We met up with the students for the ‘Reefs to Rainforest’ trip at noon on June 10th at the Phuket airport. Most of the participants were teachers who had either attended a workshop by Thom Henley or heard of him from those who had.

We met our guides A, Yo, Song, and, of course, Thom. Soon after meeting everyone, we loaded into our vans for the ride to Khao Sok National Park.

Khao Sok National Park is located on the Isthmus of Kra, which joins Thailand to Malaysia. The Park itself only spans 645.52 km2 but it lies contiguous with Klong Saen and Klong Nakha Wildlife Sanctuaries, thus giving 4000 km2 of total forest protection. Khao Sok displays features of both ‘Tropical Evergreen Forest’ and ‘True Rainforest’ as rainfalls every month of the year. The mega-diversity exhibited in the park is, no doubt, related to the more than 350 cm of rain it receives annually. It’s rough terrain has helped protect it form poaching, and it may well be one of the last safe havens for Asian elephants, tigers, banteng, leopards and guar.

As soon as we arrived, we unloaded our gear and tossed it into the long-tails. They were a blast to ride in and got us to our destination reliably. We were excited and eager. We didn’t know what to expect. Maybe we would see hornbills, mouse deer, tapirs, or perhaps, if we were extremely lucky we might spy a tiger.

We ferried across a seemingly never-ending lake that was flanked on all sides by horribly beautiful limestone cliffs. The cliffs rose to heights accessible only to gibbons, coucals and their brethren. Cycads, whose relatives shared the planet with dinosaurs, clung to the sheer walls. Euphorbia, a cactus-looking plant, with its prickly spines reaching out over the lake was obvious and intoxicating.

By the time we had gotten close to our destination dusk was creeping in and a lot of nocturnal critters were waking up. We decided to stay on the lake a while longer and witness the flying foxes nightly exodus from treetops along the cliffs. It was amazing to see them circle about. They would rise up into the dark sky flying randomly until, as if on cue from some mysterious force, they would all take off at once in the same direction in search of fruits to feed on. Wave after wave left their roosts to circumvent a 20-30 kilometer route before returning home to roost. The distance between us masked their enormous size and 4-5 foot wingspan. Nevertheless, I was in awe!

By the time we arrived at our accommodation it was already quite dark. We had to unload and then get ready for a night safari by boat. We promptly dropped our stuff off and loaded back into the long-tails. We motored around the lake scouring the bank with torchlight. It was a quiet night, but we managed to spot a few mouse deer feeding by the shoreline. Their glowing eyes betrayed them as the light beamed bright from our boats.

Later on, after the night safari, I went up to the toilet and met a local! Fortunately for me, my new acquaintance was very patient and photogenic!

It was late by the time we finished dinner. Time for bed. Since it was dark when we arrived, we had only seen our raft houses from the inside. Even so, it was evident that we were sleeping on top of the water. Any slight motion of boats passing in the lake or people walking on the suspended walkway caused a wake that shook the platforms! But it wasn’t until the next morning, in full sunlight, as we sped away to hear the gibbons call that I could snap a photo of our homes!

Geetha and I had one of the houses on the end! It was great. I was in heaven. I’ve slept many nights on bare ground and our raft house was pure luxury compared to that!

The view from our raft house was amazing! We could literally step out the door and go swimming! And I did! What a great way to wake up in the morning or cool off in the afternoon