KATIE

Well, we're now in the comfort of the lovely Traders Hotel in Kuala Lumpur on the last legs of our fantastic trip of a lifetime. I'm going to have to cast my mind back to when we did what and in what order, the last few days have been quite hectic!!

Having lazed around in the beautiful Tanjung Aru resort for a few days it was time once again to pack up the bags and move on - if a little (actually a lot) slower on my part, my legs are still aching even now, so 3 days ago when we left the resort I was still struggling to walk in a straight line let alone up and down stairs with a backpack.....

We took the quickest flight ever (25 mins in the air!) from KK to Sandakan where we were picked up by the entertaining Fabian, our guide for the next 3 days. First stop was the jetty where we clambered on board a small boat to make the hour's journey across to Turtle Island. To be honest I was just relieved not to fall down the steep stairs down to the jetty with my backpack and rucksack, nothing to hold onto and legs like jelly! One of the woman also on the trip was 3 months pregnant and suffering from terrible morning noon and night sickness and was terrified she'd be sick all the way - however, she didn't throw up and we arrived windswept but amazed at the beautiful sight of this remote island with the islands and border of the Philippines in the distance. The island is protected due to the endangered sea turtles that nest there and takes only 20 minutes to walk round (actually it was slightly less, we tested it).

We enjoyed a bit of sunbathing and snorkelling on the deserted beach, it truly is remote, before dinner and the evening activity of turtle watching and seeing baby turtles hatch if we were lucky. I have to say the snorkelling around the coral off the beach was actually better and clearer than the Barrier Reef!

Conservation groups stay on the island and due to the decreasing numbers and small area, the turtles are watched and when they come up to nest and lay their eggs they are measured, recorded and various statistics taken. When the turtles nest they go into a sort of trance, and it's only when they've entered this 'trance state' that the conservationists will approach and after a while will let groups like us come and watch the eggs being laid. You're only allowed to watch for about 5 mins and if the turtle stops laying eggs you have to immediately leave so as not to disturb them. I was concerned at first that we'd be disturbing and frightening the turtle by being there but I could see that the way it was done, was actually not worrying the turtle in the least and they make sure all lights are off, you can't use camera flashes etc and they move you the second the turtle stops laying. Also, you only see one turtle each night so it's not a big commercial tourism activity. It's allowed to help educate people about the turtles and their plight. The eggs are actually harvested from the nest and moved to nests in a hatching area slightly back from the beach. Again I was worried about this, particularly having learnt in Greece how important it is to allow the hatchlings to find their own way to the sea and I wasn't sure how the hatching was done. In fact, they are very careful to get the depth of the nest exactly right so that the baby turtles can hatch naturally and can find their way out of the sand (too deep and they wouldn't be able to crawl out, too shallow and the sun or predators would kill them). Once they hatch out they are brought to the beach and let loose on the sand to find their way to the sea. Again, we were allowed to watch one nest being released - they are so cute, absolutely tiny, wriggling their way at quite a speed like little wind up toys towards the sea!

Enough of turtles now, and the next morning it was an early start to head back to the jetty and a tour of Sandakan to see the Chinese temple and the war memorial to the 2800 POWs that died in the POW camp there. We spent quite a long time there reading the information and talking to Fabian who is quite knowledgeable. It's amazing that wherever you go in the world there will always be these memorials that hit you with how many lives have been lost in either wars or under regimes such as Pol Pot in Cambodia, and just how savage the human race can be to its own kind.

We arrived next at Sukau, at the Bukit Melapi Lodge where we were to stay the night and enjoy an afternoon river cruise to spot Proboscis Monkeys (only found in Borneo) and other wildlife if we were lucky. We were also treated to fantastic food, and we'll definitely be on diets when we get back after Xmas!! We saw loads of Proboscis monkeys, long tailed Macaques, Pig Tailed Macaques (just around the lodge) an Oriental Darter, a Monitor Lizard and a Rhinoceros Hornbill. It's great to see these monkeys and Macaques in the wild rather than holed up in a zoo or an enclosure somewhere, they are amazingly dextrous and the distance they swing and jump between trees is really something to see! Unfortunately we didn't see any of the wild Orang Utans that you can sometimes see.

