Foztastic Nature in Iguaçu

Last post we idolised the waterfalls of Foz do Iguaçu and I declared it to be the most breathtaking place I have seen. But in reality I was only telling half the story (okay, maybe two thirds). The trip wasn’t just about the waterfalls, it was also about the wildlife and in particular the birds and butterflies.

However before we tell you about with these wonderful creatures, we realised we forgot to show you a video of the falls. So here are a couple to whet your appetite and hopefully inspire you to visit this wonderland.

Okay, is your mind blown yet? The never-ending micro-explosions of water are something to behold in person. My only gripe with the devil’s throat was how busy it was. I would love to work there and go after-hours to just sit and take it all in on my own. That would be life changing.

Anyway, enough talking as this is once again going to be more of a visual treat than a verbal one. So sit back, scroll down, and enjoy some of the beautiful animals we saw whilst visiting the national park and nearby bird park.

Headless Flamengo

The first toucan of the trip

Look honey, it's a macaw!

Grey crowned crane - I love their funky feather hair!

This little fella was fast asleep

This is a horned screamer, a bird we briefly saw but didn't manage to snap in the Amazon!

Harpy eagle, bloody huge!

It's like they are all standing at a bird urinal!

I'm really going to miss hummingbirds

This tucan was out in the wild!

Supermoon Blood Moon

I bet you'd forgotten how much of a butterphile David is! 

This cheeky fella was shedding his skin right in front of us!

This catfish was about a metre long and swimming just upstream from the huge falls

Bananas!

Snake's Heart in my Mouth

The hasselhott city of Hanoi was an interesting experience due to the volume of decent food. You've already seen some in the last post but this next meal is really different. "Never try, never know" is a commonly used expression by Vietnamese hawkers / sellers. With this in mind, we stepped into another culinary adventure.

On the Ha Long Bay trip, we met some topless Norwegians and a Dane, and agreed to meet up for some drinks. We ended spending a few nights with them trying out a variety of cheap beers. Then one night we went to an area of Hanoi famous for eating one type of very traditional meat.

Not porcupine! They just had some there as pets I suppose... The restaurant was famous for serving snake, in all manner of forms.

I assume they're not poisonous

First you choose your snake and then they then serve you some liquor made with its insides.

Green - Sweet liquor mixed with snake's 
gall bladder, releasing the bile.
Red - Snake's blood and sweet rice wine.

Top Left: Grilled Snake - Like tiny little barbecued ribs - very tasty!
Top Middle: Fried Snake Ribsbrittele - Crushed up bones & spices. Crunchy.
Top Right: Snake Spring Roll - Pretty darn good, like a normal spring roll.
Middle Left: Snake Pied - Spices made these snake-meat balls dead tasty.
Middle Right: Soft Snake Skin - The worst of the lot. A hard, rubbery texture.
Bottom: Sauteed Snake with Citronella - Really delicious. Soft like fish.

A close-up of the soft snake skin.

The snake skin tasted strange with a highly unusual texture, but it wasn't as strange as something I had eaten a bit earlier.

I volunteered to have the honour of the most sacred part of the snake - the heart. I didn't eat it using the usual method of knife or fork... I didn't even use chopsticks.

Ripping an animal's beating heart out with my teeth has always been an ambition of mine.

Now there's something you don't do everyday.

Sand-orang-akan

After our epic drive across Borneo we arrived in Sandakan and found a hotel called The Mayfair. After we settled in I asked the owner if there was a cinema near by, because we wanted to see The Avengers. His answer was brilliant; "No, but there's one in your room!" and boy, was he right! The room itself was clean and basic; double bed, air-con, bathroom with a decent shower. The winning feature though, was the TV. We had a big flat screen and the owner had a collection of literally thousands of DVDs for us to borrow, free of charge! We didn't get to see the Avengers, but with so much choice we didn't really mind!

Our new hitch-hiker friends, Alexandria and Stuart, stayed in the same place and after we'd freshened up we went out for a little birthday dinner on the waterfront. It was a delicious delight.

The next day the four of us decided to take the car to Kinabatangan River, which was two hours or so away, and once there we hired a boat to take us on a cruise to see some jungle life. The bad thing about the way we did it was that our boatman didn't really know much about what we were looking at and hardly spoke English, whereas if we had gone with one of the expensive tour options, we would have been given much more information. Luckily though, there were some official tour boats just ahead of us so we followed them and got to see some brilliant things! At one point we stopped the boat right under a snake that was sleeping in a tree, and a bit later we saw a big monitor lizard on a branch. Unfortunately we couldn't get any good snaps of them as they were so well camouflaged, but below are a few of our favourite monkey photos...

We saw lots more of those big nosed proboscis
monkeys like the ones in Brunei, but this time
we were much closer and got some great pics!

We saw so many monkeys of various kinds.

This cute little fellow was very curious and got
really close so he could have a better look at us.

A different type of monkey!

A father, mother and child picking fleas off each other's backs.

We also saw a kingfisher and a few other birds we couldn't identify. Apparently there are elephants in the forest, but sadly we weren't lucky enough to spot any. After the two hour tour we set off back to Sandakan and actually saw one of the best animals yet! I spotted a big horn-bill sitting on a telephone wire which was fantastic because Dave and I both really wanted to see one. Again, we didn't get a picture but these birds are so beautiful and bizarre, we've included a photo from another website.

Taken from http://www.cringel.com/node/463

The next day we went to the Sepilok Orang-utan Sanctuary, as the previous day hadn't quite satisfied our primate watching urges. This place is brilliant. It's a bit tricky to get to without doing a tour or having your own transport, but it is possible to get a bus. They're not very reliable though so we managed to get a group together and hire a private van. The sanctuary is a part of the rainforest where the orang-utans come to get food, medical care and where illegally captured ones can be brought to be rehabilitated. They are fed twice a day and the entrance fee covers you for both sessions. As we walked along the short board walk to the feeding deck we actually spotted a couple in the trees - it was amazing! We ended us seeing about ten in total, all of different sizes and with noticeably different personalities. What really struck us though, were their eyes. They look so human and it was really fascinating to watch them munch on fruit, just a few meters from where we were standing. Malaysians call these beautiful animals orang-utans too, which apparently translates as "man of the forest" - a truly fitting name.

It's amazing how long their arms are!

They even stand like people.

What a big grin!

A little cheeky monkey came to join their meal.

STRANGE SPIDER!

This one is the same age as James!
And just as beautiful!

Generally the town of Sandakan is a bit naff, with little to do. However it is definitely worth visiting, as it makes a great base to visit these fantastic places from. Plus, if you stay at The Mayfair, you'll have plenty of entertainment to fill the hours between your adventures!

Costs (per person)

Kota Kinabalu to Sandakan Hitch-hiking = Free!

Mayfair Hotel per Double AC Room = 45 RM (£9, $13.50)

Boat hire in Kinabatangan River = 120 RM (£24, $36)

Private Van to Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary = 10 RM (£2, $3)

Taxi Back from Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary = 40 RM (£8, $12)

Airport Taxi = 20 RM (£4, $6)