We've arrived at Tabin Wildlife resort

After a 1.5 hour drive, most of which was on a bumpy unpaved road, we finally arrived at the Tabin Wildlife resort. The fun has already begun. On the drive in, we saw 4 or 5 different types of big birds. The only one I got a picture of was a crested serpent eagle. We saw a macaque monkey sitting on a telephone pole.

The resort itself is super peaceful. We're right on the river and have the wonderful sounds of jungle birds and a babbling brook to lull us to sleep. The view is so serene.

We walked around the resort and along the river and across the river over a hanging bridge. We visited their museum.

After lunch, we headed out to the mud volcano. Like all the reviewers of Borneo trekking have said, within minutes you're drenched in sweat because it's just that humid. It had been rainy the previous day so we borrowed galoshes from the resort and boy did we need them. There was mud and puddles along the route. Our guide showed us the orange tiger leech that's adherent to the leaves and the brown ground leech that climbs up from the ground. Quickly thereafter, we met a couple leeches. Fortunately, we were able to get rid of them before they took hold but they definitely made me check my arms every couple minutes. We saw many beautiful HUGE butterflies. We had the good luck to see a large and tortoise! Our guide said he's only seen 2 this year.

We didn't see any rhinos because they're considered extinct now (the Sumatra kind) although there is a couple discovered nearby that's been sequestered. Apparently, the female couldn't procreate because she had ovarian cancer but they were able to harvest eggs and do IVF on a white rhinoceros. This happened recently so we just have to wait the results. Isn't that crazy?

We heard the call of a male orangutan and tried to follow him. Unfortunately, we only found the fruits he left behind and a couple tree nests that he's abandoned. We did learn that he likes bread fruit and figs.

When we finally arrived at the mud volcano, we had saved ourselves from 4 leeches. The mud was hardened since it was the dry season but we could see a couple of areas where it was bubbling up from below. Apparently it's the same mud people use in facial masks. I put my hand in it - it was very thick and goopy.  We didn't see any animals at the volcano but did see a collection of imperial green pigeons.

When we returned, we immediately took a shower after making sure we didn't have any more leeches and then took a nap before dinner. Afterwards, we headed out for a night safari. We saw 5 fish owls, 2 brown owls including a juvenile, a Malai sivet, a masked pom sivet, 2 water monitor lizards - a large one that had been injured by the side of the road who then recovered, and a camouflaged one in a tree sleeping, and a moon rat. Perhaps more amazing was all the stars we saw and the serene scene driving through the reserve at night. Again, images of Jurassic Park come to mind.