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"Open your shoes, get out the boat, and push!" After only about five minutes of our upriver longboat ride into Taman Negara we were stuck. The fifteen or so passengers looked around a little bewildered, but we all "opened our shoes", rolled up our pants, and jumped over the side of the boat. The water came up to about my knees (which isn't that high, considering my height) and was running fast but very low. After only a few seconds the boat was unstuck, we all jumped back in the boat as fast as we could, and away we went on our 3 hour river trip.
As the boat powered along, we relaxed just inches from the Tembeling River in our low, wooden longboat. We saw monkeys staring curiously at us while jumping from tree to tree, a few species of kingfisher, a possible hornbill, water buffalo, and wild pigs along the way. Like our rivers back home, in some places the native vegetation --the jungle-- existed as a thin strip near the river while palm and rubber plantations stretched out on the floodplains.
Upon arriving at Kuala Tahan, just across the river (a 1 ringit boat ride, about 30 US cents) from the national park, we were amused to arrive at a floating restaurant and walk across a gravel bar to get to our hostel up above. In this town, the majority of the restaurants are literally floating and the tourists are forced to pick their way along the gravel bar to get to or from their accommodation on the hill above. In addition, the hostels and hotels are not connected by roads as much as by a series of unmarked trails overgrown with the ever encroaching forest. This is a very strange design for a town.
After settling in, we "doped up" (as Nick says) with mosquito repellent and spf 50 and went for a walk along one of the many trails in Taman Negara. It did not take us long to experience the joys of Taman Negara's rainforest. About 30 minutes into our walk, Nick felt a strange feeling on his ankle, screamed upon examination, and watched as I removed the newly-attached leech from his leg. What a wimp! We tucked our pants into our socks and avoided the freeloaders for the rest of the hike. At least leech bites are painless and they don't communicate any diseases.
The sounds of the rainforest are truly amazing. A never-ending chorus of clicks, chirps, squeaks and squawks from innumerable birds and insects greeted us with every step. At times the sounds were so loud you could barely hear yourself think. The highlights of the walk included a huge gray butterfly, a blue Selaginella (a fernlike plant for you non-botanists), beautiful fungi, and insects wearing a kaleidoscope of color on their exoskeleton. We also saw a huge tick (slightly larger than an M&M, check out our photo gallery if you dare).
After sweating what felt like gallons of our body fluids we headed back to to the comfort of our air-conditioned guest house-modern conveniences rock! Tonight we head out on a guided night hike on which we hope to see more spectacular insects, and mammals if we are lucky.
They call Taman Negara's forest, Malaysia lungs, a huge intact swath of forest which lives and breathes diversity. Scientists estimate the this forest is over 130 million years old, and has remained unscathed through countless glaciations and geologic events. After our first taste, we are impressed and yearn to experience more of Taman Negara.
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