Ducks Travels
|
So 15th October was the day I found myself in the basket and got taken away. I had no idea what to expect and had to quack a quick good bye to my friends in the basket. We were off … apparently to somewhere called Sri Lanka for a 6 hour wait for a plane to Kuala Lumpar, 2 hours wait there and off to final destination for the day – Kuching on the Island of Borneo. It took 29 hours and I was very tired by the time we reached the hotel … another journey from the airport … this time in a taxi. Of course I was disappointed that we had not got first class seats and the food on the plane was not suitable for ducks but I managed. By the time I got some sleep it was already 17th October. 17th October 2011
After a wonder around China town – a very pretty area of Kuching and after photo shoots in numerous places, including on a statue with cats where the Chinese contingent insisted on taking my photo as well, we went for a massage – the speciality in this area along with reflexology … I wonder how that works on webbed feet? Time for a cocktail before bed and an early night, hope that tomorrow starts in the morning rather than lunch time. Oh don’t forget to look at the photo’s on facebook (I have my own page Duck Travels and love to have new friends). 18th October 2011
We managed to get up at a reasonable time and have breakfast at the hotel. The plan for today was to go to Baku National Park to try to find some Probiscus monkeys – they are the ones with the funny nose. That sounded quite exciting to me, although I didn’t fancy getting too close and personal to any kind of monkey, funny nose or not. We jumped in a taxi and arrived at Baku National Park, paid the fee and entered. Oh what a surprise I then got … we had to take a river boat trip up to the National Park … that would have been fine except that there was big signs warning of the crocodiles … now call me a chicken (duck) but sitting in a motorised Sanpan with by bottom just inches out of the water in crocodile infested water did not sound fun. I took my brave pill and we got on with it and actually the boat trip was good fun. I was not expecting the boat to stop before the shore though and for us to get out. Fortunately for me I was being carried so did not have to face the crocodiles but mum and dad (I am going to call them that now as it makes this blog so much easier to write), who were wearing long trousers with shoes and socks had to go through rolling up and taking off process and paddle to the shore. Fortunately no one was eaten by a crocodile phew! The first thing I spotted was crabs … they were everywhere and they had one big claw – they looked like nasty things to me and I am glad my webbed feet were not too close. My mum was obviously not keen either and soon put her shoes and socks back on … dad was braver and wanted dry feet before putting his clothing on. At the registration point (all to be registered in case anything nasty happened to anyone – where had I come to?) and the café, there was a boar with some babies – they were lovely. We chose a path to follow and went along a short way until we saw a silver leaf monkey. My dad thought it would be a good idea to put me in the tree with it, the monkey thought otherwise and wanted to eat me. A pursuit by my dad and a bit of shouting by my mum ensued but all ended up well as dad got to me again before the monkey but it was a close call – PARENTS! Anyway, after that nasty incident we continued down the path and saw large numbers of ants, large flying bugs and a water monitor. The path then narrowed and got steep and mum (wisely in my opinion) decided it was all a bit too close for comfort as she has a bit (understatement of the century) of a snake phobia. We decided to turn back and have a further look at the beach area, which turned out to be pretty good as we saw more crabs with one claw, mud-jacks, hermit crabs and lizards as well as the continued assortment of insects and mini-beasts. As we got back into the ‘jungle area’ we heard a noise and there above our head was a Probiscus monkey, fortunately this time Mum kept hold of me and watched this fascinating monkey for some while until it decided to head off. That made our day to have seen these wonderful monkeys. We had plenty of time to kill though before our return boat trip so we decided to take an alternative path. Along here we saw Macaques, another cheeky monkey, as we passed the café again, one of these decided it would like the food of a local American tourist – that was funny. We carried on along this path for a while taking in the amazing sounds of the jungle and watching the local flora and fauna. After an hour or so we headed back. On the way past some accommodation, a local guide was pointing into a tree showing more tourists a snake – it was a Pit viper – nasty looking thing. Mum was not impressed but had to look anyway, Dad of course was trying to get too close and personal for my liking and took some photo’s. Mum was obviously all of a quiver at this point. We continued walking and suddenly mum yelled so loud that my feathers (if I had any) nearly fell out. Dad had almost stood on another snake … this time it turned out to be a harmless Whip Snake who really didn’t want to be close to us and ‘snaked’ off quickly. That was it for Mum, 2 snakes in 1 day is enough for anyone. It was almost time for the boat by then anyway so back to the beach we headed and did the whole trip in reverse … Oh forgot to mention the other big sign was ‘Beware of the Marine Stingers’ (jellyfish to us). Mum has been stung by a jellyfish and doesn’t like them either. By the time we landed our taxi was waiting for us and we headed back to the hotel. After a quick swim … where it was discovered that I float on my side (not traditional for a duck)… we went out for dinner, had another cocktail and went to bed, end of another day. 19th October 2011 Woke up and decided to go to the Orang-utan Rehabilitation Centre, this was what my mum had come to Borneo for – to see the Orangs (although why anyone would prefer a large ape to a duck I do not understand). We jumped in a taxi and went to the Orang centre only to find it didn’t open for a couple of hours so we asked the taxi driver if there was anything else to see in the area and he took us to a Crocodile Farm! What is wrong with these people? Can’t I have a day where I do not fear for my life?
