Sepilok Jan 6 to 9

The manager of the Bilit Rainforest Lodge drove us to our next port of call - Sandakan - so our days of catching the public minibuses were thankfully over. We arrived maybe 5 kms from Sepilok, in a private park up a hill to a wooden shack, the restaurant of our hostel called Paganakan Dii. Nick looked downcast and concerned at this stage, wondering what our room would be like.....

Paganakan Dii is a hostel comprising 6 chalets and 2 longhouses built of wood and recycled materials (the wash basin in our outdoor bathroom was an old wok!) in a forest retreat around 5kms from Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. It has its own cafe and a place to relax. Nick's concerns were unfounded as we launched ourselves into a delicious lunch on the verandah with a cool breeze.Our chalet was built of wood and instead of windows the doors just slid open exposing our little room to the elements and our neighbours - a cute little tree squirrel that looked like a chipmunk. The bathroom was outdoors and very spacious and it was cool at night negating the need for any AC.

We spent most of the afternoon trying to work out the last week of our trip as we had decided to leave Borneo early on account of Nick's foot hurting him and rendering him incapable of much more trekking so we opted for some R and R either on a Malaysian island or Thailand.

The following day we visited the Sepilok Rehabilitation centre, Borneo's first orangutan rehabilitation centre that rescues orangutans orphaned due to logging (and the creation of palm oil plantations), ensures their good health and then rehabilitates them over a period of 2 to 3 years into the Sepilok Jungle - a nature reserve. The public gets the opportunity to see these orangutans at the second stage of their rehabilitation at one of the feeding platforms where they come to have part of their diet supplemented by milk and fruit (generally bananas). Most of the young o'tans like to stay close to these platforms within the first 6 months of their release into Sepilok. When we arrived a 4 year old was already waiting for his breakfast, some 30 min early, and started swinging about on the ropes as if he was performing for us. When the keepers arrived he did not hesitate and dived his head straight into the bucket of bananas! The Centre was extremely informative and not too touristy which was good to see and we felt angry at the Malaysian government's raping and pillaging of Sabah - it has effectively stolen its wood, and its land to plant palm oil palms, with little revenue going back into the beautiful state. Tourism is helping but the primary rainforest is now scarce with wildlife even scarcer.

After a break of coconut juice and bananas for ourselves we headed to the Rainforest Discovery Centre to learn more about Borneo's flora and walk the high canopy walk. The Centre is a little treasure trove of butterflies as well as stunning plant life and sometimes o'tans have been seen on the canopy walk itself.

On our last day we went to the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary, a privately owned affair. To our horror we discovered that it was in fact owned by palm oil plantation owner who created the sanctuary as he was busily tearing down the monkeys habitat. However, it was better than doing nothing and we enjoyed getting the close-up experience of these proboscis monkey families and bachelor groups. We also had the opportunity to play with some silver leaf monkeys who scurried around us in the cafe.

We enjoyed our stay at Sepilok and Paganakan Dii as it was truly relaxing, not too frantic or commercial.

Danum Valley and Sungai Kinabatangan Jan 3 to 6

As SKDR disappeared over the horizon our minds moved to our next port of call - this was Danum Valley Field Centre. A research centre located deep in the Borneo primary rainforest - one of the last remaining untouched areas of Borneo jungle. Unfortunately, palm oil plantations and rapacious logging have dealt a death blow to much of the primary rainforest.

To get there we took a mini bus to Lahad Datu, a revolting port town where we overnighted prior to being picked up by our guide the next morning. A 3 hour drive through the jungle and into the protected area of Danum where the accommodation appeared unchanged since the 1950’s, slow ceiling fans, wicker furniture and deep verandahs overlooking the dense jungle. The temperature was in the 30’s and humidity in the 90’s.

We set off on our first trek after lunch and much to our delight we saw 4 wild orangutans feasting in a fig tree high up in the branches. They appear to be very gentle creatures interested in eating and sleeping. That evening we went for a night drive and saw a Bear Cat, several Thomas flying squirrels, sleeping birds, Malay Civet , Sambar deer, and a wild roosting chicken(he was livid having been woken up).

The following day we did a 4 hour trek to the Tembling waterfall where we had a much needed swim! It was just like the old ads for alpine cigarettes. We avoided most of the leeches (although the little buggers certainly bite) and enjoyed the sounds of the rainforest, which changed as the day drew on...gibbons became birds which became crickets which became geckos and then frogs.... That afternoon we returned to the fig tree and saw another 2 wild Orangutans - this time a mother and her tiny baby peering out from under her hairy orange armpit (must be German). We were also treated to the sight of a red leaf monkey with his peculiar clueless face and the commonly spotted pig tail and long tail macaques.

