Jungle cruises and other rainforest stuff

Why on earth am I such a freak?? Today we went on a Jungle cruise from Taman Negara (the rainforest national park to Terjulet...which is merely a place we are sleeping before catching a 2 AM train to the Malaysian Islands.) Anyhow, the whole time I was on the jungle cruise I kept thinking about the Disneyland Jungle cruise, and how I really wanted to see Hippos with wiggling ears....I don't really think that I should have been thinking so much about Disneyland or about their jungle cruise as there wasn't much to compare...which I guess is what makes me a bit of a freak.

Anyhow, that said, I did enjoy the boat ride (which was about 2.5 hours) we saw tons of beautiful birds, monkeys (my most favorite) and water buffalo. We even hit a few rapids, which was crazy because our boat was basically a super long canoe with a canopy and motor (I don't really know how else to describe it.)

Before taking the jungle cruise we thoroughly enjoyed our time at the park...my only real complaint was that the bugs are HUGE in the rainforest. We did a bit of trekking and saw a swarm (how else would you describe millions and millions of bugs in one place) of termites, giant Ants (at least 2 inches long), spiders (the size of my hand) and butterflies (the size of birds...although not very scary they are still bugs.)

The trekking was great...although really wet (humidity takes on new meaning inside rainforests)..Kiwi-boy and I both completely soaked our clothing in sweat...and it didn't even feel that hot. We also walked over a 1km Suspended bridge that hung over the tree canopy(over 100 meters up)...that was really awesome..albeit scary, as the whole thing was held together with fishing net, ropes, and a metal ladder with boards (I didn't see any steel reinforcement cables)...luckily there were no accidents while we were there.

We also did a night safari, which was a bit of a joke, but nonetheless fun. Basically we were driven around in a bunch of trucks with 4 wheel drive..we did a bit of off-roading in the Palm/coconut plantations and saw an assortment of wildlife (dogs, cats, cattle)...After an hour we got a bit more lucky, and were able to see some snakes, owls and baby boars...Also one of the trucks in our group had a break-down, so we were actually fortunate enough to hang out in the jungle for about an hour in the darkness. I kind of enjoyed that unplanned adventure the most, as we were able to really enjoy the stars and all of the crazy jungle sounds (oh my goodness the jungle is loud!!!)

Well, as of 2 AM tomorrow morning Kiwi-boy and I will be heading off to our next destination (the Perhetian Islands)...we have to do the Jungle Train once again to get there (but this time it is an express...so hopefully it will have aircon??) This will be the last stop for Kiwi-boy. (sadly, he has to return to Japan)...In a couple of days, I will be traveling to Kuala Lumpur, where I will meet up with my mom then head to Hanoi.