Uncle Tan's Wildlife Camp A little minibus pulled up and we took the 1+1/2 hr drive to Uncle Tan's Camp Office, which was in the middle of nowhere and pretty derelict but the photos on the walls showed how intensely amazing the jungle was gona be- pics of elephants, insects, frogs, lizards- we all got a bit excited. We joined the 15 or so people already crammed in the small room- including a family of 4- 2 hippy-ish parents with mental kids. A boy aged 5, and a girl aged 8- at first they were oober hyper- zooming about the crammed space playing tig and knocking everything over- we were all thinking the same thing at that point- please don't turn out to be little brats. But I can sincerely say we were greatly mistaken. We were all briefed on what essentials we needed and what to expect. The camp had only recently been re-opened after a major flood so some of the jungle trails had been closed and all of the remaining ones were rivers of mud. So we were advised to go to the nearby supermarket and buy rubber shoes for RM5. I had my hiking boots with me but the guy said they'd end up getting completely trashed. There were posters on the wall of the room saying "This is not a holiday camp or hotel resort. It is Hardcore Borneo Style- the accommodation is basic.. etc" so we were sure we were up for an awesome time! I had already stocked up on a huge tub of Cadburys choc éclairs so handed the first round out, which was greatly appreciated. After a couple of hrs of hanging about, making sure we had everything, we loaded into separate minibuses and set off for the jungle. We were in a small minibus with the family and straight away Cathrine kicked up a fuss about the kids being with us. I was like- harsh- they turned out to be absolute LEGENDS- best behaved kids I've ever met. Took a couple of hours to reach the oober rural village situated on the Kinabatangan river (largest river in Sabah), where the boats were ready to take us off. As we lugged our hyuooge rucksacks off the bus, Lan (our rockin guide) was like- You're never gona be able to carry that into the camp- and I was just like "We're hardcore dude" and that stuck as the moto throughout the camp- "Hardcore". Once in the boats, we headed down the river for our first boat safari on our way to the camp. Straight away each guide (we had one per boat) were pointing out exotic rare birds, monkeys, lizards, even a croc. There were constant "Oos" and "Ahs" coming from the boat. Especially with a couple of bird watchers who were seriously OTT when they spotted the Hornbills- quite amusing. The safari was about 2 hours long and a bit painful on the derrière but worth it. We drew in at a shaky looking jetty with steps leading up to the jungle. I put my sexy head torch on as it was starting to get dark, and we hauled ourselves and our bags out of the boat. This was officially one of the funniest times on my Gap year so far- the trail leading to the camp was pure slimy squelchy mud up to our shins. Was absolutely hilarious wading through the extremely slidey mud, trying to keep our rubber shoes on our feet and balance our huge bags. The suction of the mud proved too much for the shoes, which were all soon disposed of or sucked off our feet in the mud- so it was bare feet from now on. Was so much fun wading through the squelchy mud and letting it ooze through our toes and up our legs- especially when we fell down exceptionally deep bits of the path and were muddified up to our thighs- was too funny. As well as the additional sound effects just made it banteriffic. Cause of the conditions and lots of unbalanced toppling over, it took us around 20mins to walk the short distance to base camp. We were designated a wooden frame hut with mattresses inside with big mozzie nets hung over- was so cool. We all shacked up in pairs- there were 6 of us at Uncle Tans- me, Aman, Kirsty, Sarah, Georgie and Catherine- as well as around 15 others. We washed our legs and various parts using water pumped from the river then headed to the main hut which was in complete darkness cos Lan was having trouble getting the generator started. We all had our torches on and I decided to start a sing song. We were thankfully provided with 2 guitars (although a bit bashed and missing strings) they were better than nothing! We started with some singing kettle songs for the kids. There was Kiera and Liam- both up for singing and strumming along quite happily. We had a look at some of the countless books on wildlife sprawled out and came across a gruesome Man-eating Croc book. There were mingin detailed pics of the locals living next to Kinabatangan river, catching a huge croc, cutting it open and finding a young boy, dead, but intact except for his leg being munched off- was nasty. There were pics all around the walls of precious groups and loadsa pics of animals seen around the surrounding jungle. There was a hilarious pic of a Proboscis Monkey with it's bits clearly on show- male monkeys love to pose! We were then provided with typical Malay food but I delved in anyway cause I was ravenous. Discovered the yummiest thing ever ever- Nestle condensed milk on a spoon-mmm. The staff were amazing- we were told to make ourselves feel at home and invade the kitchen and take what we want, whenever we want- legendary- think I was the only