We arrived in Borneo to the bustling city of Kota Kinnabalu to explore what Sabah has to offer. Our flight arrived close to 1am so by the time we got bags, taxi'd to our guest house and settled in it was pretty late and we were excited for a good nights sleep. Our first memories of KK as we tried to wipe the cobwebs from our brain at 7am was why were we awake and then the reality of the Sunday market and the karoke singer with blaring music outside our window set in. A little early than expected but the market was quite the bustle of activity and a shock to the senses, with the sounds, smells and sights of the Malay market in full swing. We explored for the day, the city is set along the waterfront with a great green space nestling the city in. The wharf was fantastic, fishing boats and food stalls. The weather was hot and humid with 32 degrees and bright blue skies.
We then headed to Mount Kinabalu, but as we climbed in altitude the dark skies took offer and opened up to torrents of rain. We decided to just check out the moutain and were shocked to find the corporate conglamorate who had monopolized the mountain and was charging extortionist prices! Our guide book is 1.5 yrs old and prices are slightly off, but we were shocked to find that the prices had tripled and one tour company controlled it all. We debated making the summit attempt with a couple of Irish travellers in one day, but the mountain is steep, an uphill climb with lots of steps and most afternoons dumping torents of rain down. It is the wet season after all. There is never a guarantee for 360 perfect views from the top but a one day summit's odds were too high to try the summit as the clouds usually encompass the mountain by 10am. So we set off the next day for the east coast town of Sandakan.
The east coast is just entering rainy season, so we did see a lot of rain, but with the weather so warm, the rain is not so bad at all. We explored the town our first day and once again we were delighted by the warmth and openess of the Malay people. Hi's, waves and smiles constantly greeted us as we walked along. The fresh seafood on the coast was spectacular as well.
We visited Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. We were pleasantly surprised by the set up, there were no cages and fences, the Centre is set at the edge of a huge area of jungle that is home to many wild Orangutans and they work to slowly transition the Orangutans that come to the centre back into the wild. We walked the boardwalk trail and saw 3 Orangutans. I baby and 1 larger male. They swung through the trees while one hid out in a nest she had built to hide from the rain. They build multiple nests daily and their limber figures can contort into all sorts of shapes, 2 arms hanging with a back leg reaching up and behind to grab the branch - incredible. We were fairly close so we were really able to see their features. Greg and I set out for a hike through the jungle and though we were warned the trail was muddy, we were still surprised by the wet, muddy trail. Shockingly, even with our loud tramping through the woods as we fought not to slip and slide in the mud, we still caught glimpses of wildlife. We heard an Orangutan calling above us, but the elusive animal managed to stay hidden from view, although we saw the branchs shaking in his path. We saw a monkey running along the ground - although I just saw his little bum. The most prevalent wildlife would have to be the leeches. We were warned, we checked, we hiked and we flicked. I thought I should tuck in my tshirt to help prevent the little creatures from sucking my blood, but just after I did so my paranoid mind thought I should check my stomach, not so paranoid when I found my first leech stuck in my belly button. As we kept hiking, we saw them along the ground, picking up our scent with their heads swaying on the path. My next encounter was a leg shot which we quickly knocked off and as I looked up at Greg, I was greeted by a little fellow, head waving, right out of the middle of his neck - I have to tell you it was like a sci fi show! The birds kept up a constant song as we hiked until they were drowned out by the rain. On the way back we caught sight of the baby orangutan swinging through the trees!
Next we headed into the Jungle on a river tour and trek. We got to go out wildlife spotting each morning and night, treking in the day and night walks at night. We had 3 wild orangutan sightings. One was a huge male 50-60 years old with a huge ridge around his face. Greg caught site of him in the tree - he looked like a bear. He was munching on fruit and moving up the tree. As we watched for half an hour, he stood on branches that we were sure would snap under his weight and swung through the branches. Apparently many orangutans don't live to become too old because as they eat the fruits of the forest they eat some that cause them to become stoned and they then fall out of the trees! We also saw the Probiscus monkeys, the big males have huge noses and big bellies, they look like they are reclining in a lazy boy in the tree, feet stretched out. There was constant calls of birds, monekys and other animals. We saw lots of other monkeys, many kinds, fighting, jumping, swinging through the trees. They took enourmous leaps from high above and grabbed on for dear life as they fell through the branches. We got to be fairly close along the river. There were lots of cranes, kingfisher and hornbill birds each day with brillant colours and elegant flight.