The bigger ones were kept in large pounds and many lounged around in water pretending not to be a crocodile – what a nasty trick that is! Of course I was forced to have my photo taken on the edge of one of the pens where the babies were being kept – that was too close for comfort for me. There were a few other animals at the Farm including a friendly little monkey that wanted feeding and put its hand out through the cage for titbits, sun bears, otters, porcupines and others. There was also a very large pond in the middle of the complex with wooden walkways across the centre of it. This contained the largest river fish in Borneo … 15 feet long …I am glad I was not swimming with that. There were some smaller fish as well and we bought some fish food but they weren’t really interested. But now it was time to go and find an Orang-utan. We arrived at the Reserve and found several Orangs. The big dad was sat on a fence near the official entry so the wardens had to make sure we did not stray too close. There were many photos on display of people having been bitten by an Orang-utan. In the trees – high in the Canopy were Mum and baby and an Uncle, they were lovely and did lots of swinging around – I could tell mum was very pleased to see them. The wardens put food out for the Orangs twice a day as the forest does not contain enough fruit to sustain the 26 Orangs who live here. Once the big one had moved, we were allowed to follow a jungle path to a viewing area near where the food was placed. The Orangs obviously knew the routine and followed along to get fresh fruits. Mum said it was very well done as no one – not even the wardens – were allowed too close to the Orangs which meant their environment was as close to ‘real’ as could be. On the way back to the taxi we saw a second family of Orangs up in the canopies. What wonderful and graceful creatures they are. Anyway, we headed back to the hotel, had another quick swim and went for dinner … and cocktails – I could get used to this lifestyle. 20th October 2011 Got up this morning and we had decided to stay in Kuching for the day. We went for a walk in the general direction of the museum which we had been told was worth a look. We found another area of ‘China Town’ – actually I think this was China Town and the China Town we found on Monday was not China Town at all. This China Town had a wonderful Temple – very ornate. We had a look around the Museum which was spread over several buildings; my favourite was the Natural history museum which had lots of stuffed animals although no ducks. Photography was not allowed inside so I did not have too many photos taken today. I was amazed by how many different kinds of snakes there are in Borneo – mum was not pleased. There was an art museum, a history of the different areas of Borneo and the usual relics. We stopped for lunch on the way back at a KFC (how Malaysian is that) only to discover that they employed deaf people only. That made life much easier as we just had to point at what we wanted to eat. We went to the pool in the afternoon where there were lots of silly photos taken of me. In the evening I was left to guard the hotel room and Mum and Dad went for a Chinese meal in the hotel. It was a good job I was not invited as they ate duck - HOW COULD THEY? 21st October 2011 Do you know? – they were not joking about going back to the Crocodile Farm. Off we went in time to see the Crocodiles feeding. I have to admit it was quite impressive although the noise was incredible. When crocodiles slam shut their mouths, there is no chance for anything that happens to be inside it. As if that wasn’t enough we then went and looked at a load of photos of crocodiles that had been captured and cut open and the remains in their stomachs including a lot of human parts were on display – more details than I want to go into here – suffice to say – IT WAS DISGUSTING! We spent several hours with the crocodiles, and watched the little cute monkey being fed all kinds of unsuitable food including bread sticks with jam on which it evidently loved. Mum and dad feed it a couple of nuts which it seemed to enjoy – that was probably the most healthy thing it ate all day. We then headed off to the Orang’s again. This time they did not appear as readily and it was some while until they appeared at the feeding area. Delightfully, it was a different set of Orang-utans who put in an appearance this time and included quite a young baby holding on to its mums tummy. Got back to the hotel and had Pizza for tea from the local Pizza Hut – I don’t think mum is enjoying the local food – managed another cocktail though and went to bed. 22nd October 2011 Last full day in Kuching before the start of the journey home. Today we went to a Living Museum, designed specifically for Tourists but very interesting. There were examples of all the different types of housing used in Borneo, mostly they are built high off the ground and involved climbing many steps. They were surprising spacious though and actually very nice. No need for central heating with the Borneo temperatures. Have I mentioned that it was very warm in Borneo – around 30 degrees each day but the humidity was very high, both mum and dad had problems stopping their glasses steaming up. Anyway, we saw some monkeys in the distance which always pleases Mum and Dad and enjoyed the houses. The finale of the tour was a show put on by different local ‘tribes’. This was various styles of dancing and general ‘mucking about’. It was very funny and everyone enjoyed it. We got the taxi back to the hotel and headed along the river where we caught the sunset tour on a cruiser. It had a bar so Mum and Dad felt obliged to have a couple of beers so that kept them happy. The boat trip also included more ‘tribal’ dancing and this was a great end to the time in Kuching. Went to bed after a cocktail … can you see the pattern forming? 