Amazing Asian Adventures!!: Sunday in KK!! NOW WITH MOAR INFO!!

Josh’s cousin picked us up at the Hotel Meridien’s lobby in a super fancy Nissan van with white leather seats, automatic everything, and a TV… seriously. Apparently it’s just one of his many vehicles. Awesomes. Anyway, it seats 8, and 8 we put in it! It was a tight fit and a bit of a windy and bumpy ride, but we survived the 2.5 hour trip and arrived at a gorgeous spot in the Borneo rainforest where we’d take a riverboat cruise to see wild Proboscis monkeys and the fireflies.

From the side of the road, we walked down a gorgeous boardwalk into the jungle, which opened up to a huge pavilion style place with tables and chairs where we’d wait for our boats and later eat dinner. It was completely breathtaking. Matt and I joked that we felt like we were on Survivor and about to go on one of the coveted Reward Excursions. Which…. I mean, really… we were.

We suited up in lifejackets and waited for our guide, Andy, to tell us our boat was ready, and then off we went!! The driver was Howie and he was a riot. Apparently he’s been studying the Proboscis monkey for years and has mastered the 4 different calls they have for various things (challenging, mating, danger, and I forget the last one). We drove along the river looking carefully up into the mangrove trees and rainforest canopy for the shy primates. We found several family groups who sat still long enough for us to see them for a while. Howie called to them, reassuring them. One Harem group sat long enough for us to get many close photos. The Big Daddy of the harem (noticeable by his white “underpants” and orange “vest”) sat nearest to us, keeping a close eye while the females and babies scampered about in the trees.

Then we drove back to the jetty for our buffet dinner. Mmm Mmm Good! Once dinner was completed we waited for dusk before heading back out into the boats. This was a much shorter journey, but I think the greater part of the trip. This was the firefly cruise. Now, the camera couldn’t capture ANY of the dazzling lights, but let me attempt to paint a picture for you. The trees appeared black against the navy blue of the night sky. On several trees there were thousands, and I mean THOUSANDS, of fireflies. The trees looked like the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Place in NY… but better. They looked like something out of Pixie Hollow. It literally looked like millions of fairies were dancing about in the trees. If Walt Disney had gone on a Borneo river cruise it would explain the dazzle of the nightly parade through his theme parks. While this gorgeousness was going on all around us in the trees, the moon was busy putting on its own spectacular display above us. What a night!