heart of darkness

Bornean Horned Frog (Megophrys nasuta)

We found this under our feet at the Danum Valley Field Centre, a rainforest preserve two hours down a jarring dirt road from the nearest town, Lahad Datu, described as a sort of "wild east" town, with high rates of crime, theft, and an atmosphere of general lawlessness.

Lots of towns in this part of Borneo are reputed to be unsafe and/or unsavory. The town we fly out of, for example, is said to have budget hotels that women should not check into, and our guidebook recommends staying out of the streets at night. I have yet to read that about anywhere else in Southeast Asia on my journeys.

Danum Valley was great, but it was the kind of place only 5 or more days of serious trekking could do justice to. We saw wild Borneo pygmy elephants twice on our drive, wild chickens, bearded pigs, sambar deer, barking deer (it's more like a woman's scream!), red-leaf monkeys, and more. We even heard a wild elephant very close to us in the forest, but thankfully we didn't go to investigate its huffing. We later found out they're quite aggressive and potentially dangerous.

Three leech bites. And that was with leech guards. I am told that for our mileage, I only did .5 leech/miles (3 bites for 6 miles). Not bad for a day in Danum. 2 leech bites/mile is more common :)