June 8th Today was the big day... Diving the legendary Sipadan Island. Unfortunately Ferdi had a feverish night and woke with a terrible cold. We were lucky to get the permits to Sipadan so we didn't want to give them up. We packed our snorkeling gear just in case he couldn't dive. The morning was off to a dubious start and would get progressively worse. First, we almost missed the boat cause they were leaving early and in the rush to get to the boat we forgot our water and sodas at the dive shop. Then we had terrible weather with big swells which slowed us down considerably, instead of taking 45mins to reach Mabul Island it took us an hour and a half. Here we dropped off a few passengers and picked up a few ... read more

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 ... read more

Saturday, May 30th We got up early for our morning river cruise. At 06:00 we started up the river, Rusty at the helm, his keen eyes scanning the river bank and jungle for animals and birds. First we saw an Orangutan nest, then a troop of Long-Tailed Macaque, also Proboscis Monkeys, Kingfishers, a Purple heron, a Brahminy Kite, two Monitor Lizards, two Crocodiles, a Pied Hornbill, a few Black-and-Red Broadbills and a couple of Great Egret. Back at camp we had breakfast, then relaxed for a bit. Talita spotted a huge monitor lizard and we attempted to follow it. Later, while Talita took a nap, Ferdi followed the lizard, found it and managed to get a photo before it disappeared into the river. We had neglected to bring our chargers for the cameras and both were ... read more

Tuesday, May 26th We slept like logs all night and were eventually woken by the continuous religious chanting from a store across the road from our hotel. We dragged our stiff bodies out of bed and after Marije had packed her stuff we went for breakfast. Marije then went to look for a backpackers while we went home to pack the stuff we want to post to New Zealand. Marije found a nice place to stay and we made plans to go visit the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary together the following day. When we finished our packing we realized with a shock that we had left our small Sony camera on the bus. In our exhaustion, Talita's illness, and the confusion of arriving in a strange city after dark we had left it in the pocket of ... read more

Sunday, May 24th We shared a nice big breakfast with our Dutch friends then went to meet our guide Nordin. At 8:30 we set of by bus (it cost extra of course) for the 4.2km to Timpohon Gate, the start of the route. Our climb started at 8:50. We only had to hike 6km today. The first 200m is downhill to Carson waterfall (small) but after that it's uphill all the way. After all the rain last night we expected a muddy mess but the trail was mostly steps that drained the water well. We made good progress and it wasn't too hot. At our first rest spot we spotted a small, jumpy squirrel. Soon there was a whole troop of them running, jumping and climbing trees. They were so cute and came right up to ... read more