person that actually followed thwem up on that offer though! We were then briefed on the itinerary- 1 night boat safari, morning boat safari, morning trek, afternoon boat safari, night trek, morning boat safari- so we were gona be knacked by the end of it! That evening we waded back through the banterous mud to reach the jetty and head off on our night boat safari. Was soo hard to stay awake- kept finding myself being dug in the ribs when anything exciting came up. Even Liam and Kiera was lasting longer than me! We saw some owls, monkeys, birds- will list them all after. Highly amusing- Kirsty and Georgie were so excited to be so close to the long Tailed Makak monkeys but as they were looking up at them, they got peed and pood on- mwahaha! Once back at camp we were all scuppered, so listened to Lan on guitar for a bit, then headed straight for bed. Was so cool in our wee shack- especially by torch light. Next morning was a nastily early rise to make the morning safari before breakfast. Georgie managed to drag us all out of bed as well as having some monkeys hammering on our iron roof early in the morning. Again found it hard to stay awake- went prepared this time with a hoody to protect my bahookie from the hard seat. It started to rain a bit though so being the lovely person that I am, I sacrificed my cushion to Sarah, who had nothing to wear to hide from the rain. This boat safari was soo cool- we had Lan as our guide and he excitedly pointed out a couple of crocs and after zooming down the main river, he took us off into the mangroves- down narrow stream like inlets. Was like going on a little love cruise- had vines and trees and plants arched over us and monkeys hoping round and about. Lan nick named the proboscis monkeys as "Red Rocket" cause they were kinda ginger and they flew from tree to tree (these are the ugly geezers with long noses- look really cool though). We headed on through the mangroves, to an opening of water- like a little lake. Lan told us that in June last year, they witnessed 100 elephants coming to drink here and they celebrated with a huge party in camp. We were all obviously dying to get the chance to see the elephants and Lan told us that 3 had been spotted 6km upstream, but it was prob unlikely we would see them cause they were in an oil plantation and might not come down to the river to drink. The best season to see them in around July- gutted. Was so peaceful going through the mangroves and round the small lake with all the birds tweeting away and the leaves rustling. The monkeys often had little scraps on the waterfront though- was sooo funny!! We witnessed a little Makak being forced to walk the plank!! He was on a branch- and a nasty brute kept edging towards him with his big teeth bared and forced the other monkey to back up until it fell right of the branch, into the river- it looked like a drowned rat poor thing!! Was soo funny though! And when he dried off his coat was all cute and fuzzy. Each time Lan pulled in to look at something, we stayed there for a few mins to get some pics and watch them- especially the monkeys- which were highly amusing at times. After morning safari, we headed back for breakfast and I can't explain our delight to discover French toast, pancakes, noodles and fried bananas waiting for us. Was intense heaven- mmmm! Eggy bread and nestles condensed milk, after living off rice- was just too much to handle! We then split into groups and headed for our morning trek in the jungle. Liam and his dad stayed in camp, cause no wonder Liam was a bit worn out. We had Kiera and her mum in our group and quite a young guide- but he def knew his stuff! He could answer any question thrown at him and his English was perfect even though he only looked about 18. The trek was awesome!! We'd already met Mr Tractor Millipede since the day we arrived cause he liked to chill out in mud- which there was a lot off! Our instructor let us hold him and if you rubbed his back, he gave off an odor like Marzipan- yum. We continued to fin funky spiders (Wolf Spiders), which were intense and long legged spiders, which were a bit creepy cos there legs were about 50cm long, almost transparent but they had a big black body- Darren and Joe- wish you were there! We also spotted some scorpions and bull frogs (poisonous). Our guide showed us 3 different kinds of vine- spiral, straight and water vine. The water vine was groovy- if you're ever lost in the jungle- you can cut open the water vine and get fresh water, safe to drink. He could have cut it open to let us see, but didn't want to destroy the vine. Our guide carried a machete (Hamish would've love it) and cut down anything that got in our path (which was quite a lot, seeing as there had recently been a flood). We were still all in bare feet and we were warned about "Root Foot"- where the roots of trees can easily get caught under your toe nails and rip them off- nice. We often reached parts of the path submerged in water, thus found ourselves wading waste deep in murky brown water, with floating spiders, and god knows what else below us. We were warned to tread slowly and I was constantly on the lookout for snakes. Kiera was pretty deep in the water and loving it! The trek lasted around 2 hours and we headed back to camp via the thick mud trails to get some