The morning hike starting out with a mist in the tops of the trees and Gibbons calling. It was a perfect morning. The Gibbons were moving quickly through the trees but Azmil managed to both predict and track their movements to get us into a spot where we could see them.
At first, the looks were very fleeting. Can you spot the Gibbon?
But, then Azmil got us in position to see them more clearly.
They were still a long way off but at least we were able to see faces. Karen loves their fuzzy little tushes so this picture is for her:
These were our best Gibbon looks ever so that was a real treat. There were also a couple Orangutans in the trees that morning but they were way too hidden for pictures.
Towards the end of the hike, we spotted some Red Leaf Monkeys:
With this little troop was a very energetic juvenile who was running along the branches and hopping up and down. It was great fun to watch:
Here is an animated GIF that Tim put together showing this little guy leaping around:
On the way back to the lodge Azmil spotted not one, but two gorgeous trogons.
Scarlet-rumped Trogon:
Diard's Trogon:
Back at the lodge, I tried unsuccessfully to get close to the nesting Blue-throated Bee Eaters. They were not cooperating so I took a scenic shot instead:
After lunch, the rain came and didn't let up until around 7PM. So, our afternoon hiking plans were spoiled. But, that didn't stop us from enjoying the view from the outdoor tub in our premium villa. I even cracked open some free beer and drank it out of the chilled champagne glass in the fridge. Boy, it's tough "roughing it" in the jungle.
At dinner time, the battle for desserts erupted again. They had so many great desserts on display that we couldn't decide so Tim, Andrea, and I would typically try two each (hey, don't judge, we were on vacation!). Karen usually doesn't have dessert right after dinner but she managed to ALWAYS sample some of mine much to my displeasure.
One of tonight's desserts was especially noteworthy. I think Tim innocently chose this dessert at first. But, when he showed up at the table with this round cone-shaped supple cake with a dollop of perky chocolate on top all of us took notice. It was a perfect delicious looking boob!
But, when the perky chocolate topper fell off, Karen let Tim know that "You have to take care of the nipple". That got a good laugh out of everybody before Tim said straight-faced "I will need to stay abreast of that situation". And with that we all pretty must lost it for a while. Luckily, we were able to compose ourselves prior to our 8PM night hike.
Once again, and unsurprisingly, a big goal on the hike was to find a Tarsier. They can be seen around BRL but they are by no means common. Just like last year, Azmil worked really hard looking for one as did the rest of us. But, once again we struck out. However, the night hike was still really good.
The first encounter was a great one and I still don't know how Azmil spotted a snake about 10 meters off the boardwalk. But, he did. And, he also managed to find a reasonably open path to it so that we could get some pictures. It was a beautiful Sumatran Pit Viper:
You can see that it was just hanging down waiting to ambush its dinner.
We also encountered this cute little Forest Crab:
Our next encounter can't be called cute. But, it was impressive none the less. It was a huge male Bearded Pig:
We saw this Bearded Pig near the employee lodging. Azmil had taken us here because he had gotten word that a Leopard Cat had just been spotted in the area. We did manage to see a shape moving along the cottages but it was impossible to identify it. But, I did see a Malay Civet take off in the other direction while we were following the supposed Leopard Cat.
The rest of the hike turned up a cool Angle-headed Lizard, some Mouse Deer with super bright eye shine, a roosting Black-crowned Pitta, a White-lipped Frog and multiple leeches that seemed to like Andrea and Karen more than the boys. I guess they are just sweeter than us.
At around 11PM we called it quits and headed back to the cool comfort of our premium villa.
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