Fear the Monitor Lizard

Today marks the last day of Adventure Tour Thailand 2005. I booked in for my last kayaking trip - through the canyons and mangroves of Ao Thalane. It came highly recommended by a former tour guide I met in Ton Sai. Unfortunately it started raining about 10:00 last night and still hasn't stopped. Plus the tides are particularly bad at this time of the month so large parts of the mangrove forest were inaccessible. The guide on Ton Sai warned me of this.

Anyway we set out for our paddle (with an ex St. Lauries guy who now lives in Tarragindi) and did indeed do the canyon which was breathtaking. Unfortunately it was pissing down so my photos probably wont turn out so well. The canyon stands about 150 metres tall and the mangrove stream meanders through it ballooning out into beautiful basins from time to time. The cliffs are covered with lush green tropical trees and mist.

On the way back we stopped off to look at a sandbar holding literally several hundred star fish and then later in the afternoon I spotted an elusive monitor lizard. Kind of similar to goannas, the Thais are quite afraid of these carnivores.

And with that dramatic full stop the adrenalin charged days of Adventure Tour Thailand came to a close. The final scorecard stands: White water rafting - 1, Sea Kayaking - 3, Mountain Biking - 1, Rock Climbing - 1. I guess elephant riding and snorkelling, especially when you don't see sharks, don't really count.