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Dawn Enshrouded in a Cocoon of Fog

AFTER a good solid night’s sleep in the small hut in the jungle near the Kinabatangan River, I very cautiously left the room through the mosquito net looking out for any fire ants. Once I confirmed it was say, I took in my surroundings. The thick vegetation didn’t yield much of a view at all, but the air was moist and cool, and the scant patches of sky in between the canopy cover were a dark grey colour. It was very misty here.

I walked to the main deck platform beside the lake, and saw that nearly all the weed that had covered and choked the lake yesterday had been cleared. It must have been cleared late yesterday whilst we were sailing up and down the Kinabatangan River. By the time we had returned, it had been too dark to clearly see how much had been removed.

A thick fog hung over the lake. The fog wasn’t cold though despite the grey tones giving the illusion of a freezing cold winter’s morning where the thick mist had sucked all the colour and texture from my view. I was the only one up at that stage, and it was so serenely peaceful.

There was not a sound apart from the occasional distant warble or ring of a bird, or the almost inaudible splashing of a fish breaking the otherwise perfect mirror smooth black water to catch an insect hovering invisibly above the surface. The ripples lethargically spread out in concentric circles across the laminar surface of syrupy water.

A thin wispy mist hung immediately above the water, but it was not thick enough to break the almost perfect reflection of the dark trees above.

The mist began to dissolve away, and although I could not feel even the slightest breath of wind, the surface of the black water started to crease slightly. Perhaps it was from insects. Who knows? The mist cleared a little giving the forest around the edge of the lake many layers of blackish green to soft grey in the distance.

I heard the padding of footsteps behind me. One of the ladies in my group was up and decided to join me. We took pictures of each other before relaxing again on the sun chairs watching the fog lethargically drift across the lake. Over the following half an hour the others joined us as they got up. We sat there watching as the sun came up over the horizon unseen and start dissolving the thick fog. The grey opacity of the sky petered out into a translucency showing the blue through bringing out the colours of landscape before us. It was not long before we could see patches of blue sky above us, allowing the sun to come through and highlight the trees. The thin wispy layer of mist immediately above the surface of the water continued to dance in suspended animation oblivious to the gradual dissipation of the main bank of fog.

The clouds hovering around us were very fluffy and just as mysterious as those we had encountered on the dome of Mount Kinabalu. The sun shining through highlighted the trees on the other side of the lake adding greens and yellows to the formerly subdued palette. The slightest hint of breeze started ruffling up the surface of the middle of the lake giving the illusion of a frosted translucency to the reflection which was still almost mirror smooth around the lake edges.

Finally the mist cleared reflecting the sky into a deep blue in the almost still lake. A grey heron flew into the water about a hundred metres away. It surfaced with a large fish in its beak. With some labour it flew off from the dark surface of the water back into the trees to eat its breakfast.

Breakfast was ready so we entered the dining hall above the decks. We could see now – recalling dinner last night had been in pitch darkness. The dining hall had open shutter windows and latticed gables. Timber frames supported the very steep roof.

Once breakfast was over, our guide decided to take us into the forest past the huts once more in search of wildlife. He led wearing cream colours which I didn’t think were great camouflage. One of the ladies working at the lodge came as well. Just past the main hut, he showed us a small sign. This was Toby’s Walk, a short trail dedicated to a local named Toby who was instrumental in setting up this camp but died just before it had opened.

Past the huts the forest began to thicken even though the canopy was very low at just a few metres above our heads. Our guide showed us some of the berries and plants growing here. We then passed a small A framed hut covering a car battery that powered all the lighting here. The scrub continued to increase in density, but there weren’t many large trees here. Large vines twisted their way up the small trees looking as if they will soon choke them. We saw one small black centipede on a twig.

To cut a long story short, once more we didn’t find anything. It seemed the animals of the jungle had abandoned us. Clearly with nothing to see, we returned to our huts and packed up ready to leave and head back into civilisation. I went to the bathroom to wash up. The view from the sink into the thick leafy forest was a magnificent outlook into the quiet jungle.

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