Borneo

After a 45 minute delay we got our Air Asia flight from KL to Sandakan on the east coast of Malaysian Borneo. We checked in at the Mayfair Hotel which sounds a lot grander than it actually was. However for 50 ringgit (about 9 pounds) we had a clean room with air-con, our own bathroom, free Wi-Fi, a 32 inch flat screen TV and DVD player with free loan of up to 5 DVDs a night from a collection that puts Blockbusters to shame! All of this came courtesy of our host and proprietor Mr Lum who was an absolute legend!

The next morning we set out for the Sepilok Orang-utan rehabilitation centre. The centre helps to rehabilitate orphaned Orang-utans and then releases them back into the wild. It is also only one of four centres in the world like this. We arrived just as the heavens opened, so we got pretty wet as we walked along a boardwalk to the feeding stations where the apes sometimes return. Luckily for us the weather picked up and around 6 Orang-utans stopped by. We decided to stick around for the 3 o’clock feeding and again saw around 5 individuals. Laura took about 500 photos!!!

On the way back to the hotel we met an English couple who we spoke to for a while and decided that the next day we would try and go out to the Kinabatangan River for a river cruise to spot wildlife. After a short chat with Mr Lum back at the hotel he soon sorted it for us and the next day we had a taxi booked and itinerary planned!

In the morning we were picked up by Mr Wong (good friend of Mr Lum) and taken in his 4X4 to our first stop; the largest Chinese temple in Malaysia. Next we headed to a WW2 memorial site that commemorates the Australian and British soldiers that died as a result of the death marches and time in POW camps in Borneo. Stop number three saw us visit a rainforest centre where we walked a 1 ⅟₂ hour trail through the jungle. It was very humid and as a result very sweaty! After some lunch and an hour drive we got to the river and set off on our cruise. It was a great experience and we spotted Long-Tailed Macaques, Proboscis Monkeys, several bird species and amazingly 2 Orang-utans!!! It was a great day and in total cost us about £20 each!

The next morning Mr Chong (another friend of Mr Lum) took us to the bus terminal and we got a 6 hour bus journey to Kota Kinabalu. We passed Mount Kinabalu that was pretty spectacular and arrived at our destination around 6 o’clock. We found accommodation, had a walk around and then had a Pizza Hut because we could! In the morning we took a walk around the town and managed to find cover as a thunder storm began. The rain was unbelievable and we’d never seen anything like it. It lasted for about 3 hours in which time we bought an umbrella and explored the indoor markets. When the rain stopped we got a taxi to a bird reserve on the outskirts of the town and walked around spotting various species.

On Wednesday we awoke early and walked to the harbour where we hopped on a boat out to Manukan, one of the many islands just off the mainland. We did a rainforest walk where we got close to a big Monitor Lizard and large spider. The rest of the morning and early afternoon was spent snorkelling and sunbathing before returning at about 3.We had food that night with Will and Jo the English couple we had met then went to bed early as the next morning we were up at 5 to catch our flight back to mainland Malaysia.

Laura and Stani xxx