Not in our original agenda but with so many people raving about it we decided to change schedules slightly and pay a visit to Sabah before we fly in the Philippines (also an added extra). And it may have been a bit of a task (well concentration is something that James and I lack when there's beaches-a-calling!) but instantly our efforts were rewarded as we paid a visit to Sabah's Orangutan rehabilitation centre. The centre rescues little monkens (a James and Katie euphemism for monkeys!) who have lost their parents and gives them the tools they need to return to the wild. It was simply amazing witnessing our closest cousins in action and it really bought home how important it is to help these monkens that are 97% genetically the same as humans. (And I can tell you that working it the beehive you meet people whose genetic make-up is even less than this!!) Whilst here we stayed at a gorgeous nature lodge set in the jungle in the thick of the rainforest action - very tranquil you might think? Well James' hidden agenda to kidnap a telly for the Liverpool match soon displaced the 'natural sounds of wildlife' as we ranted and raved at the tops of our voices! And from the playful antics of the orangutans we made our way to the picture-postcard-perfect island of Sipandan with its dive sight rated as THE top in the world we were in for a real treat. We were told that we would see turtles but nothing prepared us for this amazing underwater world! Not only were we swimming with hundreds of turtles that swam right underneath us to go to the surface for breathe and let us touch them. It was breathtaking! We were so taken by this ancient creatures of the see we almost missed the swarm of sharks that circled us, the crowd of hundreds of tunas and barracudas that were bigger than us, and the great coral around us! This really was the highlight of our adventure. As the marine life around the island is so special the area is conserved so our only option was to stay at a neighboring island for the night. Mabul Island's accommodation was way over our lowly backpackers' budget so we decided to rough it in a hammock among the coconut trees for a few days. That was before we abandoned ship! Once on the island we discovered that we weren't the only ones with this idea. It seemed that we weren't the only ones with this idea. It seemed as though half of the Philippians had descended onto this miniature island and set up shacks - well everywhere! This place had gone from Mabul to Kabul! Never before had we seen the stark contrast between the ultra plush 5 star resorts and the dilapidated shacks teaming with thousands of immigrant kids, dirt substituting clothing and begging for our food! And where did this leave us?! Literally high and dry and without a minutes shut eye! And our dream to relive Swiss Family Robinson turned into the reliving of Billy Connolly's Travels to Rwanda! If only these resorts were giving something back to the community - namely family planning!! On our boat ride to the mainland the following day we passed loads of paradise islands screaming out for a couple of Ray Meyer's fans to climb aboard - this got us thinking... Why not find another piece of paradise to call our own?! Well that is where we find ourselves now; off on a camping expedition to a real life empty island where we shall pitch tent, cook marshmallows over the bonfire and relax! We have our big old mountain climb after so we thought a healthy dose of nothingness was just what the doctor ordered... Missing you lots like jelly tots!! xxx