Another early start in the morning and we visited the Orangutan rehabilitation sanctuary in Sepilok, we saw a great video which explained about the centre and their work and also how they rehabilitated the Orangutans so they could be re-introduced into the wild. They are truly beautiful creatures and just so human in their mannerisms and expressions. We were lucky to see the 2 week old baby and one that was a few months old with their mothers at the feeding platform, the first step to surviving in the wild for the Orangutans. They are gradually moved from being looked after by humans, to being moved further out into the jungle with less and less contact, and eventually none. A great place to visit and unfortunately the last of the main things on our trip, the rest is a couple of nights in cities and then home. I'd definitely recommend Borneo as a place to visit, particularly if you're interested in wildlife, and the people are great too!

JAMES

I can't believe our trip is nearly over! Feels like we have been away forever, but have had such a brilliant time I don't want it to end! And least of all, I don't want to go back to work. I have got very used to not having to think of anything more complicated than "Which country are we going to today?", "What time does the plane go?" and "Is it too early to have a cocktail yet?". But at least it will be lovely to see everyone over Christmas and New Year!

Anyway, had a fantastic last few days in Borneo, definitely wildlife orientated. I think Katie said everything that we did, so I won't repeat! I particularly enjoyed the time in the jungle. We stayed in a really nice lodge and saw a good amount of wildlife, including loads of monkeys. The locals probably wonder what all the fuss is about - monkeys are everywhere, and to the locals they are probably generally a bit of a nuisance, so why do Westerners fly half way round the world to have a look at them? It would probably be a bit like Asians flying to England by the plane load to come and see squirrels or cows or something??? Anyway, I thought they were quiet cool. The only disappointment was that we didn't see and Orang Utans in the wild, but at least we got to see them at the Sepilok rehab centre. They are so cool, so human like. Their facial expressions, the way they eat, the way they look at things. The dominant males are huge, apparently 4 times as strong as a human male (or probably 20 times stronger than me!). Was really cool!

One thing that really disappointed me though was the filthy state of the sea around Sandakan and on the way over to the Turtle Island. The problem lies with the fact that a good proportion of Sandakan's 350,000 inhabitants live in stilted house communities on the water's edge. The conditions are pretty slum-like, and the people have little or no inclination to look after the environment. Rubbish is simply tossed into the water, and as a result the whole bay is a soupy sludge with thousands of plastic bottles, carrier bags, packaging and other detritus floating on the surface. Not only does it look horrible, but it is such a threat to the wildlife. Turtles often mistake carrier bags for jellyfish, gobble them up and then die as the bags blocks their insides. And the stuff that doesn't get inadvertently eaten gets washed up on the beaches and, if nothing else, ruins what would otherwise beach little paradise islands. We really should make more of an effort not to use bags and buy endless bottles of drink, at home and more especially when travelling in places where the provisions are not there for people to dispose of rubbish properly. But even then it would just end up in a landfill, which isn't that much better. There is definitely a new year's resolution there for all of us!!

Now chilling out in a nice Club Suite in the Traders Hotel in KL, enjoying cocktails, big breakfasts and lazy lie-ins (too many days of getting up at 6am or earlier recently!). Probably going to do a bit of shopping later, maybe go to the cinema, and definitely go up the Twin (Petronas) Towers. Our hotel is right opposite them, our room looks out on them. They are mightily impressive, and were the tallest building in the world until 2004. They stand at 421m apparently, more than twice the height of Canary Wharf tower, but they will be dwarfed by the Burj Dubai when it is completed later this year. The final height of that skyscraper is a secret until completion, but it already stands at 700m, and will probably go over 850m when finished. Twice the height of the Petronas Towers!!!