It’s been a “woweee what a day!” Kind of day. And it’s not done, yet!

I met Ben at 7am in the reception, and we caught the ferry over to the National Park HQ, where we met our guide. We loaded onto the back of a jeep and took off for a very shaky, bumpy 6 miles to the base of the track.

Clambering down from the jeep, the guide told us to spray plenty of insect repellant on our shoes and around our ankles. Despite the heat, I was wearing full length trekking pants as the guide book is excitable about leeches, and I wasn’t having any of that, thank you! So for once in my life, I was enthusiastically compliant and so, trousers tucked into socks and the whole bang shoot doused in chemical warfare, we set off up the path. It’s a raised walkway, made of lava blocks held together loosely by cement. There are many more lava blocks strewn on either side of the path and the guide confirmed that Cat Tien is on a volcano.

We paused periodically for the guide to point out interesting bits of fauna; here were the leaves the Vietcong used to line the roof and walls of their tunnels, because they are inflammable. There was an enormous thorn branch which was cut and hidden beneath leaves at the entrance to the tunnels, or to line traps laid for the enemy. The thorns are particularly long and tough; it was nigh on impossible to break them. I imagine they hurt like buggery, but I’m afraid I didn’t experiment for you! There were liana; intertwined tendrils of aerial tree root (?) branch (?) some other thing (?) wound around and across and between trees, stretching high up into the canopy and forming arches over the forest floor. There were bugs aplenty; enormous millipedes, butterflies, hairy caterpillars, brightly coloured shield type beetles, flies, mosquitos (!!)

The guide showed us a tree which was being encircled by roots and explained that monkeys eat fruit, and then defecate in trees. The seeds from their poop germinate in the tree and grow, sending roots down the trunk of the host tree until eventually the new tree is established and the host tree is strangled. We saw another tree, apparently beloved of pangolins (we didn’t see any of those, sadly) which is naturally hollow. The tribes who used to live in the forest used this tree for all sorts of things, from boat-making to coffins.

We passed termites nests, and motorways of the industrious little insects, bustling across the path in a determined legion. Like motorbikes in Saigon, the guide explained. Enormous, rippling millipedes and the biggest snail I’ve ever laid eyes on. A troop of macaques crosses the path up ahead of us, and ran through the forest, barking occasionally. They were too quick and the forest too dense to photograph them, but it was so exciting to see them! The guide also pointed out a pair of birds that would have excited twitchers, apparently, but I’m afraid I couldn’t understand what he told me they were called. Pretty, though….!

We crossed a long and rickety bridge of dubious engineering credentials and eventually, incongruously, we came to a house and there was the crocodile lake! By now it was 9:30am, and not yet quite so hot that the crocodiles had retreated underwater. There were four or five at the end of the equally rickety pier. And so many dragonflies! I entertained myself a good long while trying to capture them on film!

Mariana, my friend from last night, arrived just as the guide was making time to go noises. At the same time, a boat pulled in to the little pier, and people piled out. “Ooh, can we get a boat??” I asked Ben. He paled, visibly. I’m beginning to doubt his claim to lead jungle survival groups 🤣

But yes, it was possible to get a boat and so Mariana and I paddled around the lake for half an hour or so. Not a croc anywhere to be seen! Which Mariana was heartily relieved by, having been somewhat anxious when she realised how small and apparently flimsy the boat was! Visible or not, the lake contains around 300 Siamese crocodiles.

We set off back the way we’d come, visiting a 500 year old giant tree, whose roots I posed on…

On the way back, we spotted more birds (a pitta – I’m afraid you’ll have to google it yourself as my internet is being temperamental. It’s super pretty!) and a langur, high in the trees. I did try to take a picture of this one, and if you squint in a spirit of optimism, you may find it – although I fear I’m not going to be getting any calls from National Geographic, any time soon!

We also saw what I think were probably porcupine burrows. Eventually, we got back to the foot of the trail to find the jeep waiting for us, and begun the bumpy drive back to the headquarters.

We paused for a quick lunch. The lodge had very sweetly prepared a packed lunch for me, which was totally inedible apart from two boiled eggs! Apart from the eggs, there was a somewhat bizarre baguette filled with sliced tinned frankfurter, a courgette and a banana. Oh, and a yogurt which had just exploded everywhere!

After lunch, we joined up with Mariana again and went to the bear sanctuary. There, we were met by a ranger who explained that they rescue bears from bile farms, where they are kept in tiny pens and catheterised to extract their bile which is used in Chinese medicine. The sanctuary gradually introduces them into larger and larger pens and teaches them how to behave, eat and survive in the wild. Ultimately, they are released back to the area they come from, although this is a process that can take several years.

We were told not to get too close to the animals – a kind of intriguing instruction but actually, as it turns out, quite relevant (although it seems the animals weren’t given the same instruction!)

The bears were obviously feeling the heat and we spent a good long time watching them, sunbathing, eating, bickering and lounging in their pool.

Then we moved to a gibbon overflow pen, where they are holding rescued gibbons pending space coming available in the Dao Tien sanctuary we visited yesterday. Sheer magic happened, here. There were two female gibbons in the rescue pens. They were being visited by a wild family of gibbons. The ranger explained that this happens often; the wild gibbons come to check the newcomers in their territory. There was an adult male, who stayed high in his tree, an adult female who was hanging out with the penned females, and their four year old daughter. Who decided to come and flirt with us. I cannot tell you how magical this experience was. She was intrigued by us, and no more than arm’s length away. Her parents were totally relaxed as she swung and showed off and chattered at us. Just such a special experience!

And then back to the lodge. But the bear sanctuary ranger had made the mistake of mentioning a night safari. So I’ve had a quick swim and typed this, and in a moment I’m going to throw my sweaty clothes back on and head back over to see what the dusk brings…!