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Welcome Seth!
Fathers, lock up your daughters cause Seth has finally arrived!!! June 3rd
We spent the day watching DVDs and waiting expectantly to hear if our friends Rian and Jolene had their little boy, Seth.
We were delighted when Rian phoned to tell us that Seth was born last night (early this morning for us). Congratulations you guys! May Seth be a blessing to you and to all who know him. May he grow up to be a strong and righteous man.
Later we were very happy to receive an email with some pictures of Seth and his proud parents. What a cute little guy and what head of hair he has!
On days like today we really miss being home, but we realized that being apart has actually brought us closer to our family and friends. Through the wonder of the internet (and Travelblog) we share much more of our lives with you, our loved ones, than we would if we were near you. Absence do make the heart grow fonder. Only now do we fully appreciate the times spent together, each contribution, each special moment shared. We love you guys and we miss you all!!!
Today's highlights:
1. The arrival of Seth Swart.
June 4th
At 07:00 we got a taxi to the bus station and at 07:50 we said goodbye to Sandakan (and our camera). We were on a bus heading to Semporna, a port town five hours to the south.
Four and a half hours into the trip a loud whip-crack sound echoed through the bus as one of the tires blew out. We limped on for a while until the driver found a place to stop and change the tire. Any stop during a bus ride makes us a little nervous since we were told by a Scottish couple that one of their bags disappeared from the bus's cargo-hold at such a stop. We don't want to lose anything more on bus trips, thank you very much.
We arrived in Semporna at about 14:00 and walked to the Scuba Junkie hostel. They have pretty good prices if you dive with them. After checking in we went for lunch, then visited the dive shop to book our dives for the next few days. We really wanted to dive Sipadan island, one of the top 10 dive sites in the world, but you need a permit and these are few and far
between. It's suggested to book
that dive at least three weeks in advance. We first emailed them a week ago but there was no permits available for us. Bummer. When we arrived at the shop today we were told that we're on the waiting list for permits to Sipadan! Fingers crossed there's a cancellation...
We walked around the area exploring a bit. Back at the dive shop to get our gear sorted for the next days' dive we ran into our Dutch friends, Jorn and Claudia. What a surprise! They had just returned from Mabul island (35km from Semporna) looking all tanned and glowing. They raved about Mabul, so we decided to also go stay there for two nights.
After getting our gear we joined them for dinner and a few drinks. As happens with anyone who speaks with us for longer than an hour, the conversation turned to marriage and we were honored to be the first to hear that Jorn had proposed to Claudia this very morning! Awesome! We're so happy when we see couples making that kind of commitment.
Today's highlights:
1. Arriving in Semporna to find ourselves booked in, on the Sipadan waiting
Dragon Inn
Not where we're staying... list and ready to dive the following day.
2. Booking two nights on Mabul island.
3. Running into Jorn and Claudia and sharing in their happiness at getting engaged.
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thetravelbugtribe
The travel bug tribe
fingers crossed for those dive permits!