Encounters with the deadly snakes and other leisurely activities

Bintan Island is a short 55 minute ferry ride from Singapore. It's an idyllic spot (except for the prices!) and most people never even leave the resort. With beautiful beaches, a swim-up bar, waterslides and a kids club there is a lot of reasons to stay where you are. However we found we can only do so much relaxing by the pool in banana lounges so we signed up for the Mangrove Tour. Alice eagerly asked our guide, "Will we see snakes?" "Oh yes," he replied "lots of them." We all laughed... until we realised he was telling the truth. We were to look out for pythons, green snakes, Mangrove snakes and spitting cobras. The deadliest of these are the black and yellow Mangrove snake - if they bite you the venom reaches your heart in a minute. It wasn't long into the trip when we spotted our first Mangrove Snake. We got a really good view of it because the captain parked the our little dinghy right underneath it. The guide told us they are not dangerous during the day because they are asleep. "then why is it moving its head?" says the slightly-freaked-out Matthew. "That's because I'm shaking the branch a little and it can feel the vibrations," our guide explains. Yep, right, that makes sense. So we continue down through the mangroves which are dripping with deadly snakes and bizarrely enjoy the whole experience in the way one does a really scary rollercoaster. We were glad to disembark safely and head back to paradise.