Borneo's Beauty

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We departed Kuala Lumpur early in the morning and flew to Sandakan in Borneo...after a couple of hours flight we finally see the land that we are to explore below. We soon flew over the amazing sight of Mount Kinabalu Mike was in awe as we flew by it and couldn't believe how close we got to it! Sadly this is not a destination for us this time as we have limited time here in Borneo and we knew what we came to see.
So we carried on and flew directly into Sandakan as we approached we could see little homes scattered through the thick jungle, we landed on a single strip of concrete only a meter or two of clearing either side until you hit the start of the thick bush which soon turned into Jungle.
When we walked from the plane to the little airport entrance we wondered what was ahead for us as this Airport is about as big as a large supermarket we walked in the door 2 meters thereto customs
they stamped our passports and on through to get our bags only meters away.

Off we went to Sandakan township to our cheap $18au hotel that we were a little unsure of...room,bathroom and free wifi with toast and coffee for breakfast....
actually The London Hotel was pretty good for a first night stay...back under the hills and it has everything it says along with 50 narrow stairs to climb to get to our room.
Today is a quiet day in from G.C yesterday and we had a very early start for the flight today.

First impression of Sandakan a small town three streets,Smelly Drains, Inquistive locals, Navy Base and lots of coffee houses (real coffee boiling in pots)
We went to look at the local markets and man did that dried fish smell...so glad I have that block the nose and breathe through the mouth thing working....the fresh fish and seafood
looked lovely and we wanted to buy some and take it and cook it but we didn't have anywhere to do so what a shame....however We found a great little place that had a buffet lunch so we stopped there and Mike ate for about 10 locals (hehe) it cost a whole $3.30au all you can eat!
Checked a few hotels as we walked around incase we wanted to move the next day and found a great place for dinner on the waterfront by the Navy base that had free wifi.

At hotel we had a rest and I jumped online to do the blog for N and I so that was good to get that one done...It took a while did get it done eventually
as there was two power cuts at the hotel on our floor 😞 (It doesn't usually happen is the claim) in the morning the water pressure and we have trouble showering and flushing toilet
is low so we decide to spend a bit more and go to Nak hotel...seaview and only $28 a night and a lift hooray!

Day Two We spent today relaxing after moving our bags and organising the next two days before we depart soon we ate at the same place for lunch where I had some calamari which was fresh and yummy in the evening we ate at the same place and I got to have
a we chat with Fleurabell on line nice 😊

Day Three we head to the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre where they help struggling Orangutans to get back into the wild they feed them twice daily and we went to the morning feeding. Depated Sandakan on the 9am local buses,
windows open bouncing around like baked beans in a tin getting shaken up. When we arrived the local guy on the bus taking payment mentioned that it was very busy and we may not see much this morning....we were soon to learn was that
there was a cruise ship docked and that 200+ people had come to here...bugger!
So we thought no harm we will go as we can come back later and go through again with the same ticket anyway so we walked down the walkway with the other 250 people and listened to moaning of the english and american people from the ship that they couldn't see and that they weren't happy and can't
people just move down...then the rain came and up went many umbrella's....what a pain in the behind....just umbrella's everywhere! We were lucky that the people from the boat were soon called to leave and the quiet was soon to arrive with there departure...
exactly what the Orangutan's like quiet as all the signs say!
Mike was over speaking to a couple from Finland that had been traveling for about 8months and had about the same left to go...he had got a Tattoo in Thailand that was of island meaning and Mike was explaining to him what it meant.
Soon the show began with one young (5ish years old) Orangutan decided to play in the tree's really close...soon followed by the cheeky orangutan climbing onto the platform with all 30 of us that were left...we were cautioned to move back
however can you believe Mike was so involved in his conversation that he didn't even see the Orangutan that was coming straight for him....I think he thought Mike was a long lost relative hehe before he knew it the Orangutan was almost within arms reach...
the rangers came and picked the cheeky orangutan up by each hand and carried him away.
That night we returned home excited and amazed with the experience that the day had brought us...we went and brought Burgers and took them back to the hotel and ate there....unfortunetly they weren't great and we did decide local food options are better but with
a day like that average burgers really didn't faze us!!

Day four we got up and went up to have our breakfast before we head off to see the Proboscis Monkey known by the locals as the dutch monkey! We were sitting eating over looking the water when two dutch ladies came out and said hello...they were going to the same
place and weren't to sure where the pick up location was so we said we would meet them downstairs and head there together. When we got to the pick up location we found out it was a full day not coming back until 5pm what a long day there was two japanese girls going with us as well they didn't
speak a lot of english so they didn't really talk to us...anyway a little bit of sweet talking we managed to get the driver to come back earlier as the dutch girls needed to be back about 4pm to got to the airport. So we all piled in to the van and off we went with the crazy driver...bumping around
more than we did in the bus the day before....we stopped at Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary for a break and then head off to the Nipah forest to the Labuk Bay Monkey Sanctuary...when we arrive we walked up and thought we were at another cafe and then realised we were actually on the platform
we went off and got a spot (not many people here about 20-30) so feeding one the Monkeys feeding platforms about about 10 meters away...from when we got there we could see the trees moving and the proboscis monkey's jumping through the trees...once the food was out they came in hourds so many about 40-60
were there and they get very possessive over there food there must be a big hirachy as when one comes thats not worthy they screech and push it off the platform. So these monkeys are white and light brown with a big Nose and big belly...they are restricted to Borneo and are only found on the rivers edge, mangroves
and Nipah forest so its not that common for people to see them.

'Dutch Monkey' Explaination - Borneo Island is half Malaysian half Indonesian.
Dutch were early settlers in Indonesia. Due to the monkey being white the identified this to the white man which to them was the Dutch hense the name 'Dutch Monkey'


About halfway through the feeding these little grey monkeys came out of the forrest bounding, leaping and almost flying towards the platform...literally
they jumped onto the platform they are little in comparison to any monkey I have seen...they were totally cute. They are are vegetarians and were feed green beans we were told they are playful but sometimes get a little over excited.
Mike really fell in love with these Silver lipped monkeys we were allowed to pat them a little and I got some photos of Mike with them!

The second feeding was at another platform this on was along a big walkway (glad it wasn't raining I think it would have been a bit slippery and dangerous....but we walked out to a feeding area at the end the platforms here are about 3-4meters away and this time we just see the proboscis monkey but at a closer range and the
trees were just three meters away....so we could see them playing right in front of us...they were really playful. After this we head back over the metal road bumping and jumping all around in the vanalmost getting air between us and the seat! We then went back to the hotel packed for our departure tomorrow.

Well I hope you got through it was an exciting few days for us and I hope that I have allowed you some insight into our days here.

xx Shelley and Mikey

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