The Monkey Button...

We arrived at Rivertrees around midday, and were dropped outside the lounge by our driver. There we met Steve Chumbley, our ground operator. Steve, David, Catherine and I proceeded into the lounge where we were given a briefing on the facilities, meal times, etc., by the lodge staff, and David talked to us about various aspects of our itinerary, as well as the emergency evacuation insurance that was provided to us. After finishing our welcome drink, we were shown to our room so that we could get some rest and freshen up.

Before our escort left us alone, he cautioned us to never leave the door open. The reason was that the name of the lodge, Rivertrees, is very descriptive. It sits adjacent to a small stream with large trees on the banks, much like cottonwood trees populate streambanks in the US. These trees were home to monkeys.

A LOT of monkeys.

Leaving the door open would be an invitation to the curious creatures to visit, possibly pilfering interesting items. In the event we did wind up with monkeys in our room, we were cautioned not to try and shoo them out ourselves. First off, they're wild animals with sharp teeth. Second, they're faster than we are so evicting them might not be easy. In this event, we were told, we should use the monkey button.

Yes, the monkey button.

Pressing the button would quickly summon staff trained to deal with the interlopers. I think this was when it really struck me that we were more than ten thousand miles from home. In all my years, in all my travels, this is the first hotel room I ever stayed in that had a monkey button.

Thus cautioned, we were left to our own devices until dinnertime. This meant a shower and a nap. Oh, and a glorious few minutes with the first working flush toilet and sink we had seen since Istanbul.

We woke not long before dusk, which is always around 6 pm or so in this part of the world, and went out to check out the grounds (carefully closing the door!) and found David. We shared drinks with him, then had an excellent dinner and retired for the evening. It was now about 48 hours since we had left Seattle, with not a lot of sleep. Our bed was calling to us.