Cat Tien National Park

After the bustling city, we had a few quiet days at the entrance of Cat Tien National Park. However, the local bus ride there was not so peaceful, as the bus was sometimes packed so full that we sat five plus a baby in a row meant for four. After the 4-hour journey, we decided to avoid traveling this way from now on.

We stayed near the park entrance in a beautiful lodge with several bungalows. But after the first night, we had to change our room because we had a Tokay gecko as a guest, and unfortunately, it is so loud every two hours at night that you definitely wake up from it.

Here is an audio sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lF0gmHAG3cw

Primate Species Center

The first destination in the national park was the Primate Species Center, a rescue station for lorises and gibbons. During the short tour of the center, we learned a lot, but unfortunately, we only saw a few of the animals. The lorises were all sleeping during the day, so we only saw a few gibbons. Nevertheless, it was nice to be able to support this facility with our visit.

Trekking to Crocodile Lake

The next morning, jungle trekking was on the program. Together with four other Germans, we took the ferry back to the park and then shared a jeep that took us into the jungle. This ride was already an experience due to the mud. Holding on tight was necessary. After the car ride, we had to walk the 5-kilometer path to Crocodile Lake. Unfortunately, we didn't see any animals here except for a small snake. We also had to hurry because during the rainy season, there are a lot of leeches in the jungle, which constantly stuck to our shoes and socks. It was good that we had borrowed special leech socks at our accommodation beforehand. Unfortunately, I still didn't escape completely and got a few bites anyway. At Crocodile Lake, we took a break and could observe the crocodiles in the lake. Supposedly, there are several hundred crocodiles living in the small lake, but we only saw about 5. Then we went back to our starting point the same way.

Bear Center

After the trekking, we visited the Bear Center, another animal rescue station. Mostly for sun bears and Asian black bears, but there were also some gibbons. We were lucky that just at the moment we were there, a family of wild gibbons came to visit to play with their fellow gibbons in the cages. So we were able to observe gibbons up close. Currently, there are 26 bears living in the sanctuary. They are usually rescued from farms that strip the bears for their fur. But also from private individuals who think it is okay to keep bears as pets. Some of them are so disturbed that they can never be released back into the wild. That's why it's great that their enclosure is 8 kilometers long, giving the animals a lot of space.

In the evening, we had a nice evening with the other travelers in our lodge, and the next day we continued to Da Lat by sleeper bus.