No crocodiles
“If anyone needs to go to the toilet, do it now. Our journey might take about five hours, depending on the river conditions and water level.
“The sampan driver has informed me that there is a possibi lity that the sampan would need to be pushed in certain areas where the water is shallow. This is because the drought just recently ended and our journey is rather long,” said Martin Jandom, the chairman of the Sarawak division of Mercy Malaysia.
Hearing this, some of the nonMercy Malaysia passengers started to become apprehensive.
They were thinking about crocodiles – the reptile that had become quite synonymous with Sarawak rivers.
Their anxiety was further compounded by the thought of travelling five hours in the narrow and long sampan, which could accommodate a maximum of five persons at a time.
Martin assured them that crocodiles were not inclined towards rivers with swift rapids like Sungai Mujok.
“However, there are other things that you need to be wary of.The thick surrounding jungle means that there are possibly venomous snakes in the water, as well as sharp and slippery rocks that could cause injury.
“That is why the sampan driver warned us against coming down to help with pushing the sampan when the time comes,” he explained.
We did have to stop and have the sampan pushed quite a few times. This delayed our journey considerably.
I rode with a fellow reporter from Harian Metro and the sampan we were in nearly capsized at a few of the rocky rapids we passed through.