Cambodia 10/2009

[jimoo]

So, I spent 2 weeks in Cambodia in mid October. My main goal was herp photography, but of course I'm opportunistic. I have to say, I didn't find the trip "fun", but it was very educational. I can get into that later, maybe.

As part of it I went to Chi Phat. A small village I had to take a boat to in SW Cambodia. There is a new start up (With the help of an NGO) community ecotourism project. From the log book it appears I'm one of the first couple of hundred (and the first dozen American) visitors to the project.

I did a 3 day, 2 night outing in the jungle. It wasn't what i dreamed (I dream big) and I didn't see what I hoped, but I have lofty expectations, and the further I get away from things the more I realize the stories and experiences are better than the photos I really dreamed of getting (I'm telling myself this). I had two former poacher/logger turned guides as companions, and the first night we stopped at a stream. The "porter" that spoke no English laid out some lines over night for the morning breakfast. Three catfish and a prawn was his take, I thought some here might enjoy the catfish photos... I'm still working on the images. I take slide film, so I'm still developing and scanning the results... If people are interested in habitat photos, etc, pls let me know... kicked myself for losing the dip net so early...

I also have some photos of Phnom Phen food markets, which I'll add...

[Shane]

I for one would love to see your photos.
-Shane

[Dave Rinaldo]

If people are interested in habitat photos, etc, pls let me know..

.

I'd love to see more pics

[worton[pl]]

Yup, same here. I would love to see this photos

[jimoo]

Ok, I will focus on the habitat ones

for now, here is some PP market fish photos... snakeheads were most common, almost always alive at the market... Dried fish indoors were plentiful, mostly (I assume) from the Mekong

[jimoo]

Ok, so a few photos of the stream these catfish were from. The smaller eyed ones reminded me of Clarias type catfish, they were common in markets, any ideas? I really liked the other ones though, not very colorful, but reminded me of SA Pimodella / shovelnose... which is my favorite group.

I should have taken better notes, but the head/humidity hits me hard, and the leeches... dang, the leeches.

Anyway, the streams in this area really had no sediment substrate at all! Pure rock, slabs of bedrock, with some fissures that had maybe a little sand in them and aquatic plants growing from the cracks. Very very clear water. In this one I didn't see any catfish (except the ones caught overnight) but there were many schools of smaller fish that looked somewhat barb like... though again, I lost my net early.

Oh, location. This was about 20km wsw from what I can figure from Chi Phat, which is north of Andoung Tuek (2.5 hrs on cargo boat) on the Phreak Phiphot River. Southern Cardamon Mountains.

[jimoo]

[Silurus]

Your two catfish in question:

Clarias batrachus

Hemibagrus nemurus

[jimoo]

ha! So I was right on the clarias, thanks!

wow, that shovelnose type gets big! I don't think I saw any bigger than 15" the entire trip

the fishing pressure was intense though

I could go into my impressions of the trip, the dialogue (with the language barrier), if anyone wants to know... my last two overseas trips have been Belize and Costa Rica... this was very different experience wise... very educational / eye opening... by no means "fun"

[Silurus]

I was in Cambodia myself for 48 hours for an IUCN meeting, and the only fish I encountered was at the hotel buffet (OK, I also had a bunch of preserved catfish that another participant at the meeting handed me).
This is about the only picture I took, behind the hotel on the shores of the Tonle Sap/Mekong River). The Tonle Sap joins the Mekong at Phnom Penh, as evidenced by the different color of the water.

[jimoo]

few more, these are from the 2nd campsite on the Chi Phat hike

narrower, similar water, maybe a bit more stained, same rock bottom, mostly flat unbroken rocks, but the still pic is from a pool

this was on a large open outwash type area, clear signs of both fire coming through and flooding seasonally... many little pools with fish trapped in them, and along side them picture plants, all next to dry gravel and trees with burn marks