I just had my third shower and the day isn’t over yet. The cabins don’t have glass windows, just mosquito nets. Though it doesn’t get quite as hot and humid inside the cabins, nothing dries. Just to make it clear, each room has a “dry box” where we are supposed to keep electronics, all our books and papers as they may get damaged leaving them out in the cabin.
Today, we get up at 5am to visit the Parrot Clay Licks. We get to see quite a bunch of parrots mostly green ones. (You’ll see my excitement for anything flying decline of the next few days…)
After lunch I am brave and go swimming in the lagoon which is full of piranhas. I know this because one group is piranha fishing right from the sundeck. One thing suddenly becomes clear as I swim around the lagoon: our guide told us the piranhas are vegetarians, so it’s safe to swim. The kicker is: the group fishing piranhas uses worms as bait not plankton. Get it?
In the afternoon we head out to the canopy walkway which is about 50m above ground and way above the trees. After 2 hours of bird watching, my patience wanes. Bird watching will not be my forte. We just left a little late for the walk back to the lodge, so that we end up walking in the dark through the rainforest (Fernando before the hike: “You don’t need flashlights, we will be back in daylight.” – this will become a theme…). There are lots of creepy sounds in the dark, if you ever noticed. I am in luck though, there are glowflies showing us the way.
We are off to a nightly canoe trip on the lagoon. The moon is shining, the stars are hanging low. The lagoon is dark and quiet. The canoe crosses it silently. Peaceful and nearly romantic were it not for those big yellow eyes looking at us from the water. There are about 12 caimans in the lagoon raging from 1.5m to 3m in length. And one sits right below the sundeck…
The response from Adventure Life to my first inquiry was prompt and promising. I worked with Jamie Broeckel, Trip Planner, via text, email, and phone calls- always extremely responsive and thorough with information and explaining the process to arrange a private tour for me to Malaysia Borneo. Within about week, the booking was complete and I made decisions because of Jamie's great customer service , friendly manner, and overall competence on behalf of the company's travel expertise. Now I have an itinerary, additional Trip Planner Assistants, several links for vital information for traveling to Maylasia, etc. Still many details for Sept. trip, but now the heavy lifting is done and I can enjoy the rest of the anticipation and research!! Thanks Jamie- you are amazing!!!!
Susan Campo
3 days ago
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
4 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.