Borneo

Flying to Borneo filled us with a sense of anticipation as we looked forward to being beside the sea after the month so far away in the mountains. Gurang (Mt.) Kinabalu was our first adventure, with the summit at over 4,000 m we hoped to retain our altitude acclimatisation painfully acquired in the Himalaya. After a long climb to the overnight rest house, we commenced our final summit attempt at 3am the following morning. As we climbed we were dismayed to encounter freezing wind and heavy rain, making the experience somewhat nightmarish. The route involved climbing steep sections of wooden stairs and hauling ourselves up fixed ropes on the bare granite faces. Fortunately we had researched the climb and had carried hats and gloves as well as warm clothes and wet weather gear. Many others turned back but trudging on we were rewarded with clearing skies at daybreak. What a vista! Cold but happy faced the long haul down to base, aching legs as the descent was much harder.

Onward to Semporna and the Celebes Sea, and our next adventure diving from a converted oil rig. Our favourite was Sipidan of course, everything it had been cracked up to be. Turtles, reef sharks, swirling schools of barracuda and jackfish as well as long streams of bumphead parrot fish filing past at dawn as if commuters on their way to work. Of the great variety of tropical reef inhabitants our favourites were the mandarin fish, gaudy nudibrancs, scorpion leaf fish and large camo crocodile fish. With so much to see, each dive would reward us with new species and always there were always turtles cruising past to entertain. After five days of sucking bottled air we rested on a water village backpackers, snorkling and swimming.

After the sea we headed inland to the jungle. We weren’t going to but…couldn’t resist a visit to the Danum Valley despite the price tag – there will be big ‘pay later’ thrills for our bank. Beautifully holistic experience – the resort was sensitively designed for the environment with chalets nestled in the rainforest. Staff treated us like the royals – cooled flannels, memorised our names, kept asking us if we were happy; it was a bit overwhelming. Our guide took us off morning, noon and night walks to the thick forest surrounding the lodge. We had to take care of the tiger leeches, trousers tucked into our sox, stopping regularly for leech inspection. They still got through although we didn’t get bitten, several times we found them attached to our sox and boots at the end of the walk. The highlight was seeing Jack the orang-utan. A local adult male, he put on a good show – breaking off huge branches and throwing them down the tree to display his strength. He was watching us as much as we did him before climbing up and away to the canopy and out of sight. Breathtaking – his size, at 20 years not even fully grown he was muscular and the red coat made him a handsome lad. Other animals we saw were the tiny mouse deer, sambar deer, hornbills and huge insects. We woke each morning to the loud whooping of the gibbons and the deafening bird chorus in the misty tree tops. We sat on the deck of the lodge restaurant looking over the river eating our meals - the food was sensational.

Onward again to Sandakan where we were lucky to get a trip to Turtle Island Marine Sanctuary. A day snorkelling on a beautiful island, evening meal, and then the call at 8.32pm to come quickly! The first turtle of the night was ashore laying its eggs in a hole scooped in the sand it had created. We were allowed a quick look then watched the ranger transfer the eggs (87) to an incubation enclosure where the eggs could develop undisturbed. Finally we watched newly hatched turtles being released into the sea, completing the circle. Thirty years before they come back to lay their eggs, we wished them safe travels.

Next was the obligatory visit to Sepilok Orang-utan Rehab centre. Poaching, deforestation and the encroachment of oil palm plantations has fragmented the orang-utan habitat and young orang-utans are orphaned or captured for the “pet trade”. The lucky ones are brought to Sepilok where rangers try to rehabilitate them so they can survive in the wild. Unfortunately some are well accustomed to humans. As they get bigger they can become dangerous as they are extremely strong and intelligent as we can well attest.