Occasionally I go to Sandakan, more out of necessity than out of choice. And when I was sitting in a street cafe there the other day, looking at the scruffy surroundings, the rubbish in the street, the run-down apartment blocks, I was thinking how amazing nature is in comparison to man-made structures - nothing in nature is wasted, nothing is ill-conceived, everything is perfect just as it is. And I remembered a quote by John Burroughs, "I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.” So it’s not surprising that I prefer to spend my days off exactly there – in nature. I may go for walks on my own in the forest around Sepilok, where I encountered red-leafed monkeys recently and spent ages following them, trying to
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