KINABATANGAN: Information sells in the tourism industry and so when word got out of elephant sightings recently, it had the local tourism industry here abuzz.
Local guide Robert Ernest recently received a tip-off on the sighting of an elephant along Sungai Kinabatangan here by a fellow guide when leading a group of journalists to the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre in Sandakan.
By noon, he got his group moving towards Kampung Bilit, near here, to look for the elephant.
Elephant sightings are rare, occurring only once or twice a month and with only four hours of river cruising time, Ernest wanted to make sure his guests get an additional bonus for what they paid for.
Two hours down the river, a young male elephant was spotted emerging from the water and gingerly walking into the bushes, sending the group into a photo-taking frenzy during the three-minute encounter.
Ernest radioed colleagues about the sighting so that others too would get the chance to see it.
To top their day, the same elephant emerged at the same location about 90 minutes later as the boat headed back towards the Kampung Bilit jetty where it started from.
"This is a rare occurrence. I even consider myself lucky. We do not spread information like this to our guests because we do not want to raise their hopes too high," he said, but they do brag about guaranteed sightings of proboscis monkeys, exotic birds, macaques, monitor lizards and others that are more commonly found in the area.
"We share such information between guides because it helps make this place more interesting.
Local guide Robert Ernest recently received a tip-off on the sighting of an elephant along Sungai Kinabatangan here by a fellow guide when leading a group of journalists to the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre in Sandakan.
By noon, he got his group moving towards Kampung Bilit, near here, to look for the elephant.
Elephant sightings are rare, occurring only once or twice a month and with only four hours of river cruising time, Ernest wanted to make sure his guests get an additional bonus for what they paid for.
Two hours down the river, a young male elephant was spotted emerging from the water and gingerly walking into the bushes, sending the group into a photo-taking frenzy during the three-minute encounter.
Ernest radioed colleagues about the sighting so that others too would get the chance to see it.
To top their day, the same elephant emerged at the same location about 90 minutes later as the boat headed back towards the Kampung Bilit jetty where it started from.
"This is a rare occurrence. I even consider myself lucky. We do not spread information like this to our guests because we do not want to raise their hopes too high," he said, but they do brag about guaranteed sightings of proboscis monkeys, exotic birds, macaques, monitor lizards and others that are more commonly found in the area.
"We share such information between guides because it helps make this place more interesting.
Continue reading at: Elephant sighting sends tourists into frenzy at Sepilok
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