Malaysia > Bathing in the mud volcano

When I want to walk to the jetty for the boat trip to Snake Island, the monitor lizards are just being fed behind the kitchen. I quickly follow a small group of people to the back of the restaurant.

Malaysia - Pulau Kalampunian Damit or Snake Island is right next to Pulau Tiga off the coast of Borneo

A troop of fifteen monitor lizards has already gathered there. A lizard measures about two meters from head to tail. Regularly the lizards flick out their long blue tongues. One small lizard is less fortunate. It is seized by one of the other lizards. Monitor lizards, like many other lizards, are highly cannibalistic and don’t hesitate to eat their own young, Omar explains. A bizarre experience, seeing the lizard disappear into the forest with the youngster in its mouth. I walk to the jetty. With the speedboat we sail around the tip of the island. The water is much calmer than yesterday. Pulau Tiga looks beautiful in the sunlight.

Malaysia - Snorkeling above mostly dead coral in the South China Sea

In the distance, two smaller islands appear. The left and smaller one is Snake Island. The forested island measures at most a hundred by a hundred meters. The right island is an elongated sand island. I will go snorkeling there later. The boatman moors at Snake Island. Because of the swell, it is a bit tricky to step onto the stone jetty. The boat rocks considerably. I manage to get ashore safely. The crew is already searching for snakes. They don’t have to search long. Right between the stones, several sea snakes are resting. I try to take a picture through the gaps in the stones. One crew member doesn’t seem too concerned about these venomous creatures. He pulls a snake up to show me, carefully holding its head. The snake is about one and a half meters long. Without any trouble, he releases it again among the stones. With the boat, we sail to the other island. The sea is rather murky. Not the best conditions for snorkeling. Still, I put on my fins, adjust my snorkel, and wade into the seawater. In the first stretch, I mainly encounter seaweed. Further along, I swim above coral. Most of the coral has turned white and is dying.

Malaysia - A mud bath in the mud volcano on Pulau Tiga

Such a shame. Among the coral swim beautiful fish. I also see large, bright blue starfish on the seabed. By lunchtime, I am back on Pulau Tiga. In the afternoon, I follow the trail to the mud volcano on my own. The path to the mud volcano is easy to walk. Judging by the trail, it must be much more difficult in the rain. In various places, ropes are strung to use on slippery sections. Today I don’t need them. Pulau Tiga has three mud volcanoes (actually mud pools). Due to volcanic activity underground, warm water rises up and mixes with the clay. The pool measures ten by twenty meters and is filled with liquid clay. As soon as I step into the pool, I immediately feel the slippery clay all over me. I let myself fall backward and lie in the mass of clay up to my neck. Around me, the mud bubbles up with sulfur fumes. Fortunately, I had already packed all my belongings in a tightly knotted plastic bag. With dirty hands and covered in mud from head to toe, I walk the path back to the sea. It’s 1,100 meters. Along the way, the mud slowly dries and tightens on my skin. When I reach the sea, I take a dip in the water. I rinse the mud off me. After washing away the worst of it, I walk to the beach shower, where I scrub off the last bits of mud. In the late afternoon, it begins to rain. I sit comfortably on the veranda of the restaurant. I drink a beer and look out over the sea.