Uncle Tan's

Friday --- Our Air Asia flight was scheduled to depart at 10:00 a.m. and of course we were running late. Luckily we had a taxi pre-booked and asked him to hurry to BKK. He said yes and was a speed racer! We got on the freeway and zoomed past every car on the road. It was impressive. Unfortunately this was an unnecessary risk since our Air Asia flight was cancelled! An agent booked us on the 1 o'clock flight which left a very short layover in Kuala Lumpur but there was nothing we could do so we didn't waste time being worried. Luckily our flight to KL landed as scheduled and we had time to spare at the airport. We were a bit hungry and decided to grab McDonald's after walking around the airport. This was a mistake. It was awesome at the time but we felt a bit ill afterward. Damn you golden arches!

We landed in Sandakan at 8:20 at night. Sherry and I were pretty excited! This was Borneo - a place not many (American) tourists venture to, a place my expat friend who has lived in Asia for 3 years hadn't even heard of, a place of headhunters and danger. Unfortunately, Borneo is more modern than we had imagined. But it is still a special place. Maybe with more time and effort one can find the adventure we were hoping for. Anyway, we grabbed a taxi at the small and basic airport and headed to the main operations of Uncle Tan's. We had found this place in our LP's and decided it had what we wanted at the price we wanted (backpacker prices). The ops base was very simple and we were immediately checked into our B&B room, which alas was one bed. We glanced at each other with the 'what did we get ourselves into' look. We sorted out our bags and I took my clothes and laid them out to dry - they were still a little damp after washing them in Bangkok the previous night (damnit). We soon went to bed, a little anxious of what lay in store.

Saturday --- The next morning we woke well rested and headed to the Sepilok Orangutan Centre. We had to pay foreigner fees to get in (30 ringgits) plus a 10 ringgit camera fee. Lame. We waited around for feeding time with tons of other tourists in the hot sun. It was hard getting any decent shots of the orangutans with all the people around plus I don't have a great zoom. Ten minutes later we needed water and air con and headed to the little cafeteria on site for water and ice cream. Decided to go on a Bird Trail for a hike since we had plenty of time. Met these Irish sisters, Louise and Jennifer, on the way alerting us they had been attacked by leeches. Suddenly we looked around and saw one coming right for us! They were smaller than I imagined. They were long and thin and man could they move! Our hike didn't last too long since it was super muddy and we had leech fear. Soon we got picked up to meet the rest of our group at Uncle Tan's. But to be honest, Sepilok is a waste of time and money. Not recommended.

We met up with our group at the ops base. There were about 20 of us. We had lunch and then headed into vans to take us to the river. The journey was uneventful save for a stop at a local market which is always interesting to see. We made it to the river where we got on boats to head to camp. The staff took us downriver first to do some wildlife spotting which was appreciated. We headed to the camp and were shown our accommodation for the next two nights. We stuck with the Irish girls since we got along great and were pointed to our hut with no door. There were three double mattresses inside with mosquito nets. This was going to be different. An Italian couple joined our hut to make it a cozy six. We threw down our packs and got in the boats for our sunset safari. After that was dinner, a few beers with Louise and Jennifer and then a meeting to discuss our itinerary during our time with Uncle Tan's. And a warning to watch out for macaque monkeys that hang out behind the bathrooms and will bite you! Another night cruise and then off to bed. We were however a little worried going to bed since we were informed they were out of water! We thought the camp co-op was joking but they were not. How can you run a jungle camp without water? Ridiculous.

Sunday -- Waking up and seeing light was a relief. Sleeping in a hut in the Borneo jungle is scary without a door! I kept having monkey terrors, thinking monkeys were attacking the camp and on the other side of my mosquito net deciding when to end my life. It was not my proudest moment. Luckily for my sanity I was informed that the loud thuds I thought were monkeys on the tin roof were actually some sort of fruit falling from the trees. Still frightening in the dark, I swear. We had a morning boat safari before breakfast where Sherry and I could tell Jennifer and Louise were considering leaving. They had had a bit of bad luck since arriving, including Louise's bag & passport being stolen in KL, and Louise looked a bit dehydrated. Good thing there was plenty of water in camp! We had breakfast and the girls told us they were going to leave with the group that was done with their tour. We bid them well and made plans to meet up in Kota Kinabalu at an Irish bar (haha) called Shamrock a few days later.

