In the Jungle

For the past two days, I have been on an eco-adventure at the Cardamom Tented Camp, which is in Cambodia’s Botum Sakor National Park. This park is an important habitat for Asian elephants, clouded leopards, and many other endangered animals. Profits from this resort support the wildlife alliance and are reinvested in the preserve. It’s a very cool place.

The trip to get there took some time - a plane from Siam Reap to Phnom Phen, a 4 hour bus ride, then a 40 minute motorboat ride downriver to the camp. We were stopped along the way for a document check, part of the government’s efforts to stem cybercrime. A little intimidating, but all good. Felt great to arrive.

The camp is rustic, with simple but comfortable tents, each with an attached bathroom, connected by raised walkways to the riverside dock and common area, where drinks and meals are served.

my tent in the early morning

It was really hot during the day, so jumping in the river felt extraordinary. It cooled off a little at night, and the fan helped, but it was a sweaty few days. There was wildlife everywhere. Birds, butterflies, fireflies, iguanas, monkeys and more.

I loved it, in spite of the heat!

We were pretty active here. Left early to kayak a few kilometers downstream. Mist off the water, jumping fish, palm trees and other jungle foliage all around made it magical.

That last shot is our group gathered to watch a family of gibbons scamper around the trees. Really hard to capture on camera because it was just movement and glimpses of them swinging but so cool.

The kayaking portion of our journey ended at an old ranger station, where we filled up our waters to prepare for the long trek back toward camp. We’d been warned to wear long pants, tucked into socks, and long sleeves, mainly to protect us from leeches that live in the long wet grasses and undergrowth we’d be passing through. Quite the fashion statement!

My hiking fashion on full display. Not shown: the log we had to walk across to finish the river crossing

We saw alot along the way. A snake strangling a lizard and a spider the size of my hand were the most creepy, but much beauty as well

All in all, a great trek with great people.

We also took a nighttime boat ride to look for animals. The guides had really strong headlamps and somehow spotted birds and monkeys and snakes and more along the way. They also brought us to where there were a million fireflies flashing in unison. And the stars. Just amazing. Pictures and words don’t do it justice.

Another highlight was Alec, the 6 year old son of the general manager, who was incredibly cute and precocious. He earned my forever gratitude by rescuing a massive grasshopper that had taken up residence in my bathroom (he said it was his dream to catch a big one like this - and I said it was my dream to have someone remove it so I wouldn’t be afraid to go in there anymore!)

Here is Alec and his Mom bidding us farewell as we left the dock to start our long journey to the beach on Koh Rong.