Abai Jungle Lodge to Kinabatangan Riverside Lodge - Sabah, Malaysia

April 6 

Our day started at 5:30 with a morning cruise to Pitas Oxbow Lake. However, the route to the lake was blocked by fallen trees so we went back to the same area as yesterday.

Proboscis monkey

bird on a nest

female on the tree

male

he was pooping

Silver Leaf monkey

fish trap

 We had our breakfast around 8:00 on the Abai Jungle Platform instead of the regular outdoor dining room. Very nice location and some interesting choices. They had regular eggs and things, but I opted to try Pandan. Pandan leaves are very fragrant, and the sticky rice was served with a very yummy coconut milk red curry type sauce. I chose chicken, but there was also fish and other options. Glad I tried it. 

moth on our door

breakfast drink station

the buffet

unwrapping was a process

After breakfast we went on a walk on the boardwalk. We didn’t see as much as last night but did get a better look at the Keeled Pit Viper and saw some birds.

this sign has been in all of our rooms - it points to Mecca, so they know which way to face to pray

moth outside the cabin

Keeled Pit Viper

You could choose to have lunch at the lodge or visit a nearby village and we chose to visit the village. It was a very short boat ride to Sukau village where we had a walking tour and ended by having lunch in a local family’s home. They said the food was furnished by the lodge and safe to eat.

arrival at the village

the house where we had lunch

walking through their house to get to the patio

she posed, but backlit

through their living room

another sitting room

lunch on the patio

their house - we sat on the railed patio

After lunch we took about an hour boat ride to Kinabatangan Riverside Lodge where we would spend out next 2 nights. We were greeted with cold juice and cold towels.

leaving Abai

corcodile

our room - I didn't get photos of the cabin

We got settled into the cabin and had snacks at the restaurant before our boat ride at 4:30 to the Menanggul River. The highlight of the cruise was seeing a bull Pygmy elephant. After that we got drenched by the rainstorm that hit us. We continued on and eventually it cleared up and we saw some more monkeys and a croc. We were grateful that it didn't rain when we were viewing the elephant. Below are way too many photos of it....

larger crocodile

first glimpse of the Pygmy Elephant - Bull

very faint rainbow after the drenching

female Proboscis monkey

macaques

larger crocodile

We changed for dinner at 7:30 and Cathy and I wore the Malaysian sarongs that were on the bed when we arrived. (not a gift we had to leave them behind) They guys chose not to wear theirs.

2 of these roosted outside our cabin

modeling the sarong

We learned at dinner that Erik wouldn’t be our guide tomorrow and introduced us to Sonny. He also told us that we would be with a family of 5. This lodge had quite a few young kids that were loud and rowdy and we had remarked that they seemed to keep the tours all adults and the families together. Sonny caught that we weren’t pleased with having 3 young children on our tour.

We’ll see…… 

For larger photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/323cZMpW9dBGYHjd8