In the jungle, the mighty jungle, Ashwin&Danny go trekking today.
Sorry, we couldn't resist. After a not-so-fulfilling breakfast of "vegetable omelets" filled with peas, carrots, and corn, we set off for our trek into the world's oldest tropical rainforest, Taman Negara. On the 2.5 km trek to the Canopy Walk, we were schvitzing like dogs (as Danny's gramma would say). The hot and humid jungle air made us feel as if we were in the steam room at the Coral Casino (oh, how we miss it...and those amazing oreo milkshakes - Sophia, could you ship us a couple?). Danny lived up to his nickname "Sweaty Danny", as he literally wrang out his shirt more than once, and we might as well start calling Ashwin "Sweaty Ashwin" as well. We took Janets advice and drank over 8 liters of water throughout the day.
The sheer density of the rainforest was astonishing, and the sounds of birds, insects, and other animals were like an ill orchestrated symphony that was somehow music to our ears. Have you ever heard ants chewing? When there are thousands of them at your feet, deconstructing a pile of fallen fruit, you can actually hear them pinching the food. The canopy was equally breathtaking, and consisted of a series of 5 creaky wooden suspension bridges spanning 500 meters, hung 40 meters in the air. It was rather frightening as we put one foot in front of the other on a 6 inch wide wooden plank, holding on to the thin ropes on either side for dear life. The trick was not looking down to the forest floor over 120 feet below us.
We spent the rest of the day hiking to scenic viewpoints and finally to a cave. In line with our housing decision from the night prior, we refused to pay for the guided tour of the cave. After walking for 2 hours to reach the cave, we realized that neither of us had flashlights, which would have been provided with the tour. We didn't let this stop us. We proceeded slowly into the cave, relying on the dialating of our pupils to let us see in the dark (Michael, just so you know, Danny just suggested that we write "the expansion of our retinas" - this coming from an eye doctors son, what a shame). About 40 meters in, as everything was getting very dark and equally damp, we smelled something strange. Putting our college educations to use, we used the focusing lights on our cameras to discover that the roof of the cave was totally filled with bats. Ashwin shreaked in horror. Danny proceeded to call him a little girl, but when the bats started flying within inches of our heads, we were both screaming like little girls. We snapped a few photos and hightailed it out of there.
At dinner tonight we met a few students from Occidental, and it turns out one of the girls actually lived in Margot Seigle's (Danny's favorite female cousin on his dad's side, for those who don't know) room for a time. What a small world.
We are about to catch the night train to Singapore. Ciao.
Rather then pitch your travelogue to the Travel Channel, I'd consider the Comedy Channel. The two of you running out of the bat cave screaming had to be priceless.
ReplyDeleteFor what it is worth, dark adaptation occurs when the photoreceptor cells known as "Rods" regenerate from being bleached out by the bright daylight. The pupil dilation in dark occurs almost instantaneously, but the retina has to adapt to the dark environment.
Four days without a shower and shvitzing in the jungle doesn't paint a pretty picture. Jeremy says the expression is "shvitzing like a mule and frying like a blintz."
Have a great time in Singapore and avoid the cane! Keep the posts coming, they are a riot and you have a large captivated audience.
I became fascinated by the realization that ant pinchers (pincers is also correct it turns out), called mandibles, are just the "grab and mutilate" part of their "mouths". Obviously the food has to get into their stomachs somehow. I googled "ant mouths" and finally found this:
ReplyDeleteAnts utilize mandibles, maxillae, labium and labrum. The mandibles are closed by powerful jaw muscles that break the food down into smaller pieces. Behind the mandibles, the maxillae is there to 'taste' the food (showing the propensity of ants to enjoy items like sugar, and judge whether the food source is something they find appealing or not). Finally, the labium and the labrum chew the food and the food then goes into the mouth of the insect for final eating and digestion.
So there are two levels of mastication going on when an ant eats. Makes sense... I had just never thought of them having mouths before!
Just something to keep you in touch with the world of trivial facts.
Much love and THANKS for the updates.
Okay, I am so grossed out by the bats that I won't be able to sleep tonight.
ReplyDeleteNot to give you not-enough credit or anything, Ashwin, but literally how did you survive that situation?
ReplyDeleteYou scream like a girl when Josie's drool is even near you or when a freaking spider falls on your SISTER'S head (not even yours)... but this time, thousands of bats above your very own dome? Danny did you have to carry him out?
assignment: when you 2 goons return home watch Planet Earth: Caves and you'll feel right at home.
your jungle trek did make me marginally jealous... more so just sad because I'M NOT TRAVELING anymore. i hate to say that I am actually living through YOUR travels now.. the tables have turned after being away 9 months myself... YOUR 6 week trip is keeping me sane while I'm at home... don't let that go to your heads.