Nesting Bird Colony - Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary

Another view of the birds nesting in groups on half flooded trees.

Oriental Darters at the Nest - Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary

Oriental darter feeding its chicks at the nest.

Nesting Bird Colony - Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary

Bird colony comprising mainly of darters and cormorans nesting on half flooded tree at the sanctuary.

Asian Openbill - Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary

The Asian Openbills is another species that can be easily spoted in the reserve.

Oriental Darter - Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary

Oriental Darters are common sights in the Prek Toal Bird Sanctuary.

To avoid carrying too much weight during the trip, the longest focal lens I had taken along was the 70-300mm VR. Used with a full frame camera, the reach was unfortunately not sufficient for bird photography...

Prek Toal Flooded Forest - Cambodia

The top of some trees as well as tall bushes can be seen above the water, mixing with floating aquatic plants.

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A typical floating garden complete with its roof providing just the right amount of shade for the growth of, in this case, some herbs used to spice up the regular meals. Old rice bags are used to retain the soil on top of a bed of bamboo sticks cut longitudinally.

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The long boats as seen above are used by fishermen during the fishing season (when the water start to receed).

While there are TV antennas on some of the houses, electricity is scarce and expensive as it is produced by fuel generator that are usually shared between a few families.

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Paddling at the first morning lights.

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The night had been short. After the Buddhist festival, the yougsters of the village gathered for some dancing and the loud music kept us awake till it stopped, around 2AM. It is then that most started returning back to their floating houses silently when paddling but the roar of some engines suprised us. The local gekoes were particularly loud too. Once all was finally silent, the rain started drumming on the tin roof and I could hear myself laughting loudly under my mosquito net. Satisfied that the roof was not leaking on us and the camera equipment, sleep caught up with us... till the roosters woke up... at the first lights!

Fantastic Sunset at Prek Toal - Cambodia

As it had been usual during our trip, a heavy tropical rain started to pour just when the sun was about to set. The resulting colours and spectacle were just fantastic. We happened to be in the observation tower of the Head Quarter of the Bird Sancturary (the tallest brick building of the village beside the cell antennas) while our guide was filling in the paperwork to enter the reserve the following day. With the swirling wind and the show in front of us, the challenges were to keep the camera lens free from water drops and remember to take some shots! What a closure for an amazing day.

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A girl on one of the decorated boats.

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We were greeted by an impromptu gymnastic performance!

TIP: When traveling to such destination, bring along bags of colourful balloons. They are lightweight, do not take any space and are great ice breakers with the kids (and their parents). The place is then filled with laughter and it is really heart warming to see all the children interacting and enjoying themselves. On the other hand and considering the state of local oral hygiene, I would not advise offering sweets.

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While the parents are occupied at the temple, the children play hide and seek on the raft that is used for recess by the primary school.

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Decorated boats anchored by the pagoda.

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Prior to entering the pagoda, it is customary to walk around it clockwise three times.

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It is a day where the community makes donations to the temple for its upkeep and for the construction of annexes. The amounts received from the different families are mentioned to all by loudspeaker during a part of the ceremony.

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We were lucky enough to arrive at the floating village the day of a Buddhist celebration. Some of the devotees made their way to the temple by boats decorated with Buddhist flags, umbrellas and other religious paraphernalia.

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Her face brightened when her little (well fed!) brother came back home on her mum's boat. It was with a lot of pride that she presented him to us.