sure all the food and drink made it safely without being attacked by pirates. Actually we had an armed police escort boat for that, just in case... I kid you not!

I've been struggling with a pulled muscle or trapped nerve or something in my lower back the past couple of days, so took some painkillers before setting off. They seemed to do the trick.

The trek was hilly but on a well marked trail so (unfortunately) no macho machete-wielding was required. For the most part the walk was pretty uneventful. There were plenty of indications of wild boar and bears but no actual sightings made. It would have been a much different story if we'd done a night walk instead!

With so much mud about the leeches were out in force of course, but with everyone keeping a careful look out for each other the leeches didn't make too many inroads into bare flesh.
I started to feel a bit sorry for them actually, (apologies in advance for this very poor and probably disrespectful analogy, but it must have felt a bit like the Normandy landings for them. As soon as they swam ashore onto the beaches of our boots and trousers and started to head north for the rendezvous points at Bellybutton Bay or Armpit Alley, many were immediately cut down by snipers armed with Dettol spray guns. Nevertheless, a small number of brave souls still managed to sneak past our top marksmen and began to shelter in the folds of trousers and shirts, while a valiant few pressed on, circle around the defences and draw blood. But overall they didn't stand a chance. It was carnage.
I personally became a Leech Ace during the two and half hour battle, with 21 leeches successfully intercepted without any loss of crimson.

The Sepilok Laut area is mangrove forest, i.e. the trees are growing on the banks of the rivers close to the sea. So although the water is salty it is really a mixture of fresh river water and sea water that rises and falls with the tides. Hence the characteristic tree roots at the waters edge. The buildings at Sepilok Laut are modern but constructed from natural materials and very comfortable.

After the steamy jungle trek and a light lunch it didn't take too long for the cool waters to look very inviting. It didn't take too long after that for a mud-fight to break out either! The thick black mud from all the rotting leaves makes an excellent face pack... :-)

Later in the afternoon we went out for a boat ride with the local forestry people (and police escort of course!) and were really lucky to see several groups of wild proboscis monkeys. The monkeys here are extremely shy and didn't stay around very long when they heard our boats approaching. They don't get too may visitors here as the whole area is protected - the only other boats allowed here are very small ones used by local village crab fishermen.

During the trip we saw several kingfishers and at one point even a flying fish skimming along in front of the police boat for about 100 metres!

On the way back we stopped near our boatmans house to see some of the specimens at his floating fish farm (and to pick up his cd player for the BBQ tonight!).

Quick summary of the rest - a great BBQ, some cracks starting to appear in the group - a few fights, a few misunderstandings, a few tears.
Many stayed up through the night. I found a quiet spot and watched sunrise over the river.
Lots of quality thinking time there...

After brekkie we went back to the resthouse by boat and then car. Resembled the House of the Living Dead full of Zombies for the rest of the day. Everyone just snoozing and eating.

My back is really hurting tonight :-(