Looking out over breakfast the next day we were visited by a gibbon high in the tree tops, circling around the flowers and shrubs of the veranda a Wood Nymph, a beautifully elegant butterfly about the size of a sparrow.

That evening Nikki did a night walk with the guide and spotted cricket frogs, file eared frogs and other creepy crawlies that only come out at night...not Nikki!

The 3 hour trip back to Lahad Datu was uneventful and we then caught another mini bus which dropped us off at a roundabout in the middle of nowhere where we were to be picked up by the Bilit Rainforest Lodge at Sungai Kinabatangan. We were relieved as we were hailed by the pickup driver after lugging our backpacks and a bag of dive equipment 100m up the road. A 45 min drive and a river crossing later we arrived at our overnight lodging.

Our purpose was to take two Kinabatangan river trips - one in the evening and one in the early morning in the hope of seeing bird life, orangutans and proboscis monkeys. We were not disappointed. The latter are strange to look at with their large protruding noses. The dominant male has a particularly large one which grows even larger once he becomes the group leader (a bit like CEOs’ bellies). The O’tans had once again, much to our delight, found a juicy fig tree where they were clearly planning to stay for a few days with the whole family. We also saw two gorgeous helmeted hornbills at sunset and some pied ones at sunrise.

The river trip in the evening was a mix of tranquility and intense anxiety. The river was serpentine with sand banks and many semi submerged logs jiggling in the current. As the sun set and silhouetted trees were the only thing to see the driver got out his hand torch and with a flickering yellow beam he continued to speed and swerve his way down the river, missing huge logs and sand banks without a care in the world. Our fellow passenger an unlikely looking russian in a pith helmet and linen trousers (and a camera even bigger than those held by the Japanese which he poked into everyone's face!) was beside himself.

Diving in Sipadan Dec 29 to Jan 2

After saying our good byes to Chris and Lones we left early in the morning for Semporna (south east Sabah), catching a stunning birds eye view of Mount Kinabalu from the aeroplane. By 10.30am we had arrived, via plane, minibus and speedboat, to our diving destination of Sipadan Kapalai, greeted to a delicious breakfast. And by noon we were in the water doing our orientation dive around the resort’s own dive site – Mandarin Village – which consisted of little wooden houses inhabited by lots of sleeping fish, including clown frog fish (a fish that has fins like claws to grip the coral) and lion fish.

We were staying at Sipadan Kapalai Dive Resort which consisted of 60 beautifully crafted wooden chalets on stilts in the azure sea. It is on Kapalai Island which is a sand bank in the middle of the Celebes Sea, some 45 minutes from the mainland and part of the Tun Sakaran Marine Park, which includes Sipadan Island, one of the top ten dive sites in the world. In our rooms all we could hear was the lapping of the sea against the stilts and all we could was the deep blue – except for turtles and rays which sometimes came to play during low tide. We were served 3 delicious meals a day and there were snacks on tap so that we were never hungry after 3 or 4 dives a day.

The diving was varied – sometimes reef and sometimes muck - as we went to different dive sites each time. If you haven’t tried scuba diving it is a very special experience. The colour of the corals, and plant life are too rich to describe, the variety of micro life is fascinating with nudibranch, christmas tree worms (they live in coral and spring to life when you play with them), pipe fish, prawns, speckled rays and much more.

On a bigger scale in Sipadan itself, which comprised the most magnificent wall and cave dives, we were treated to the sight of many giant turtles, some snoozing in rock crevices and a group of 5 having a sleep over. We were overwhelmed by the sight of hundreds of steel coloured Jack Fish all about 2 feet in length all facing the same way and as a group they resembled blank faced commuters awaiting a train - after the electric colours it was a strange feeling of nihilism.

Unicorn fish pointed the way to the many juvenile white and black tipped sharks and a 500 fish shoal of barracuda while clown fish (Nemo) played in the anemones and moray eels guarded their dark kingdoms jealously. Drift diving is the best....a gentle current gently carries you along the face of the coral wall, no effort required just relax and look at the passing parade of marine life. Luckily, the dive sites form part of a marine park and the number of dives is strictly controlled. It was some of the best diving we had done and maybe some of the best we will ever do.

Our fellow divers were mainly Japanese, weighed down with huge underwater cameras and all the necessary lighting. The latter was great as they lit up the smallest creatures for us in their bid to get the best shot.

We celebrated New Year and were entertained by the staff to hilarious dancing and singing, Nikki came second in a solo “statue” dance competition and I failed to win the beer drinking race...you had to use a straw! We were both sad to leave SKDR on the second day of 2010 and still wish we had stayed an extra couple of days, promising each other that we will be back soon.

Borneo - Christmas in Kota Kinabalu

We passed through Dubai on our way to Singapore and although many friends had either left for good or the Christmas holidays we were lucky enough to see Mike and spend the evening with Jim, Kate and Mari-Ann. Dubai was nice and cool and no fuller or emptier than usual. JB and Fred – thank you again for looking after us.

