More jungle antics abound with a visit to Mulu National Park to see the world famous Deer Cave, and the nightly migration of millions of bats who leave their cosy home to forage for food.
We arrived at the Royal Mulu Resort ready to explore the caves and see lots of wildlife, and after a week of roughing it in the jungle, we were ready for some 5 star luxury. We visited Clearwater Cave, Langs Cave, Wind Cave and then finally at dusk, arrived at Deer Cave and settled ourselves down to watch the phenomena.
We waited.
And we waited.
And then we waited some more. (Just for good measure).
Nothing.
The bats were apparently not hungry, but we were, so we left to go to dinner and agreed that we would come again the second night to see the bats, who would be starving by then.
Dinner was a spread. It was like being at Aunty's house on Christmas Eve- so many dishes to choose from and all looked amazing. There were different stations where you could have food cooked to order, as well as a buffet full of food I have missed dearly whilst on my travels. To entertain us, the resort engaged traditional entertainers, including one warrier who wore only a loin cloth, a spear and feathers, and thought it was funny to block my way to the food. I did tell him I would stab his spear somewhere uncomfortable if he didn't get out of my way to the ice cream station, but he didn't understand English, so this comment was wasted.
Breakfast in the morning was another spread, this time including a waffle station! I was very excited about this. Maybe more so the waffles than the bats, perhaps?! But anyway, we spent the day lounging around the pool and then traipsed off, cameras all fully charged, to try see the bats again.
We waited.
And we waited.
And then we waited some more. (Because thats what we like to do).
Nothing.
No bats, nada, zip. I was disappointed not to see them and will try to come back again in future but its a long way to come for something that may or may not happen, even if the food at the resort is amazing. (Actually maybe that is why the food is so good- it cheers disappointed tourists up). I feel so lucky with everything else I have seen here on this beautiful island and the best thing about Borneo: NO LEECHES! None! So no bats, but no leeches either. Hurrah!
I am extremely excited at the moment for the arrival of Roaming Reedy the Younger, aka BOBO! My brother is coming to join me in T-minus 4 days for 10 days of fun and frolicks on the Gilli Islands, off the coast of Bali. We are also meeting with two lovely Scottish lasses I travelled through China with so it will be nice to be surrounded by friends and family again and be back in a somewhat comfort zone, after months of nonstop speaking challenges. I think the next two weeks will be an interesting insight to see how my speech is when I am with people I feel comfortable around... I'll let you all know what happens.
