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Published: February 2nd 2008
Bridge near Mescott
The highway right by the village we spent time in.Where to start part 2?
After a public bus trip to a village in central eastern Sabah, we really started our adventure. Big packs were stowed away, day packs prepared and much DEET applied - we were off to the jungle. We jumped in a boat and headed to our jungle camp where we learned how to hang our hammocks, our accommodation for the night.
After mastering that art, we headed down the river in search of wildlife. We saw heaps of macaques, many probiscus monkeys, a few hornbills but best of all Alice spotted an orangutan! He was a young male nesting in the tree tops - apparently orangutans can make up to 5 nests a day for eating and resting in! Whilst I don't think any of us took award winning photos, it was an ultra-special experience for all involved.
After a great dinner of rice with assorted meats and vegies, we headed out for a night walk. Whilst we didn't see any snakes, we did see frogs, centipedes, millipedes and other assorted creepy-crawlies.
That night, we also learned how to play 'shit head' - a card game which is best described as a variation
Heading down the river
Scott and our local guides as we head off for our jungle cruise and stay of 'Presidents' which I have played in Fiji and Australia. As some of you may know, I am just a tad competitive, so I was unimpressed when I was pronounced 'shit head' for game 1. Whilst I managed to avoid that title for the rest of the evening, there were a couple of close calls.
Sleep was hard to come by for 2 reasons - one, it was excessively hot in the hammock and two, there were lots of jungle noises I was not familiar with.
Next morning, we headed back up river and finally spied our first crocodile! I only saw half of him as he headed straight back into the waters after hearing our boat.
Back at Mescott, the males had a wash in the river whilst the ladies had to content themselves with wet wipes - exposure of flesh in Muslim community issue. After a short rest we started cooking lunch - a Malaysian cooking lesson. In pairs with a local we managed to whip up a veritable feast. Rick and I were assigned stir fried jack fruit with coconut cream, other dishes included fried fern, fried chicken wings and donuts!
After we
Hammock's going up
Putting together our Day 2 accommodation! had eaten, we were treated to a cultural show that included music, dancing and silat - a Malaysian form of martial art. The villagers looked terrific in their traditional costumes and got most of the group involved in the dancing at one stage. After a game of volleyball with the locals, we headed off to our assigned homestays.
Roslyn and I stayed with Fatima and her family which was a great treat. We had some a lovely dinner and spoke at length with the 3 children of the household present that evening. Fatima herself did not speak much English and we saw little of Abdul, the man of the house. There were 5 children all together and this was considered a very small family by village standards - 10-12 was normal! Roslyn and I picked up a lot of local language (bahasa) as a result of talking to 10-y-o Siti. Siti got to practice her English by writing down both the bahasa and English words we were seeking so it was a great result all round.
Our visit to Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Reserve was sensational. The 10 am feeding enabled us to see 8-10 youunf orangutans. There was
quite a crowd of human visitors (including 2 of the families I had been white water rafting with!) but there was also plenty of room available on the viewing platform. We saw many of the antics orangutans are capable of including cartwheeling along the ropes. I was so pleased I had borrowed my Dad's zoom lens for the trip as I managed to get quite a few good close ups of all the characters we saw. The afternoon feeding was quieter in terms of humans but more special as a result. A female with her baby turned up and one of the more curious orangs decided to go back into the forest via the human viewing platform. Very special.
Between feedings, Roslyn and I visited the newly opened Rainforest Discovery Centre just down the road. Apart from trying to walk the unfinished canopy walk (oops), we had a lovely walk and enjoyed the tropical plants and herb gardens.
We ended the day by taking taxis to the Labuk Bay Probiscus Monkey Sanctuary. Again, we arrived just in time for feeding. There were scores of monkeys hanging around and they, too, provided plenty of entertainment for the small number
of people in attendance. There were lots of mums with babies and lots of adult males with huge probiscus'! In addition, there were a few silver langurs and the sanctuary had a pet otter who just loved receiving plenty of attention.
So these were all very positive experiences. I cannot finish without mentioning the palm oil plantations, the scourge of the local landscapes. Whilst I can understand the locals' need for the financial security the business brings, it makes for an ugly vista that, more importantly, does not support the local wildlife. The propaganda coming from the Malaysian government is that no further plantations will be sanctioned in Sabah but I am not sure about the reality of that message.
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