Tag 054/055/056/057 'Tarzan and Jane'

We are back ONLINE again! In the meantime, a lot has happened. We couldn't see the forest for the trees, made friends with many mosquitoes and even more ants, and we now know what it's like to sleep in a hammock... But more on that later.

We spent the last 3 days and 2 nights in the jungle. It started on Friday. Although the pickup was on time at 8.30am, we were still sitting comfortably at the breakfast table and left late. We drove for about 1 hour OFF ROAD and afterwards felt like after a bad roller coaster ride. With an American pickup truck and two benches over hills and fields. Hello back pain 😂.

After that, we continued on four mopeds towards the jungle. One rear tire burst and we had to continue driving with two people + 1 driver.

Afterwards, we were on our own. We walked through the 'tarantula forest' (bird spider forest) past the rice fields with grazing water buffaloes and into the jungle. Our guides set a brisk pace. They were wearing flip-flops, while we were wearing hiking shoes. Along the way, we picked up a bird spider for dinner and collected our hammocks and water bottles for the next 2 days. After about 3 hours of hiking, we arrived at the camp. There was a wild water shower, which definitely needed to be used! The first night in the camp started early. At 8:00pm sharp, we were all lying in our hammocks, visibly relieved. To help us fall asleep better, we had rice wine in homemade bamboo cups... The tarantula was grilled and enjoyed. Unfortunately, it was a bit overcooked.

We would have liked to stay up a little longer, but it was darker than in a bear's butt 😂🐻.

The next morning started early. 5:45am - time to listen to gibbons (monkeys) and possibly see them. Unfortunately, we only heard them this time. Then we had breakfast (here, too, the bamboo cups came in handy), packed up the hammocks, and continued. Up the hill, down the hill, to the left of the tree, to the right of the tree, and back to the left at this one. And along the way, there were always 🐜🐜🦗🕷🕷🕸🦟🦟🦟🐿🦇.

As we were walking through the jungle - at times our guide was hacking through thick underbrush with his machete - suddenly there was a flurry of activity because there were gibbons 🐒 in the trees. However, they had already spotted us before we spotted them, so they had already fled. Several gibbons swung from branch to branch high up in the trees. Unfortunately, there is no picture of this. The technology 📷 never really shines when it comes to these beautiful but agile creatures.

We continued past giant 400-year-old trees, bloodsuckers crawling up our legs and biting. Falk counted 10 in the end. There was also fresh water from a branch or a tea tree, and then a tree for this and a tree for that... When we arrived at the second camp, we once again exclaimed, 'Thank goodness, a shower.' For dinner, we had rice with vegetables and meat. For dessert, frog and fish were served 😂. Once again, we went to bed early. We sang night songs like 'Hakuna Matata, Love is everywhere, Schatzi schenkt mir ein Foto...' Surprisingly, our Dutch friend knew German party music.

However, the next morning, we all agreed that we had slept less well than the night before. It was tighter, smellier, and the positioning of the hammocks was bad. We set off again for gibbon spotting. We sprinted to the perfect spot in order to finally see them. Once again, the alpha monkey foiled our plans and heard us before we saw him. They swung through the trees, and we had trouble keeping up. In addition to gibbons and the large hornbills, we also encountered ants, mosquitoes, and other creepy-crawlies. The day was short, the path was long. After breakfast, we slowly made our way back to civilization. After a long and very sunny journey, we arrived at the starting point in the midday heat, visibly relieved and exhausted.

After another breakdown - empty tank - we arrived at the ferry and 'enjoyed' the roller coaster ride back.

Once we arrived, we first washed ourselves and our clothes. We couldn't subject anyone to that 😄😬.

As a reward for the truly physically demanding tour through the jungle, a diesel 🍻 was the right answer.

To end the day, Falk suddenly felt unwell. 🥵🥶🤢🤮. After taking some measures and getting advice, we agreed - he has heatstroke. It has persisted until today...

So, the further travel plans are on hold until 04.12.