jungle trek

Wednesday 30th January.

The view from Bukit Teresika

Up early, breakfast and buy provisions. Set off for a night in the jungle, in long socks, canvas shoes from Burma, shorts and shirt. Have a water bottle, small black bag and camera, my back pack has been emptied and refilled with three sheets, bananas, torch, candles and crackers. Trudge up Bukit Teresika and see large hornbills with noisy flight, and hear the bark of muntjak. Sweat runs freely, dripping off my nose and running in rivulets down my back. Grand views over the jungle from the top, Path is treacherous muddy and large roots.
Trudge along for 5-6 hours more to Kumbay hide, pass several large elephant tracks in the mud. From the mushrooms embellishing their dropping these are old trails. Hear lots, see little. Many leeches have to be regularly plucked from shoes and socks. You see them on the path and when they sense you near they stand up and wave !
Smeared my legs with Tiger balm as a deterrent before we left. It does not seem to discourage the leeches but should put the tigers off. Everyone seems to know someone who saw one last week. Claude has a cold and sneezes a lot in the hide. We see a tree squirrel and a hyperactive tree shrew the size of a rat but little else. People just before us saw a malaysian night heron. Got thoroughly drenched on the way to the hide by a tumultuous down pour. Sheets and T-shirt dry inside plastic bag. Dinner of bananas and crackers. Sleep well in log cabin.