23rd October 2011 Early start this morning, off to the airport and into Kuala Lumpar where we were stopping for a night before the long trip back to the UK. Dad decided he was up for driving around KL so we went off to hire a car. It must be so rare that anyone is foolish enough to try to drive around the city that all but one of the hire car companies was unmanned. We arranged the car and GPS and drove down to Batu Temple, somewhere Mum had been told she must visit. There were 272 steps up to the top but it was amazing, there was a large golden statue at the bottom and a temple at the top. On the way up there were lots of monkeys all doing funny things which made mums day. They were so used to people feeding them that they would tug at people’s trouser leg for attention. There were mums with baby’s and a couple of them had managed to get hold of coke cans and bottles and were trying to work out how to get into them. We spent longer watching the monkeys than admiring the temples; Dad was struggling with the heat though as he did not have a hat and it was very sunny and 38 degrees. He was OK once we managed to find him a hat – he is, should we say, folicly challenged. After Batu, we headed to the hotel as we wanted to make sure we were in time for cocktails and canapés (no surprise there). The hotel was a delight, we were on floor 27 overlooking the Petronas Twin Towers. On arrival we were invited to the executive lounge on floor 32 for afternoon tea – now this is the service I would like to demand all the time. We had an hour before cocktails and canapés so went for a walk in the park, a lovely green space with a paddling pool for the kids. Of course we headed back for cocktails and canapés while overlooking the twin towers and that was the evening. Went to bed and felt quite quackered. 24th October 2011 As we were in KL we decided to make the most of the city and headed to the Bird Park. The monkeys in the car park started the day well … what is it with my parents and monkeys? We went around the bird park – a large outdoor aviary, mostly the birds were OK – a few were a bit big and there was one or two that quacked in a Far Eastern accent. We went into a large barn where the Loris were kept and Mum loved it in here as they made a b-line for her and sat on her shoulder and arm and tweeted away. I don’t know what they were saying but I have to confess to feeling quite jealous. I was not sad to see the back of that place. We did have the opportunity to pick up and cuddle some chicks and ducklings – now they were cute. From the Bird Park we went to the Zoo, actually it turned out not to be the best choice but it was OK and it had animals in it, but is seemed strange seeing them in cages having seen so much wildlife …well in the wild. It was OK though although we had considered an option to see an Elephant sanctuary and I was disappointed not to be able to visit that. Following the Zoo there was just time to go and get some dinner and start the journey back to the airport. We went for a McDonalds … mmm I know what you are thinking but at least we knew what we were eating and flights seem very long if food has not agreed with you. We started the journey back to the airport and this is when the fun started. We very soon realised why people do not drive in KL. The traffic was awful, not only were there many cars but also mopeds that buzzed in and out of the tiniest gaps. Seven lanes of traffic merged into three lanes using the bravest gets the space theory. I didn’t like it at all but we started to wonder whether we would make it to the airport on time as we had not expected this kind of traffic. Eventually we did get through and headed on the quieter roads down to the airport, there was a magically storm that evening that light our way. Flashes falling out of the sky from every direction. We returned the car and joined the queue to catch the flight back to Sri Lanka with more than enough time. At Sri Lanka we had another 6 hour wait for the flight back into London which we got and after a delay at Heathrow eventually drove home to what is now my new home in Devon – by now it was the 25th October and our holiday was over. We were all tired but very happy |
|
15th October 2011
Woke up at … LUNCH TIME – how did that happen? – that was 12 hours later than I went to sleep. OK so no breakfast for me today then. We went for a walk around Kuching, a pretty place along by the waterfront. No surprise, we stopped for lunch fairly soon after getting up at a Bistro. It was very cheap, my ‘Mum’ had sweet and sour chicken with rice and my ‘Dad’ had a soup with noodles – that was funny to watch – did HE make a mess with that. I got put in an ashtray to watch lunch being eaten … no respect some owners. We did have a very pleasant walk though and also went on a river cruise in a Sanpan. That was good – especially when I found out there were no crocodiles in the water. There were many interesting buildings to see and best of all there was just us and the driver on the boat.
Anyway, another brave pill taken and there we were inside the Crocodile Farm. Guess what? There was a lot of Crocodiles in it. My parents were very disappointed as they had missed the Crocodile feeding session and talked about coming back to this ghastly place. I have never seen a crocodile, and never seen so many crocodiles in one place of all different sizes. They were breeding them here so they were everything from a foot long through to about 20 feet long – that is a big (and very scary looking) crocodile.