BORNEO April 08, ParT 1
First of all, a little story about our flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Borneo. I (Leigh) had a little run-in with the a guy on the plane over, cos he would not turn off his phone. We were coming into land late at night during a thunder and lightning storm (which was very scary). Anyway, the cabin crew wouldn't do anything and just looked embarrassed and kept shrugging their shoulders, so I decided to tell him in no uncertain terms to turn the phone off. He ignored me anyway. When we got off the plane, this jerk (as we thought of him) was met by a large group of Soldiers who all stood to attention and saluted him! then a couple of important looking men stepped up to him and bowed - and we thought "Who IS this guy?!" It then turned out that he was staying at our hotel, so we asked one of the guys at the front door who he was, and he said "Oh, he is a very important man - the Chief Minster of Malaysia, a very powerful man in Malaysia" - and here I was, telling him off!! I had visions of being carted off to jail....which we thought was going to happen at immigration! Some idiot at Malaysian immigration way back when we got on the train from Singapore, had 'forgotten' to stamp our passports, and there was much discussion over whether we were able to come into Borneo. Luckily, a manager sorted it and stamped us in. Great start! Oh well, our holidays are never dull.
Well, we survived our four days in the jungle - just!
We stayed in 2 different 'resorts' - Sepilok Jungle Resort and Sepilok Nature Resort. The jungle resort was pretty basic, aimed more at backpackers than those after creature comforts (we had plenty of THOSE later on!) The rooms were sparse but had comfy beds and a TV, along with our own colony of ants. I suppose we WERE in the jungle, after all! The grounds were beautiful, well maintained in the midst of natural forest. Most importantly, it was just a 5 minute walk from the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre, the main reason for our journey there. Most orangutans ended up at the centre because of the forest being destroyed to make way for palm plantations, which often resulted in their mothers being killed, or because they'd been kept as pets (usually in small cages) and had grown too big. It can take 8 years to rehabilitate one orang. A LONG time. We got to see the orangutans up close and personal in their own habitiat....it was wonderful! We were no more than 20 feet from their feeding platform so had a great view. Every day at 10am and 3pm the staff at the centre would put food out on a platform for them. These orangs had been released back into a semi-wild environment but still needed dietary supplements to help them along. They would swing in, one after the other, on the ropes that had been strung between the trees in the surrounding jungle. The heat was stifling there, hardly any breeze to help cool us down. We weren't allowed any water either, as it could be dangerous for the orangs if they got hold of a plastic bottle. A worthwhile sacrifice for us to be able to see them like that. I could've cried!
As well as Orangutans, Borneo is the only place in the world where you will find the Proboscis monkey. They really are the strangest looking monkeys we have ever seen! We booked a trip to see them at the Labuk Bay Sanctuary, a short 25km drive away. Well, it was one hell of a journey! Turned out that the last 15 kms of the trip was through a palm plantation (boooooo), on an unsealed road usually used by heavy lorries and tractors. We were thrown about so much, it felt like being on a roller coaster for almost an hour. Luckily we were in a 4 wheel drive or we'd have had no wheels left by the end! The journey was worthwhile though, as we got to see a lot of monkeys, and very close up. There were 3 troops, totally around 75 monkeys in all. From tiny babies to the big dominant male, they were a sight to see. It was very peaceful too, a real glimpse of the jungle.
After 2 nights we moved on to the Nature Resort. This one was a lot more 'refined' than the Jungle Resort, with little luxuries like a kettle and a fridge in the detached chalet. Our chalet backed on to the rain forest that the Orangutans lived in, but sadly we didn't wake to see one sitting on the verandah! After checking in, we went back to the sanctuary for our last glimpse of the orangutans. Was sad to leave but I don't think there's any doubt that we'll be back some day.
We also went on a night jungle walk, which we thought wouldn't REALLY be the jungle, more of a well trodden path for soppy tourists. WRONG. We were handed torches (it was pitch black), and set off following our guide. As soon as we left the resort grounds, we were in the jungle. We walked through thick mud from the start and we knew then it weren't gonna be no picnic! The only thing to get any foothold on was tree roots, and if you felt yourself slip you daren't grab a tree to steady yourself! God only knows what we'd have grabbed hold of! One of the first things we saw was a Bay Owl, a very rare owl found only in Malaysia and Indonesia. It's strictly nocturnal and lives only in dense tropical jungles so is rarely seen. We thought our guide was going to have a heart attack, he was so excited! That owl was the only cute thing we saw...after this everything got a lot nastier! We saw deadly black scorpions, killers snakes and spiders that could paralyze you with one bite. And we thought this would be fun BECAUSE???? Too late to back out, we pushed on, trying to keep up with the speedy guide and ranger. They were scouting ahead looking for more creatures to scare us with (I swear they were having a laugh!). One bloke with us - there were 4 of us all together - turned up in shorts, t-shirt and open toe sandals. Several times I shone my torch on him to see leeches trying to attach thrmselves to him. Idiot! It was incredibly humid in the jungle, we felt like we were literally melting as we went. Wearing long trousers and a long sleeved top didn't help, but that was vital for the walk. The less of your body on show, the better! We saw a few frogs and millipedes along the way, as well as loads of leeches hanging off the leaves waiting for an unsuspecting victim. We made sure to stay well back. The walk lasted around an hour but it seemed like it was over in 15 minutes. We actually really enjoyed it! we headed over to get some dinner, and it was there I made my discovery. Yep, all my taking care and covering up meant nothing...2 leeches had somehow crawled up my trousers (by the waistband, not the leg), got under my top, and sunk their jaws into my side/back for a feasting session on my blood! I never saw them, just felt them with my hand when I went to pull my top down a bit. Just the thought of them there is enough to make you go ewww, trust me! Luckily out guide was still around so I went to get him to remove them. He took great joy in telling me there were 2 sucking my blood! He finally got them off - I still wouldn't look - then told me the wounds would probably bleed til morning, Great. I actually had 3 wounds as one of them had feasted in 2 different places. Greedy git. Luckily we had a first aid kit with us so Mary got the plasters out to cover them. As we said earlier, our holidays are never dull! That evening, we found a large Gecko (about a foot long) had made our bathroom his home. He must've been there for a while cos it STUNK to high heaven in there. Trust me, Gecko pee and pooh is NOT a pleasant aroma! We hardly slept a wink that night, thinking about blood sucking leeches and big lizards invading our bathroom. Despite all that, we thoroughly enjoyed our short stay in the Sepilok area and can't wait to go back one day.
Next stop was the capital. Kota Kinabalu. We were staying here for the next 9 nights, just chilling out and doing pretty much nothing.
Go to Borneo Part two.....