Our first night walk, we saw lots of birds at eye level trying to sleep in the trees. We also came across a python not far from the path as we clustered around to take pictures we realized the massive length of him and he slithered up and along the tree and then towards us which was our cue to move on. On our trek in the jungle a couple minutes in we heard the trumpeting of a pygmy elephant and his growl. Apparently we had hiked to close and his growl - like a dog - is a sign of aggression. Our guide was ready to pack it in right then and there and literally ran in the other direction. After some time we convinced him to continue our jungle trek. The rains had already reeked havoc on the path, a thick trail of mud and loads of puddles. Greg and I had our hikers on, while everyone else wore rubber boots. In some places it was so deep the water threatened to spill over the sides of the rubber boots. We arrived at a shelter right before the torential downpour and the hike back left the puddles even bigger. As we headed back to camp we saw the big male orangutan and after watching him for some time we went to back the boat away from shore, just at that moment a mangrove snake (which we later found out was venomous) dropped into the front of the boat. The people at the front came piling to the back and the guide had to steer the boat to the side and we jumped out just as the snake slithered into the side and disappeared. We couldn't get him out so he pointed at Greg and told him to sit in the front and stamp on the snake if he appeared. He said not to be shy or afraid but be aggresive as he only had one chance! So with a trowel in hand Greg guarded us back to the shore.
We headed out to Scuba Dive in Sipidan Island. One of the worlds top dive sites and we now see why. The island is picture perfect and our first dive down, there were so many tropical fish, we didn't know where to look. A big school of jack fish - with huge eyes - swam just beside us - hundreds in the school. Then we came across another big school of baracudas, long and stripped swimming in a circle, creating a whirlpool effect. There were so many they blocked the view to the surface. It was like a dark cloud appeared over head. Then the dive instructor signaled shark and there laying on the sand was a meter or meter and a half white tipped reef shark, feet away from us. This was just the beginning though, we saw 30-40 sharks, as many as 7 or so at one time. At one pointed a swam over top of a shark, so close I could have reached out and touched him , gills heaving back and forth, tail swishing and the sucker fish attached to his head. To my left were two other sharks, one little guy and one about 2 meters long. Incredible to see.
Our second dive began before we even submerged. Waiting for the others to jump in we looked down to see a sea turtle just below us. As we started our dive we just kept coming across more turtles, some swimming overhead, some below, some resting on the coral. We saw little ones and big old ones. There mouths set in a grimace, their spots on their shells and faces showing their age. They swim so smoothly, floating through the water. We saw more sharks and so many colourful fish. Some had trailing tails that were vibrant blues, some had orange eyes and some had bright purple bodies with orange faces or black and white pokadots.
Our last dive we once again saw turtles right away. At one point we looked back and watched as a turtle swam right towards us, Greg put out his arm and he swam right underneath, he continued straight towards me, so I lay on my back and looked up as he swam less than a foot over top of me. AMAZING. In the distance a reef shark was watching! We dove down into turtle tomb, sadly a burial ground for turtles of sorts. The turtles swim in and sleep but then can't get back up for air in time. However as we swam along we saw many turtles sleeping on the coral. We even saw one turtle standing on his hind legs with two legs up on a mass of coral, letting the fish clean his belly. It was so comical to watch and we swam within feet of him. The turtles were at least one meter or so long and at least a meter wide. As we finished and took one last look down, the underwater world was teeming with life, the bright corals, a shark lay right below us and off to the side a turtle swam by. We constantly had to check our breathing to ensure that we were still breathing and to conserve our air as the sights were so incredible.
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