DadTalk

In the heart of Borneo

They had said we would most likely not see elephants.But on the first day at our jungle lodge we were told our luck may be in, but it would need quite a long river trip.

After a bum-numbing couple of hours we slowed down and headed into towards the river bank.  There was a bit of circling around, then, suddenly, we heard a crash and saw a flash of muddy, grey stomping through the jungle.  We had spotted an elephant and frankly I thought that was all you could realistically expect.

The boat went up a bit further.  There was more crashing around ahead.  The boat came up into the mud on the bank.  Suddenly an elephant moved through the grass and we were face to face with her.  She was big – although they are, rather unfairly, called pygmies in Borneo, she was big.

Ned and I are in the front of the tiny boat.  She turns around, sticks her rather large bum in our direction and starts backing towards us. Her bum looms within a few feet of us and I’m convinced we’re about to be sprayed in elephant poo.  Either that or have an elephant in our laps.  She kicks her foot back, as if to get rid of us, and with increasing urgency I suggest to the guide we should, perhaps, head back into the stream.  After what feels like an age we do.  I’m told this backing towards you is classic elephant scare tactics, well I can tell you it works.

In our brief stay we saw lots of amazing wild-life along the Kinabatangan River.  Overall however, the romantic image of Borneo is in fact brought to you thanks to WWF.  Talking to the locals it is clear that WWF has invested a huge amount into preserving and rebuilding a jungle, wildlife corridor.  However you feel that you have to go through a lot of plantations to get to the safari park at the end.