We set out early this morning with our guide, Omar and boatman, Basri (who we think lives in the little village of Abai).
Omar is pretty sure that the elephant herd is still close by so we cruised past the area where we saw the bull yesterday. And suddenly, there they were, crossing the river right in front of the boat. Elephants are very good swimmers; they float well and use all four legs to ‘doggy paddle’. There are likely about 70 Bornean Pygmy elephants in this local herd.
We stayed out in the boat until dusk to watch the local “Christmas tree” light up! Borneo is home to a unique genus of congregating fireflies who like to spend the evening and night in particular mangrove trees beside the river. Fireflies are actually beetles and are related to the glow worms we saw in New Zealand. They create bioluminescence through the chemical reaction of an enzyme found in their lower abdomen.
Omar figured the tree contained hundreds of fireflies.
Tomorrow we are going to explore other parts of the river.
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