hello everybody, sorry for the long wait between journals...havn't been to an internet place so tough! Right, so I left off after the Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre... After that we went off to Uncle Tan's Wildlife Adventure thing and did some jungle trekking! Was very cool though we only got to stay one night as we had a flight to catch.. Here we saw LOADS of Long tailed Macaques, Crocodiles, Probiscus Monkies, Leopard cat (really cool) and Common Palm Civets...went on a night boat ride and an early morning boat ride to glimpse these guys and although we weren't as lucky as some it was still well worth it. We definately wanna go back there, the atmosphere was brilliant and all the guys that worked there were so enthusiastic still (though they must have done the same stuff a million times) and really friendly - definate recommendation. We were really sad to leave, but the trip must go on and so we left for Sandakan again. Spent one night here then the next morning off we flew to Tawau (done the bottom of sabah, near the Indonesian border)...spent one night here in an ok motel with no window but strangly it still had curtains - what's that about?! Anyway we were picked up the next morning (27th) very early 6am and taken off to the airport to pick up Jordan, new Canadian friend a.k.a new dive buddy! and then Semporna where we caught our little boat, guide Ron included, to the island of Mabul. Ron was rather amusing, every couple of seconds he would point to something on the horizon and tell us a fact...also told us how to breathe underwater! Yes, it can be done...too long to explain but for those curious enough explanations shall be given when asked... So we arrived on Mabul early, got settled, got debriefed and kitted up with all our gear and off we went for our first underwater exploration!! Our first trip was to Eel Garden, god it was good to be back diving. I didnt realise how much i missed it until i was back swimming with the fishes! I felt so at home it was great, and the scenery was amazing....saw a turtle straight away and needless to say there were a fair few eels too! After getting back to Mabul and having a spot of lunch off we went again to our next site - Lobster Wall...there were no lobsters. But again, it was really cool and saw a lot of stuff...fish everywhere!! After a good hearty meal and a restful night's sleep up we got and away we went to Sipadan. Now Sipadan is said to be one of the best places to dive in the world and whoever said that deserves an applause because it certainly didn't dissappoint. Leopard sharks, Turtles, White Tip Reef sharks by the dozen, Rays, Big fish, Little fish, Squid, Baracuda - Oh! The Baracuda! On our second dive in Sipadan we went to Baracuda point were usually there are shoals of hundreds of Baracuda swimming round and we found them and I swam through the middle of them and it was truely awesome. It was so unbelievable, a wall of fish every direction you turned! One of the best things ever - definately. Amazing. Then to top off a great morning on the way back to Mabul from Sipadan we saw Pilot Whales and there babies breaching and Dolphins! So cool, our guide told us that the whales were probably breaching because sharks were rounding them up! No wonder he wouldn't let us in the water! That afternoon we did another dive on the island of Kampalai (dont know the spelling), no trees on the island - just sand. Here we did wreck dives..pretty cool but couldnt really focus on the wrecks as the current was sooooo strong and i kept getting swept away from everything i wanted to look at!! Still, got a bit of drift diving in too (where you just let the current take you along)! After a night spent drinking with the boss of the resort and one of the divemasters Eljay and a great nights sleep! We sadly awoke to our last morning...we packed, showered and all too soon were speeding off back to the mainland. It was horrible to leave, i sooooo wanted to stay longer - it was awesome. I have plans to go back next year (naturally)!! xx