Eyelash viper

Today has been somewhat of a washout. We expected rain – we’re in a tropical rainforest – but this is supposed to be the “drier” season.

It rained hard a good deal of the night, but seemed to have eased off this morning. We were up and ready by 0600 as instructed, as were all but one of the group. G was reported to be feeling unwell - we hope she soon feels better.

We boarded the boat, ponchos were distributed, and we set out hopefully in moderate rain. Even before leaving the water gate, we saw what I think was a kingfisher in a tree – but no photos, no definite identity. As we meandered slowly down the canal we saw a couple of other birds.

The rain got heavier, and heavier, and the majority of the wildlife was clearly more sensible, and sheltering in deep cover. After about 15 minutes, our guides decided that we were unlikely to see much, and we returned to the lodge.

After breakfast, they once again postponed the boat trip, but we set out for a guided hike. It was a very muddy walk - at times the mud and water was up to mid calf, so we were very glad we had been provided with Wellington boots! It was still raining – sometimes gently, sometimes hard. I had decided not to risk my larger camera in the rain, took the baby Canon. Sadly it didn’t cope with the lighting, and difficult subjects very well, I have almost no photos worth keeping. Our guide was great – we saw interesting wildlife, and he was very knowledgeable on the creatures and the ecology.

Amongst other things, we saw (and heard) plenty of little red poisonous frogs, a group of boat-billed herons, a lizard, lots of fungi, a termites nest and the blipped snake. Earlier in the walk he had warned us against casually leaning on a tree – this guy was on a tree alongside the track, at about shoulder height, well camouflaged on the trunk. It is highly venomous – our guide told us there are about 10 deaths a year from its bite – despite the fact that there is available anti venom – he may have been exaggerating, but he didn’t seem to be!

It wasn’t a long walk, but constantly dragging your feet out of deep mud is exhausting, it was quite long enough for me. Afterwards, we returned to our room very damp – our waterproof jackets were soaked through, I had to change all my clothes.

During lunch, the weather seemed to be brightening up briefly, and another attempt at the boat trip was mooted. Whereupon the rain started again, and has been constant and heavy all afternoon. We’ve spent the afternoon reading and relaxing in our room. My buttocks are aching from the walk.

Soon be dinner time. There was a night boat trip planned, but I think it’s unlikely to go ahead.

We move on tomorrow. Hoping it’s to a slightly drier location as we have quite a lot of damp and dirty clothes to deal with.