lunch. We had a long break where the guys (there were the guides, Liam, his dad, 2 Swedes, a guy from Denmark I think and a Japanese group) played some footy on the small dusty volleyball court they had in camp. A wild boar entertained us for a while as he came in for a little roll in the mud. Lan asked if we wanted to go for a swim in the inlet to the river, which was directly in front of camp- I said I was def up for it, but we had a bit of a downpour and it never happened . We mostly chilled in the hammocks provided, played some cards and I went to the kitchen to make some eggy bread- mmm. In our shacks,. We had wooden storage chests to put any food in to protect it from the rats or monkeys- but I soon discovered that my cereal bars that I put in there had been well and truly munched- by lizards I think. We had been warned over and over again to lock the doors to our huts, cause the monkeys come into camp and steal anything and everything they can, but the Japanese group seemed to ignore this advice- so when a dominant male Makak came into camp- he headed directly for their hut, nicking, luckily, only food. Was highly amusing. That afternoon we headed out on another boat safari- similar to the others- more in the mangroves. A new group arrived on camp and we welcomed them with a game of cards and a chat. After the afternoon boat safari- we were all sat in the main hut (on stilts) waiting for dinner, when there was a loud creak and the hut shook and the part of the hut we were all sitting in distinctly fell about 2 feet. So we quickly made our way to the other side, as the guides fixed the stilts. As the new group was briefed, we had our dinner, ate loadsa condensed milk and chilled out. Sarah mentioned going to India in August at the end of her Gap year and I thought- what a fab idea- so I'm looking in to going with her for a couple of weeks- would be amazing. That night we had to physically drag Sarah on the night safari- she was having none of it and wanted to stay and play cards. She was thankful though cause we saw some awesome things. Loadsa frogs, spiders, scorpions, but best off all- bearing in mind it was pitch dark- we saw a set of eyes in the bushes. Was a typical "Disney" moment- like in Snow White where there are scary eyes in the dark. We followed it, and turned out to be a wild Malay Civet Cat (like a little leopard/ beaver)- was soo cool! It walked straight past us- didn't seem to mind us being there. I could see loadsa neon blue lights coming from the ground and on the trees and I though they must be frogs- but unfortunately I investigated one and it turned out to be one of those long legged spiders- they were absolutely everywhere. Noone else seemed to see the neon blue though. Wading through the water in the dark wasn't exactly a pleasant experience but quite exiting- was loving the night trek! As you can imagine, we were knaked after all of our escapades- still had the energy for a spoon full of nestles milk, then off to bed. After very little sleep and feeling quite mingin (no showers, shoes or proper toilet for ages) I tried to force everyone out of bed for the 6am morning safari. Most of them were having none of it. Only Georgie, Cathrine and I made it- and was well worth it. We saw some amazing crocs on the river side, sunbathing and some huge monitor lizards. Had another immense breakfast then Georgie, Sarah and I caked our faces in mud and took some pics. We got a few group photos with the guides etc, then all piled into the boats to head back. The boat ride back was amazing as well- saw loadsa crocs and our guide took the boat right up to him so we were like less that a meter away. Stayed for a few mins, then a crazy Swede behind me decided that the croc was boring just lying there in sun so he decided to put his hands in the croc infested water and splash him- the croc withstood this for a while but eventually got peed of and crashed into the water away from us. We all said bye to the family, as they were heading off to stay in a local village house as part of their holiday, then we saw Sarah off in a diff minibus cause she was heading to Sipidan to do her diving course, then we hit the road. Once at Uncle Tans office we walked to a nearby bus stop and hitched a ride on an oober snazzy express bus back to KK. We had a film to watch and everything. Not that that was a good thing since it showed a physco woman blow torching a man's head then scraping of his skin- wasn't exactly a great film. We saw some gorgeous scenery on the way back since we drove through the mountains in Ranau and past Mt Kinabalu. List of animals we saw at Uncle Tan's - Proboscus Monkey, Longtail Macaques, Silver leaf monkey, Oriental Pied Hornbill, Rinkel Hornbill-male and female, Asian black Hornbill, Common Sand Piper, Great Egrett, Oriental Darter (snakebird), Stalkbill Kingfisher, Blue-eared Kingfisher, Storm Stalk, White Bellide Fish Eagle, Crystade Serpent Eagle, Brehminykite Eagle, Monitor Lizards, Bearded Pig, Pacific Swallows, Green Pigeon, Green Imperial Pigeon, Rhinocerous Hornbill, Estuarine Crocodile, Wolf spider, Bull frogs, Fishing spider, Tractor Millipede, Whip Scorpion, Frilled Tree Frog, Mychroyla (tiny frogs), wooden nymph butterfly, Giant Squirrel, Flying Fox, Buffy-fish Owl, Malay Civet Cat and Eruasin Otters.