Island Safari

Our first full day in Koh Samui was spent on an "Island Safari" in Anthong National Marine Park. We were picked up bright and early in our own Safari truck and taken out to the pier where we would be joined by our guide and other tourists and loaded onto a speed boat!

Angthong Marine Park is 102 sq kilometers, made up of 42 limestone islands of all shapes and sizes and located in between Koh Samui and mainland Thailand. We spent the morning cruising through the park in awe of its beauty!

Monkey Rock

We made a few stops for snorkeling, where we saw some of the most beautiful fish I had ever seen! It was then time to go to an island in the middle of the park for some kayaking and lunch! We got chased in from the kayaks a little early by a surprise storm. Monsoon season had just arrived and we were lucky to have the dry weather as long as we did. So we ate our buffett lunch all huddled under the one small shack on the island and waited out the storm. Once it subsided, we were back on the boat and headed to Mae Koh Island. We climbed the dangerously steep and slippery stairs all the way to the top of the island to get an incredible view overlooking the park...

With our sweet tour guide



and a look down over the beautiful turquoise saltwater lake encompassed by limestone rock covered in limegreen foilage. It is said that this lake was the inspiration for "The Blue Lagoon" in the book The Beach, which was later turned into a movie, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.(more on that in blogs to come)

then it was time to head back to the island...

and head to the "Jungle" for an Elephant ride.

The elephant behind us handing us my sunglasses I had dropped!

Still dodging the rain and feeding our elephant some bananas!

our elephant "ride" wasn't exactly what we expected, and we both decided to go to a proper elephant reservation the next time we are in Thailand!

That concluded our Island Safari, and we were taken back to our hotel in our Safari mobile! That night we cleaned up and went out for a delicious dinner and wine and a great restaurant called Red Snapper.

Sooo happy to finally have some good wine!!

 

Too bad we didn't like it very much

and then went to meet up with Tom and Mitul for their last night in Koh Samui for some drinks and dancing!

Tom, Me, and Mitul at the Green Mango

Trying to teach Mitul how to "Flail"

Attempting the "Papa" one last time...