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November 1, 2005
Swamped
DAY: ?
LOCATION: East coast Sumatra
NAUTICAL MILES TODAY: 18
NAUTICAL MILES YESTERDAY:15
NAUTICAL MILES TOTAL TRIP:
Tonight we find ourselves camped in a swamp. After exiting the river Hari late this morning we paddled around the coast in search of a suitable launching point to cross Selat Berhala tomorrow morning. The best we could find was a tiny inlet amongst an otherwise impenetrable mangrove coastline, affording us access to just enough solid(ish) ground to pitch our mozzie domes and cook a meal (mashed spuds and fried veggies). As well as the hordes of insects, both of the biting and non-biting variety, the inlet is home to a variety of creatures, from mudskippers to monkeys, the less intelligent of which have decided to make this bug-infested primordial swamp their campsite for the night.
Oh, and mud. Did I mention mud? Kenny tried to make it across the inlet to take photos and got stuck half way across. As he said himself, this is the gooey soup we once came from, so it's like a homecoming for us. He certainly did look at home in the stuff wallowing around like a beached hippo.
Tomorrow we rise early - very early - at 2.30am to exit the inlet before low tide. At first light we'll attempt the crossing of Selat Berhala to Pulau Berhala where there are reputedly coral reefs and and a sandy beach to camp on. After this mud I promise I'll never moan about the trials of camping in sand ever again.
Phil says hi to Angel!
Jason
Posted on November 1, 2005 2:07 PM