The overnight flight to Singapore was horrible and we were very happy to fall into bed at a nice hotel that evening. The following day we spent a couple of hours shopping Changi, given we had managed to lose Chris and Lones’ Xmas present from South Africa in Dubai before our flight to Kota Kinabalu (the capital of Sabah, Borneo; pop 300,000).

We stayed at The Jesselton Hotel a friendly neo colonial hotel located in the middle of the town. Dinner was a simple affair as we headed for the central market and sampled chicken satay and mee goring from the food stalls for a mere USD 1 each. The KK market was a hive of activity with Filipino BBQ stalls where you could buy fresh grilled snapper, tiger prawns, tuna, calamari and crab accompanied with seaweed and rice. The wet fish stalls were just a stone’s throw away so we were pretty impressed with the supply chain. The vegetable and fruit stalls were just a 10 second walk further.

The next day was devoted to trip planning before we headed off to the Shangri-la Rasa Ria resort some 30 kms away. The date was 23 December. Luxurious towels, full pressure shower and a soft bed. We lounged on the edge of the beach and swam in the sea....within minutes I had been subjected to an unprovoked attack by sand flies...no bigger than a grain of sand they pack a mighty bite which only becomes apparent after an hour or so. I looked like the elephant man covered in large red welts which itched like fury....sympathy from Nikki but a secret relief they had chosen me not her. This favouritism has been a constant theme throughout Borneo, much to her amusement.

Much excitement that evening on the arrival of Chris and Ilona, we celebrated with an Indian curry.

The hotel has a Nature Reserve which works together with Sepilok (the world famous Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre). We were fortunate enough to witness the feeding of a couple of young O’tans. They are such a fascinating sight with their curiously expressive faces. It was horrendously hot so after a short while we sought refuge in the pool.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were spent quietly; it is just not the same being in a resort hotel in the tropics despite the Filipino cries of ‘Santa is coming!! Santa is coming!! However given we were in an essentially muslim country you had to applaud their efforts, especially those of Marwin who ensured our Xmas dinner table looked more festive than anyone else’s.

On Boxing Day we returned to the Jesselton in KK so explore the local area. We had been told (and had extensively read) about a wonderful regional market held each Sunday in a town about 70km away. Keen as beans off we went to find the minibus station in KK – nearly one hour later, rather hotter and more frustrated, we were still looking for it, having been passed from pillar to post by the locals. Eventually we caught the local KK bus only to end up at the minibus station a stone’s throw away from our hotel – the joys of foreign travel. We piled into the local minibus, paid our fares and when the bus was full it trundled its way, the hour to Kota Belud, passing by roadside shacks, chickens and cows under bus shelters.

We arrived to find a bit of a dump, but spirits still high we continued to look for the “tamu”...and of we went, down the road, up the hill, down the hill...to find a pretty ordinary market that sold clothes, some fish and fruit and was pretty much packing up. Now hot and bothered we returned up the hill, down the hill and up the road to the bus stop and, with Mission Tamu now firmly aborted, we hired a whole bus to take us back to KK, and the nice cold air-conditioning of an Italian restaurant!

The following day we attempted round 2 of side trips and got a boat across the bay to the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, a small group of protected islands where there is some good snorkelling and diving. Upon a local’s recommendation we chose Manukan Island. Underwater it was alive with many reef fish of all sizes, but little live coral, on the water it was awash with bobbing locals and Japanese tourists snorkelling with life vests on. We settled down on the beach and enjoyed the day sunbathing and playing with the fish. It was sad to see that local efforts to protect the area had not paid off, with too much dead coral, too many visitors (something that they should limit) and snorkelers using fins in shallow water.

Zululand and Jo'burg Dec 14 to 17

After 3 days superb diving, we headed off to the middle of Zululand to visit Graham and Janine –Dave’s cousin. It was quite an eventful road as we were stopped thrice by the police (obviously we were looking too local in our VW Chico!) and it poured with rain again – this wonderful Natal weather we had been used to - I don’t think we had seen the sun for nearly a week!

Janine and Graham live on a game farm (once a cattle farm) literally in the middle of Zululand, lush, green rolling hills on which many a battle had been fought against the British – to this day they are still finding battle relics. When we arrived we were not sure we got the right place (although the map was very accurate) and boldly, and somewhat foolishly, got out of the car to be greeted by “The General” - a huge South African breed of dog whose name I cannot remember.......luckily his guard dog skills had not quite been honed. Luckily Janine came to the rescue and soon we were having tea and biscuits in the farmhouse kitchen sheltered from the cold and damp. For two days we walked (in sunshine!) the farm, up to our waists with long grass and ticks, spotting wildebeest, zebra and various types of antelope, helped in the garden, caught our last glimpses of our favourite little weavers busily building and rebuilding their nests to perfection and enjoyed Janine and Graham’s stories and hospitality – we had a super time an were glad to be Janine’s third Australian visitors in the last 20 odd years.

