There be Elles here

On March 10, I went to Uncle Tan's B&B in Sanderkan to learn more about the Elephants. Tourists coming back from the camp brought tales of close encounters with the elusive beasts just the day before. That was settled. Danum would wait. I would go see the elephants.

But that evening, the elephants did not come. Next day, it rained. The mud, almost manageable when I arrived, became deep and slippery. The elephants had moved down river. Would they return? Maybe, but not today. I resolved to cut my losses and move on.

'Caught a glimpse of a leopard cat that night. Nothing else worthy of note. Next morning, after breakfast, I went to gather my stuff and noticed the camp was strangely empty. I learned that the group had left for the jetty several minutes ago. I hurriedly packed my stuff and headed down the muddy trail. 4/5 of the way, I heard the rumbled of an o outboard motor. There is no hurrying in the mud but I was most of the way there. But the time I reached the jetty, there was no boat. I carried my pack back across the muddy trail to my hut. I was stuck for another day.

The sun came out. The mud dried to near manageable conditions. I spent the afternoon in a hammock reading, dozing, and talking to the long stays. Maggie has been here for 10 days. Another has been here for a month. Maggie tells me that my missing the boat was fate. Maybe she is right. At 4:00pm, the word came: We are going out on the river looking for elephants.

5 minutes down river, Maggie calls out "Elephant!". A young male is on the river bank on the far side. He looks a bit unwell but he is a bonified wild Asian elephant in Borneo. I snapped a couple photos before we parked the boat and climbed ashore. We caught a glimpse of one more elle but the rest were deep in the jungle. What jungle there is. There isn't much jungle between the river ad the palm plantation. But it was enough to hide the elephants. We caught another photo op of our young male before returning to the boat.

I decided to spend a 4th night at the jungle camp. Leaving would just mean another day in Lhad Datu. I would not get to Danum any sooner and I might see more elephants if I stayed. I'm glad I did since the group that left yesterday got rained on while walking to the jetty with their luggage.

No elephants in the morning. In the afternoon, the boat bringing new people from Sanderkan was late. It was already past 6:00pm when we pulled away from the jetty. We parked the boat near where we had seen elephants the previous day. For 20-30 minutes, we hurried through tall grass, over fallen logs, and across ditches. All the while we listened to the grunts and growls of apparently unhappy elephants.

We found the herd just as the light was fading. I gazed at the dim shapes of two elephants heads and backs rising above the tall grass. There was no point in getting the camera out. It was much too dark and using a flash on elephants is considered unwise. Once everyone had seen elephants, we returned to the boat the way we came. Well, nearly. Lan had a little trouble remembering the route so we took a few detours.

That night, I walked down to the jetty for my last night safari at Uncle Tan's. The mud was getting better but my flashlight batteries were fading and I met up with something worse than mud: fire ants. With 7 stings to my left foot and almost no light, I managed to reach the jetty. We didnt' seen anything really new on that safari. However, a leopard cat stayed still for an amazingly long time rather close to the boat. I snapped a photo just as he bolted from the light. I have no idea whether I got the face of a leopard cat, his tail, or just an unrecognizable blur.

This morning's river safari was comfortable and on time but rather unrewarding. We didn't even see the ever-present proboscis monkeys. The return trip netted a brief view of a small crocodile.

I'm in Lahad Datu for the night. I haven't really explored the town much. It looks like a smaler version of KK. Good, cheap places to sleep don't seem to exist here. or at least I couldn't find one. I couldn't find any place with a functional mattress and a shower for less than RM 40 ( ~ US$11). The Ocean Hotel is nice enough but I'm sure much of the 40 ringetts goes to pay for the unnecessary phone, AC, TV, and in-suite bathroom. Tomorrow, at 3:30pm, I go to Leach Central, also known as Danum Valley.