Day 11: Look like adults, act like children.

Aug 09

We woke up at 6:45 and headed to reception where we got into a boat that drove down the canal, out into the lake, and dropped us off on an island. This island is a bird sanctuary, and we had our own guide take us through the island and show us all the birds. He was VERY into birds. He told us all we ever wanted to know about birds. It was very interesting actually. He even did a lot of the bird calls to which the birds would answer. We saw hundreds of birds, dragon flies, and bats! The worlds largest bats live here. They were hanging from the trees, and even flying around.

As we were walking back to the boat, there were vines hanging down from the trees. Zab jokes about me swinging on them, and so I pulled a little on it to pretend, and water from the rain on the leaves fell. It was really neat, so u pulled really hard on it, and a lot of water fell. We thought this was very fun. The boat driver said something to the guide. Later zab told me what he had said. “They look like adults, but they act like children.” Oops. Oh well, we are tourists.

After a great breakfast and a long chat, we checked out and were taken by boat to the parking area. Here we were met by Benny. We drove 4 hours to Konni hills. It was here that we experienced our first rain of the trip. It started to pour down. Because of the rain, Benny didn’t think that we could make it up the hills to our next resort. So we waited in a gas station for someone to pick us up. A man came in a jeep and we headed up the hills. It seemed like a mountain road. It was a small single lane path going along steep cliffs. Everything was green and lush. It was amazing. Zab and I have been saying that this whole area reminds us of Peru. It is raining, and green, and hilly. I have never been to Peru, but from the pictures, this seems close. All along the side of the roads were little villages and insane amounts of rubber trees. There were tapping the rubber trees just like they do for maple trees back home. They collect a white ooze that back in Canada we like to call “rubber.” *smirk*

We got to the very top of the hill without sliding off, and we saw our resort. Contour Hills Jungle Resort. It was crazy. It was a resort on the top of the tallest hill in the area. The place was amazing, and I was in awe to think how they built it. We were told that most everything was carried up piece by piece by hundreds of workers. It was here that we found out that we would be the ONLY guests while we were there. No one else, just Zab and I for the whole resort. It was not a huge place, but still, this was crazy. We found out that it had only been open for 1 and a half years, and they only opened it for the new season the day before. There were a few guests the previous day, and we were the first international travelers for the new season. The staff were a little over zealous however. They watched us where ever we went, and kept telling us that if we needed anything, we could just tell them, or call them. They offered us drinks. We had fresh squeezed passion fruit juice and then some South Indian coffee. We were staying in a small cabin with a full working bathroom, satellite TV, and an amazing view out our patio down the valleys and hills.

Supper was made for just us. It was wonderful. They asked us when we wanted to eat, and what we wanted to eat. They did an amazing job. We sat in their dining hall, which was an open air room on the side of the hill. The night sounds of water and crickets made for an amazing ambiance. It was very romantic. Again, they just watched us as we ate and immediately came when we were finished or had any questions. This was a very surreal experience. I felt extremely important to have them all serve just us so diligently.
We went to bed at 9:30 after reading and watching a bit of television.