Our final leg in South Africa - it was a long hard 7 hour slog to get to Jo’burg. We were relieved to get to that supposedly crime ridden city, which was smiling with its green tree scape and azure sky. We were greeted by a relaxed Peter and Eva who had just arrived from Dubai. They were staying at a friend’s house in Parkwood, which was an unusual 3 storey structure built on an old tennis court comprising showroom, office and home on the top floor. In true Peter and Eva style we were greeted with a glass of wine and three and a sumptuous BBQ, a couple of incontinent Yorkies and 3 cats. After much chat, much wine and too much food we wearily retired before 10 o’clock!

The next day we met Kendal, the elephant researcher from Addo, and visited the Apartheid Museum – an education to us all and a shock that such an inhumane segregation system could be born after the Second World War, and that the world chose to do nothing about it until the 80s!!!. Nelson Mandela was, for me, an even greater man when I walked out than when I walked in. Emotionally tired we only managed lunch (with face painting!) and craft shopping in the afternoon before we headed out to dinner qith Peter and Eva. Dinner was in a chic restaurant in a residential area just up the road that resembled Primrose Hill or Melbourne in summer – outdoor seating, a mixed trendy crowd. Where was this horrid dangerous Jo’burg that everyone warned us about where you got car-jacked or held up at gun point? We are sure it exists but not in the streets that we saw (and we did not just see Parkwood!). I certainly decided that if one was to work in South Africa, Jo’burg is the place to be – it has a great vibe and somehow seemed a little more integrated – but then what can you base on one day!

St Lucia and Sodwana Dec 6 to 14

At the weekend we headed to Richards Bay, crawling through the KZN Midlands in driving rain and zero visibility, avoiding pedestrians, crossing cattle and oncoming cars trying to overtake. Elize’s brother Hendrik and mum, Oma, looked after us a treat and we were not allowed to leave for St Lucia without Hendrik’s prize Toyota Land cruiser- lucky us and thank you again Hendrik.

St Lucia is an estuarine village nestled in the south end of the St Lucia Wetlands Park, now renamed Isimangaliso by the new government as some money squandering pastime. St Lucia comprises the 3 freshwater lakes – St Lucia, Sibaya and Kosi Bay, with pristine beaches and dunes. It offers excellent fishing, bird watching and diving, with the odd hippo, croc and fish eagle thrown in. It was pronounced a World Heritage Site back in 1999, as it encompasses 5 different ecosystems and since then KZN Wildlife Parks have been restoring the area to its indigenous self – cutting down the old pine forest and allowing the plant life to run wild providing fodder for hippo, zebra, various antelope species, elephants and rhino, who in turn feed the odd leopard and croc. The village itself is simple housing thousands of Joburganian tourists in the summer months and 400 local inhabitants in the winter. It is not unusual to see hippos roaming the streets at night, window shopping, a sight we were treated to! As we were having two hippos ambled down the high street, browsing the window of a hardware store before heading off down a street called Hippo Hideaway – I kid you not!

From here we explored the local area for 4 days: spending a day at Cape Vidal, an untouched beach with some rock pools to snorkel in and surf to play in; an afternoon learning about the estuary and lake, bird and hippo watching; and a last rainy day at Hluhluwe-Imfolozi – South Africa’s oldest national park where the white and black rhino breeding program was started back in the 1950s. Somehow you never tire of seeking out and watching this amazing wildlife. In spite of the rain and low cloud we were treated to some beautiful bird-life, including a tawny eagle and guinea fowl chicks, a hyena lazing by the side of the road, baby wildebeest, impala, one of 100 red duiker and even wart ”hoglets”, in addition to a smattering of giraffe, antelope and of course rhino...what no elephants!

From St Lucia we ventured further north onto Sodwana Bay where we had planned 3 days of scuba diving. In spite of cloudy days we had relatively calm seas and good visibility – a blessing really as the sun would have been unforgiving had it been shining. The diving was a challenge at first especially for Nick as it was only his 10^th dive and he had never “drift dived” before. We were treated to beautiful reef fish, tree coral decked with a myriad of little red fish looking like a Christmas tree, dolphins dancing on the waves, plenty of moray eels, green and loggerhead turtles (one of whom chased me out of her cave!) and a manta ray gliding through the deepest blue - so graceful it was stunning to watch. Sadly on the second day after our third dive Nick suffered a small sinus problem that caused him to spit some blood so the dive shop, rather over-cautiously but quite correct, would not let him dive again until he had his chest checked out. The dive shop were great though and really looked after him.