boarding the riverboat

We stepped out of the 4-wheel drive jungle bus onto the muddy banks of Australia’s Daintree River.  Picking our way through the mud and across the makeshift plank path near the water’s edge, we boarded the waiting river boat perched stern end up on the riverbank.

bird on the riverbank

Once the entire busload of people climbed on board (and thus became a boatload of people) the boat left the shore and proceeded down the river.  All eyes watched the riverbanks, looking for any sign of the many creatures dwelling there.

bats take flight

Not all bats live in caves, we discovered.  Several trees came to life as the colony of sleeping bats left their upside down perches on the branches and took flight, disturbed by the noise of our boat.  They must have quite a hard time getting a good day’s sleep as ours was not the only riverboat cruising the Daintree River.

row of frogs on a branch

Farther downstream we found a tree full of frogs.  Not little ones like the Pacific tree frogs we see at home.  Pretty big for frogs.  I didn’t know tree frogs got that big.  We learn all sorts of things while traveling.

freshwater crocodile

Here and there along the banks we saw lots of juvenile crocodiles.  Even adult fresh water crocs are not as big or fierce as the saltwater crocs.  Of course we did not see any of them along the banks of a river.

ferry at the dock on the Daintree River

A small primitive ferry crossed the river on cables.  We had crossed the river on that ferry earlier in the day on the jungle bus rainforest tour.  Now we passed under the cables.

leaving the riverboat cruise

When the ride ended, the boat docked near a steep bank.