A couple hours later the rest of our group put on wellies and set off on our morning jungle trek. Of course I got stuck in the mud after getting off the boat. In a group of ten I am the idiot who has to be pulled out of the mud by the guide. Yay me. The trek was alright, we saw a lot of insects and flora and our guide was informative. After that we went back to camp for lunch and a few hours of free time. Sherry and I joined the others in the hammocks which was relaxing. Swinging in a hammock helped me adapt to the heat. I took turns looking at the trees and critters when feeling contemplative then reading a book when feeling bored. After a while Popeye (or Brad Pitt as he liked to be called) asked if anyone wanted to go fishing. I said yes and joined four others on the boat with fishing poles. We all caught fish, save Stefan who had brought his own inexpensive fishing line. I was excited to catch a fish! I had been wanting to go fishing all summer and here I was in Borneo sitting on a boat fishing. Bad ass. It was only a tiny catfish but I was stoked. We headed back and grabbed the others for our final sunset safari cruise. Saw some things and headed back to camp for dinner and our final night. Everyone was in the mood for a few beers to celebrate finishing Uncle Tan's, and so we were all very upset to learn they had run out of beer. In retrospect it was quite a hilarious reaction in comparison to the co-op running out of water. Water was one thing, but beer was not acceptable and we let the staff know it! They kept saying they had tons of rice wine, which should have made every one of us girls suspicious.

After dinner the new group went on their boat cruise while our group went on a night trek. I was apprehensive and yes, a wuss, remembering the blogs I've read about crocodiles and spiders and other predators oh my! Yeah, I totally wussed out. So I stayed behind and waited for Sherry and the group to return so we could drink some rice wine. This was a mistake since I had to listen to numerous playings of Will Smith's "Getting Jiggy Wit It" among other ancient pop songs. I disliked the song when it was popular so this was not an enjoyable hour. At least I was entertained by the staff's dancing - most of the staff were Muslim and therefore fasting for Ramadan. Well, as soon as that sun sets the boys go nuts! It really was something else to witness. They were pretty damn funny. Everyone got back pretty quickly and we commenced in some rice wine drinking. After a bit one of the staff, Pee Pee, kept whispering in my ear asking if I had to use the toilet. I did, but I said 'no' over and over again. I was not born yesterday and also not going to go there, not a chance in hell. Lights in the co-op shut off just after 11 and Sherry and I headed back to our hut in the dark jungle night. But we were not alone. Pee Pee had followed us, and I had to play dodgeball with his head trying to duck his kiss. Sherry stood a few feet away, laughing, and I must say if I was her I would have done the same thing! That boy was insistent. Too bad I'm an awesome dodgeball player and got out of that situation with my dignity albeit a full bladder. Pee Pee was not as fortunate. Sherry and I lay on our mattress, me telling her I had to pee and her shushing me so he wouldn't know we were awake. Pee Pee stood outside the hut repeating "Amanda I like you" and "I like you Amanda" for 10-15 minutes. Finally he gave up. An hour (I think) later and I woke up in pain and had to pee immediately! Luckily Sherry also woke and had to use the toilet so we made a mission out of finding the bathrooms in the dark with my contacts sticking to my eyes. No one fell into the mud or got attacked by monkeys so it was successful.

Monday --- We woke ready to bid adieu to Uncle Tan's and relish civilization and a shower. I chatted with Martin, an English guy in our group on the way back to Ops Base and we planned on meeting up in Kota Kinabalu for a drink the next night. Sherry and I got a taxi to the airport for our flight to KK which would be the shortest flight I've ever been on. Which was lucky for the person next to me after not showering for three days! We were ready to check into a proper hotel and meet up with Oliver, Sherry's boyfriend and my good friend. I would be spending four nights in KK, the longest stay so far on this trip. I was quite looking forward to relaxing in one place for a while and not having to lug around my pack or sleep in a doorless hut! We saw a ton of wildlife at Uncle Tan's though which was amazing. The ones I can think of are: crocodiles, pythons, birds - kingfishers, eagles, hornbills, owls; flying foxes (giant bats), spiders, millipedes, orangutans, proboscis monkeys, pigtailed macaques, long tailed macaques, etc.

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