Not knowing where we’ll spend the next morning, we said farewell to our hosts, and were given a bag full of freshly picked mangosteen from the trees in the orchard for the way. On our way out, we had a short walk around the orchard, where we saw several fence lizards (Calotes versicolor) and a few interesting insects. Before entering the park we had to eat something, so we headed back to last night’s restaurant. It was around 9am and we found the place not quite open yet, but the waitresses were there, preparing for opening. They greeted us merrily and showed us to the same table, where we had a pleasant breakfast.
In the park itself, the friendly welcome took the form of a ranger who wanted to hold Daniel in his arms while his friend took a picture of them together. By now, we were pretty used to this request, and for a change, took a photo as well. The walk along the well maintained nature trail was especially notable for the numerous beautiful butterflies, unseen birds, orchids, squirrels, lizards and skinks. We saw both mangosteen and rambutan fruit on the ground along the trail, and recognized the trees they fell from. Some of them were good and fresh, and tasted very well. Another feature of the trail was the winged dipterocarp seeds falling down in a slow swirling motion from the giant trees. Despite the name that means “two wings”, the species in this forest had 5 wings attached to each seed. Most of the time you could see one or two seeds in motion, but when a gust of wind hit the trees above, hundreds would make their way to the ground in a graceful swirling shower.
Around the middle of the trail, while I was looking at a skink near the path, something orange passed above us. I thought it was another butterfly, but Daniel cried – “a flying lizard”! It landed on a nearby trunk, and we saw that it was indeed a gliding lizard of the genus Draco – aptly named for the skin flaps spread over folding extended ribs at the sides of its body. When standing on the tree with its “wings” folded, it looked rather dull and unremarkable, except for being exceptionally thin. We stood looking at it for a long time, while it slowly made its way up the trunk. Only after we left it and moved on, Lilach turned her head and saw it gliding again to the next tree. I thought this was a really rare find, so I was quite amazed when we saw another specimen about 20 minutes later…
At the end of the trail we reached the Karom waterfall, and took a rest at its base. A lone cormorant was drying its wings on a large stone in the river, and a Durian tree was spreading its distinctive smell. Tamar noticed a very strange insect on a bush near the river, mimicking a leaf in a very persuasive manner. Soon afterwards, the constant drizzle turned into a downpour, and we took shelter in a nearby open shed conveniently located near the trail. While we waited for the rain to subside, we enjoyed the view of the rinsed rainforest, and an adventurous episode of our family D&D game.
On our way back, Tamar found another interesting invertebrate – an archaic looking, heavily armored, centipede. I took my phone out for a quick shot of it, and decided it deserves better background for a proper shot, so I asked Tamar to hold it till we reach a suitable photo location. I then slipped on the slick path, and in an attempt to protect the heavy camera supported by my right hand, landed on the left hand, which held the phone. The phone’s bottom left corner was severely damaged, with metal, plastic and glass all torn or broken. The phone still worked, but its corner turned black, with a beautiful purple fringe to the black blot. Over the next few hours, we watched my phone’s lifeblood slowly draining from it, as the black blot expanded and gradually covered more and more of the screen. Fortunately, Tamar’s phone supported a dual SIM configuration, and she graciously allowed me to make use of it, saying that it felt a bit like letting someone invade your mind, with reference to a similar occurrence in the Magisterium series…
We returned to the Karom resort, where the owners were happy to hear that we decided to stay another night. I needed some kind of needle to take out the SIM card, and couldn’t find any in our shower bag. So I drove to the nearby town and searched for a needle in a… couple of stores. One of them did have sewing threads, but no needles, and everyone consistently referred me to a 7-Eleven store about nine kilometers down the road. Surprisingly, the store was indeed there, and they had a sewing kit complete with several needles. Back in the room, it served us not only to move the card to its new host, but also to sew a loose button that just fell off from Lilach’s hiking pants. After we all took showers, we had another enjoyable dinner in the same place, this time without any unexpected arboreal visitors.
Family Trips 