Friends in High Places-Vietnam

It was our first night in Cat Tien National park. CTNP is a large area of protected tropical rainforest located approximately 3 hours outside of Ho Chi Minh City, one of the largest cities in Viet Nam. While in the national park, we would visit a few places, however Bau Sau (also known as Crocodile Lake) was our primary attraction. That night, before the fun could even begin, Two VERY large spiders decided to make a home in our guest cabin. There was also a lovely frog my roommate and I decided to name Franklin. I was initially not a fan of the warm welcome from the wildlife of CTNP, but I find myself appreciating it in hindsight now that there is a considerable amount of space.

The following day I was surprised to find the lack of our house guests more unsettling than their presence.

After breakfast, accompanied by the gibbons winding duet, we boarded an open-trailer safari jeep and took off down the main road towards the trailhead for our hike. The ride there was one to set the mood for the day. Excitement and anticipation for what was ahead made the class chatter even over the loud engines and wind. 

Once we arrived at the trailhead, we marched off into the dense tree cover, split only by the 3ft path of volcanic stone harvested near by. The group was silent, trying to blend in with the ambient sound but the forest was alive around us. As wildlife began to relax at out presence, lower canopy would vibrate with life in a way that I had never experienced before. The biodiversity in just a small square of the forest was amazing. Where I have observed mostly pine trees and low-canopy bushes while hiking in the semi-aired climate of Colorado, it was almost overwhelming to take in the lush forest of CTNP without tripping over my own feet!

We continued to march on in a single file line, covered from head to toe in clothing in an effort to avoid the nontoxic blood-sucking leeches that quite literally would try to follow you. In that moment, I felt like an explorer. I was a woman on a mission and that mission was to sense everything this forest could offer, including the more than the occasional leech.

 Finally making it to Bau Sau, we broke through the tree cover to a plateau containing a large lake circled by tall, thick grasses. The ranger station that was perched on the very top of the hill overlooking the late was a large double-story observatory. Made entirely of old wood and lacking any windows, the interior of the station was completely open and lined with chairs for watching the birds and the Crocs in the area. Although the leeches were terrifying on our first few encounters, we took a moment in the ranger station to compare battle wounds in a quasi-symbolic way. Since this was collectively our first experience with tropical wildlife, there were many novel sensations that had to be verbally shared. As an even greater reward than the lack of leeches was the single chair at the highest point of the observatory. I climbed the winding steps at sat, watching several of the native bird species bounce around the closer clusters of grass.

Amongst it all, there was a small moment that has to be noted. A moment that changed my perspective on the importance of understanding the personal connections to the environment of which took place at the ranger station that day. Once we arrived having taken no more than a step on to the lower observation deck, our guide, who I wish admire to this day, made a mad dash for the pier that led out towards the water. Since it was the start of the wet season, the pier was not yet close enough to be of any use to the lake yet despite the lack of water in the immediate area, there was so much contentment in the way she looked out onto the grasslands. I couldn’t help but watch and wonder what she could be so quietly taking in. It was if I was sharing an intimate moment with someone who was exactly where she wanted to be, and be envious of her place at Bau Sau.